Delano Starts Season Strong, Wins Wild Shootout Over Mira Monte.
- Aidan Garaygordobil
- Aug 25
- 3 min read
The Delano Tigers start their 2025 campaign off with a hard-fought 39-24 win over the Mira Monte Lions in their inaugural matchup.
The Tigers shined on both sides of the ball with the spotlight being on quarterback DJ Huizar who tossed four touchdowns.
“Coming into the first game I felt nervous, but after the first touchdown pass I entered into my flow state, and after that my confidence peaked.”
Delano now starts the season with a win for the fifth-consecutive season, sparking a morale-boost for the young team as they get ready for their first road game.
The “shootout” portion of the game came in the first half, where Mira Monte struck first through a Nathan Gonzalez touchdown. Gonzalez dominated the first half, breaking off multiple hard-fought runs as well as touchdowns against a struggling Delano defense.
The Tigers responded back quickly however, with running back Daniel Romero shaking off multiple defenders as he bulldozed his way into the endzone.
Mira Monte then drove down the field but after the Delano defense took a stand, the Lions settled for a field goal to take a 10-7 lead to end the first quarter.
To begin the second quarter however, Delano took back the lead with Huizar’s first touchdown pass to senior receiver Raul Quezada, now leading 13-10 after a missed PAT.
Mira Monte responded with a lengthy drive of their own however, capped off by a double-reverse touchdown by running back Angel Zarate.
Delano entered the second half trailing 17-13, however Huizar would be the first to put points on the board by tossing his second touchdown of the game to take a 19-17 lead.
Mira Monte then drove a lengthy possession downfield capped off with a 19-yard rushing touchdown. Despite the momentum swinging on the Lions side with a 24-17 lead, this would be their final score of the night.
Both teams traded multiple unsuccessful possessions, until Huizar would help Delano take a 25-24 lead with a redzone touchdown pass to senior receiver Diego Carrillo for his third of the game.
Mira Monte’s offense, now stagnant, turned the ball over through a fumble. Huizar then led the Tigers to another score from a 15-yard touchdown pass to Romero with seven minutes remaining in the game to make it 32-24.
“It feels great [to have multiple touchdowns], it’s all we’ve been preparing for in practice throughout the entire week and it feels great to see it happen.” Romero said.
Despite leading, Mira Monte only trailed one possession, however offense began to break down as Angel Lopez forced a strip-sack and defensive lineman Jose Gonzalez returned the fumble for a touchdown.
“As a lineman, I never would have expected that [I would score]. I’m just happy to put points on the board, and I’d like to thank Angel [Lopez] for setting up the fumble and my coach Gio [Ayon] for setting up the defensive stunt.” said Gonzalez.
This set the score at its final of 39-24, and despite winning by two possessions the Tigers had just come out victorious in a hard-fought battle.
A key takeaway from the game is the composure on the sideline and throughout the team. Despite losing the lead multiple times, there didn’t seem to be a sense of panic throughout the coaching staff or players alike.
Huizar summed it up best in his postgame interview.
“When I was on the sideline early in the game, I had my head down. And all of my leaders helped me keep my head up and in the game, and after that we just did our thing and trusted in each other.”
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