One of the new things in El Capitan High School’s offense this year is tight end production. Vaqueros head coach Ron Burner has built in tight end plays for senior quarterback Brandt Barker.
The tight end element was vital Friday night for El Capitan, which faced a Valhalla defense that blitzes a lot.
The Vaqueros countered with movement, whether it was screens or bootlegs, to fuel themselves to a 42-0 shutout victory at Valhalla.
“We don’t usually have a tight end, so it changed what we do, and they are just getting better and better,” Burner said.
Barker completed 16 of 20 es for 249 yards and four touchdowns.
“Today was the day to have those stats with the players that we have,” Barker said. “It’s great to have all that because we have a lot of versatility.”
Barker and the offense ran the two-minute drill to near perfection to close the first half. He found sophomore tight end Braiden Linder from 22 yards out on a bootleg with 49 seconds left. It was one of five receptions for Linder, who went for 78 yards and was the team’s leading receiver.
On Barker’s lone offensive drive of the second half, the 6-foot-5 senior went a perfect 4-for-4 on his es capped off by a 24-yard touchdown to junior running back Brody Copp on a screen.
All of Barker’s touchdowns went to four different receivers. Barker first found sophomore Micheal Valencia from 50 yards out on third-and-7 in the first quarter.
On the next possession, Barker found senior running back Brady Joralemon on a screen for a 37-yard touchdown. Joralemon was the Vaqueros’ primary runner, recording 10 carries for 80 yards and a 3-yard touchdown to open the scoring in the first quarter.
“He’s really feeling good,” Burner said of Barker. “He’s doing his reads seeing what’s going on and he’s one of the better quarterbacks in San Diego. We just don’t showcase it enough. On those screens, we have multiple reads, so he happened to read every single one perfect.”
El Capitan’s special teams got into the scoring act. Senior Marlon Ames, who is also part of the tight end group, blocked a punt in the third quarter. He then picked up the loose ball and took it in for his first career touchdown.
“We work special teams a lot and we’ve lost a couple games early on in the year because of it,” Burner said.
As the Vaqueros (4-3, 2-0 Grossmont Valley League) offense surged, the defense created momentum of its own, allowing just 50 yards to go along with three sacks in the first half.
“Our defense is stacked,” Barker said. “We have so many guys out there. I would hate to play our defense where they fly around.”
Valhalla (3-4, 1-1 Grossmont Valley League) was led by senior wide receiver Evan Hanulak, who caught four es for 48 yards. He also had the Norsemen’s longest play of the night, a 30-yard from junior quarterback Jackson Newman with 40 seconds left in the first half.
El Capitan caps off five straight road games with a matchup at Santana Thursday while Valhalla travels to West Hills Friday.
El Capitan 42, Valhalla 0
El Capitan 14 14 14 0 — 42
Valhalla 0 0 0 0 — 0
E – Joralemon 3 run (Ford kick)
E – Valencia 50 from Barker (Ford kick)
E – Joralemon 37 from Barker (Ford kick)
E – Linder 22 from Barker (Ford kick)
E – Copp 24 from Barker (Ford kick)
E – Ames 20 punt return (Ford kick)
