Thursday Final: Covina preps for Valle Vista League play with 35-14 win over Walnut
THURSDAY’S RESULTCOVINA 35, WALNUT 14
COVINA — The goal for the Covina High School football team was pretty simple Thursday night.
The Colts wanted to make enough good plays to gain some confidence going into their Valle Vista League opener in two weeks against rival Northview.
Mission accomplished.
Anthony Meneses threw for 241 yards and two touchdowns and Covina wrapped up nonleague play with a 35-14 victory over Walnut at Covina District Field.
Wahub Mallick also accounted for 104 yards and two touchdowns for the Colts, who improved to 3-2. Jared Arellano accounted for 190 yards and rushed for two touchdowns for Walnut, which slipped to 0-5.
Covina put it away by halftime, scoring on four of its six possessions during the first two quarters.
The Colts did it with big plays. The first coming on defense. Covina, after Walnut drove 71 yards to open the game, forced a fumble at the Covina 3. Richard Randazzo returned it 63 yards to the Walnut’ 34.
The Colts then went up 14-0 by scoring on two of its next three possessions. Mallick went up the middle for 23 yards for a 7-0 lead on the last play of the first quarter. Meneses followed with a 65-yard pass to Hakim Williams Jr. for a 14-0 lead with 5:49 left in the first half.
Covina led 28-0 at halftime after scoring on its final two possessions of the quarter. Meneses tossed 62 yards to Jacob Aguirre to set up an Ailaoa Tauvao’ 1-yard run at 2:31 before Nin Burns II hit Mallick for a 36-yard catch and run for a four-touchdown lead at the break.
Covina coach Joe Brown: “We needed to get a win to finish above .500 going into league. We wanted to get a victory on our home field, finally, and set us up to get ready for league.”
Covina’s Anthony Meneses: “(Those plays) were all our receivers, our O-line. Without the O-line, I can’t do anything. They helped me out. It was a picnic back there. And our receivers? They just got open. They got open and they made the play. This game was about our O-line, our defense and our receivers.”
— Stephen Ramirez