BLOOMINGTON — Bloomington football defeated visiting Arroyo Valley 16-14 on Friday. And if the late Bloomington coach Don Markham watched the Skyline League opener from above, he must have smiled.
Both teams ran double-wing offenses – Markham’s old attack – and only six passes were thrown by both teams combined, with three of them intercepted. It felt like 1994, back when Markham’s Bloomington team set a then-national scoring record of 880 points in 14 games.
Points were harder to come by, and Bloomington won in overtime by stopping Arroyo Valley’s two-point conversion.
The Bruins took a 16-8 lead in OT when Dominic Puentes scored on Bloomington’s first snap. Bloomington’s Dylan Fraembs added a two-point conversion.
“They trapped him and nobody was there,” Puentes said. “It was a direct snap to me. It’s not usually that open. It felt really good. It means a lot to get this win in front of all these fans.”
Kymani Nolley, a transfer from Entrepreneur High, scored on Arroyo Valley’s first play in OT to put the Hawks a two-point conversion away from tying the game.
The Hawks again handed the ball to Nolley over the left side, but he was stopped before the goal line. Bloomington defenders celebrated wildly after their sudden victory.
“There’s no excuses,” Nolley said. “If I don’t see a hole, I’ve got to make my own.”
Arroyo Valley first-year coach Jesse Ceniceros said he changed the play after Bloomington called timeout and adjusted its defense.
“Looking back, maybe we should have stuck with the right side,” he said. “But credit Bloomington. They prepped for us.”
Bloomington’s double-wing used a shotgun formation, unlike Arroyo Valley’s. The Bruins (3-3, 1-0) ran for 218 yards, led by Dylan Fraembs with 123 on 20 carries. His brother Derek added 52 on 10 carries, and Puentes had 43 on three.
Bloomington drove to the Arroyo Valley one-yard line on its first possession of the game but lost the ball on a fumble.
Following a scoreless first half, Bloomington took an 8-0 lead on its first possession of the second half, tallying on Dylan Fraembs’ 12-yard run with 3:36 left in the third quarter.
Aided by a 15-yard facemask penalty on Bloomington, the Hawks drove 58 yards to score on Eddie Pimental’s 1-yard quarterback sneak. Nolley’s two-point conversion run tied the game 8-8.
Nolley rushed for 58 yards on 10 carries to lead Arroyo Valley, and Jerome Weaver added 49 yards on 12 attempts.
“It’s very disappointing, knowing that we’re way better than this,” Nolley said. “We came out and for the first three quarters, did not play our best. The fourth quarter is when we started picking it up.”
It was Arroyo Valley’s first loss of the season (5-1 overall, 0-1 league).
“It (such a competitive game) was good for our kids, and I’m curious to see how they’ll respond to this,” Ceniceros said.
