David Medina is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Corona del Sol High School for AZPreps365.

The Corona del Sol Aztecs opened their 2020 season Friday with a dominating 28-0 victory over the Desert Vista Thunder.

Corona senior quarterback Quade Swearingen did it all for his team, completing 12 of 15 passes for 171 yards, and accounting for four touchdowns; three passing and one rushing.

Junior running back Anyale Velazquez was a versatile piece for the Aztecs with 22 carries for 131 yards, to  go along with two receptions for 30 yards.

Corona coach Jon Becktold had high praise for his quarterback following Friday’s blowout win.

“Quade gets better every day, and he knows that,” Becktold said, “He’ll get better every single week. He’s definitely our leader, the whole team knows that.”

What resulted in a dominating victory, in all three facets of the game, did not start out that way, as the first quarter was a scoreless affair.

The Aztecs started the second quarter with the ball, but came up short for points after a missed field goal. The turning point occurred when the Thunder punted on the drive following the missed field goal.The Aztecs blocked the Thunder punt, placing them on the Thunder 15-yard line. 

On the first play of the Aztecs drive, following an illegal substitution penalty by the defense on first down, Swearingen opened up the scoring with a 10-yard run for  a touchdown. After the 7-0 lead, the Aztecs never looked back.

The Aztecs tacked onto their lead right before halftime when Swearingen completed a 3rd-and-goal pass to Bryce Douglass for a touchdown with 17 seconds left in the second quarter, a drive that started on the Aztecs' own 35-yard line with 1:16 left in the half.

When the third quarter started, the Aztecs picked up right where they left off, driving straight down the field. Senior wide receiver Talon Williams finished off the Aztecs' first drive of the second half when he caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from Swearingen to give the Aztecs a 21-0 lead. 

Sweringen’s only mistake of the night occurred when he fumbled on a scramble with 4:13 left in the third quarter. 

“He already apologized a million times for fumbling it,” Becktold said.

Swearingen didn’t let the turnover phase him when he threw a 17-yard screen pass to senior tight end Mitchell Coakley for a touchdown on the next drive, extending the Aztecs lead.

The Aztecs' pass rush came through all game, accumulating five sacks. 

“They finished. They did a good job," Becktold said. "That's what our thing is this year. We're going to try to finish everything.”