Alipio’s big first half boosts Skyhawks over Vikings

Silverado running back Jarrett Alipio had only 12 carries Friday and was on the sidelines wearing soccer shorts by the start of the third quarter.

The Skyhawks’ leading rusher wasn’t injured. Instead, the junior was resting after inflicting all of the damage Silverado needed in the first half.

Alipio rushed for 122 yards and four touchdowns as the Skyhawks cruised to a 57-20 victory over visiting Valley.

Alipio scored on runs of 1, 5, 2, and 19 yards as Silverado (2-4, 1-1 Northeast League) built a 50-8 lead.

“There was a lot of daylight, and that was all thanks to my offensive line,” Alipio said. “On offense, we were just hoping to make our blocks, make no mental errors and move down the field.

“But scoring four touchdowns in the first half? It feels pretty good.”

Alipio put his team in control early in the second quarter when he scored a pair of touchdowns in a 25-second span.

After Alipio scored on a 2-yard run with 10:05 left, Silverado recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. Alipio then completed his first pass of the year for 14 yards, and followed that up by scurrying 19 yards — hiss fourth score on the night — to put the Skyhawks up 36-8 with 9:40 left in the second quarter.

Silverado coach Andy Ostolaza also credited his offensive line’s improved play in the dominant effort.

“The O-line is pushing so well now. The conditioning has really come along,” Ostolaza said. “And the defense I thought played really well.”

Silverado’s defense did its part by coming up with three turnovers, which all led to scores.

Gilbran Trujillo stripped the ball from the Vikings punter in the end zone, and Noah Osemwengie recovered the fumble for a score with 6:08 left in the second quarter that pushed the lead to 50-8.

“We were doing a good job of stopping the run, and then it was key for the ends to get good pressure on the quarterback,” said Osemwengie, who also had a sack and added a 28-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. “After we lost it last week in the second half, and did the same thing earlier against Foothill, we weren’t going to give it up tonight.”

Rohan Walters returned a fumble 23 yards for a TD for Silverado, and Broderick Burks had an interception that set up Alek Aragon’s 2-yard TD run in the second quarter.

Jason Matthew had a pair of sacks for the Skyhawks defense, which had six sacks and limited Valley (1-5, 0-2) to 77 yards in the first half.

Tyrone Prewitt had two touchdowns for the Vikings.