Tyler Piester is an ASU Walter Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Canyon View High School for AZPreps365.com 

WADDELL– Buena’s flag football team leaned heavily on its defense and special teams to hold off a late Canyon View rally for a 23-13 win on Tuesday. 

Buena sophomore cornerback Deztany Toyota-Villalobos scored both of the Colts’ touchdowns on interception returns. She first jumped a route for a 15-yard pick-six with 4:38 to go in the first quarter and then struck again with a 20-yard return with 6:15 left in the third quarter. 

“Tonight our defense was amazing, and getting that pick-six early in the game swung the momentum on our side, " Buena coach Stephen Braswell said. “We held onto that throughout most of the game.”

The Colts also got a huge lift from sophomore quarterback Adelina Ortega, who completed 10 of 13 passes for 88 yards, but it was her leg that stood out, as she went 3-for-3 on field goals. 

Ortega opened the scoring with a 25-yarder with 5:19 left in the first quarter. She added another 25-yarder with 10:30 left to go in the second quarter, and then finally a 13-yarder to send the Colts up 16-0 at halftime.

Despite a rough first half on offense, the Jaguars found their groove in the fourth quarter.

Senior quarterback Giannah Vega found senior receiver Arri Richardson for a 4-yard touchdown with 8:20 left, and freshman Nataley Laing connected with senior Jada White on a 10-yard score to tighten the gap, 23-13. However, this ultimately was not enough to overcome Buena. 

The victory carried extra meaning for the Colts.

“We lost to them last year in the playoffs, so I feel like beating them today gave us a lot more confidence going into the rest of the season,” Toyota-Villalobos said. 

Braswell praised his team on their effort and victory but said that there are a few things they still need to work on.

“We need to break through on offense,” Braswell said. “It is finally starting to click here and there, but we keep shooting ourselves in the foot with dumb mistakes and dumb penalties. Overall we need to be more disciplined, and make sure we are doing our jobs and assignments correctly.”

Despite the loss, Canyon View coach Michael Beal was impressed with how his team played in the final quarter. 

“I think there was a concerted effort to bring intensity to the second half that I wish we brought to the first half,” he said. “Arri Richardson and Jada White really bailed us out and made some incredible catches that kept us in the game. Overall we just made the choice to bring the intensity, work on our blocking, and do our assignments.”

Beal also was pleased with how well his defense played throughout the entirety of the game.

“We gave up two pick-sixes and three field goals,” he said. “So their offense did not really move the ball against us, and we feel pretty proud about that.”

Canyon View (1-4) will host La Joya Community (0-1) on Thursday at 6 p.m.

Buena (3-0) will travel to Casa Grande (3-0) on Thursday at 6 p.m.