Cleveland held the vaunted North Hollywood run game in check and played their style of football en route to 42-0 win to advance to the CIF City Section D2 semifinals

WOODLAND HILLS, CA – The break in the rain during most of the hour before kickoff only served to tease the fans, athletes and coaches. By kickoff, the rain was back, and the elements would play a part in the outcome of Friday Night’s CIF City Section Division II quarterfinal contest between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the North Hollywood Huskies. The Cavaliers took advantage of three Huskies lost fumbles to run away with a 42-0 shutout victory. 

Excitement was palpable on the Cleveland sideline before kickoff, as junior quarterback Domenik Fuentes was making his first start since sustaining an injury in Week 0. Fuentes had played the previous two weeks in limited snaps off the bench, but this time, he was taking the reins of the offense. Conversely, North Hollywood was coming in shorthanded, but the signature grit of head coach Scott Faer means the Huskies fight until the clock hits zeros.

“That’s what we do,” said Faer after the game when asked about how his team battled, “A lot of the mistakes in the beginning, we dug ourselves a huge hole and it was hard to dig ourselves out of it. I’m still proud of them”

The teams traded early fourth down stops and big sacks that halted the momentum of their opponent. First, Angel Rodriguez brought down Fuentes for a big sack on third and five, ending the opening drive for Cleveland before it could really get moving. Later, junior Adam Garbisch barrelled through the Huskies offensive line for a sack on first down as North Hollywood attempted to mix up their attack following their run game advancing the ball to near midfield. The Huskies were unable to recover from the 8-yard loss and punted the ball away.

On the second offensive drive for North Hollywood, junior quarterback Logan Grant lost his first fumble of the game, and on the ensuing drive there was a play that swung the momentum of the game clearly in favor of the Cavaliers. Fuentes hit his brother, Jesus Fuentes, on a screen pass that the senior took 46 yards to the goal line. The ball came out as he attempted to reach over for the touchdown and ended up going out of bounds through the back of the end zone. 

The officials took a moment to discuss the play. Was it a touchdown for Cleveland? Was it a touchback with possession going to the Huskies? Was it something else? Quickly, the officials decided that the play was dead at the 2-yard line and it would be Cavaliers ball and first and goal-to-go at the 2-yard line. One the very next play, the younger Fuentes fooled everyone on a play-action call and walked into the endzone for the game’s opening score. 

Cleveland added to its lead midway through the second quarter when the Fuentes’ connection resulted in a 7-yard touchdown. What appeared to be a mishandling of the snap on the extra point, led the to holder attempting to run the ball in for two, but the North Hollywood defenders brought him down to keep the score 13-0. 

Less than two minutes later, junior Robert Granillo scooped up a mishandled pitch in the backfield and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown. The Cavaliers would add one more score with 12.6 seconds left in the opening half when the Fuentes brothers worked magic once again, this time on a 19-yard pass and catch. Another miscue on the point after left the score 26-0 heading into halftime.

North Hollywood received the ball to start the second half, but much like their possessions in the first half, the Huskies were unable to put together a sustained drive. On the night, North Hollywood was held to 68 yards of total offense.

“Hats off to my scout team.” said Cleveland head coach Mario Guzman “They gave us the best look that we probably could have asked for all week long. The kids bought in from the jump.”

Over a time period of under four minutes spanning the end of the third quarter and early into the fourth, Cleveland added two more touchdowns to trigger a running clock and put the game away.

First, Fuentes hit Julio Avalos for a 23-yard touchdown that was followed by a successful 2-point conversion to push the advantage to 34-0 with 2:29 left in the third quarter. Then, 50 seconds into the fourth quarter, Fuentes scored his second rushing touchdown of the game from 7 yards out.

North Hollywood did not lay down once the clock started running. As the Cavaliers were trying to run the clock out, the Huskies defense forced a fumble that was recovered by junior Max Bates. Unfortunately for North Hollywood, they were still unable to move the ball much, and after Cleveland regained possession, they were able to move downfield and run out the clock to advance to the semifinals.

“(Domenik is) our guy” Guzman said when asked about Fuentes’ return “It’s been tough sledding. Our 2-8 record doesn’t indicate the team that I got. Dom’s the heart and soul of our team, we knew that last year.

Fuentes finished the game with five total touchdowns. Three of them through the air while throwing for 125 yards passing and two rushing touchdowns on 17 total yards. Jesus Fuentes was his favorite target, catching four of six thrown his way for 79 yards and two touchdowns. Brandon Maldonado paced the team on the ground, cracking the century mark with 100 yards on 17 carries.

“(Joseph) Hurtado, Bam (Brandon Maldonado), Femi (Oluwafemi Okelola), they held it down,” Guzman commented regarding his team’s rushers. “They run hard at practice every day. They work hard every day and it showed tonight.”

Though the sting of the loss is still fresh, North Hollywood still looks to be in good position to defend their East Valley League crown for a second time next fall. Despite losing key seniors including co-captains Josiah Taylor and Gaven Zamora, the Huskies fielded five juniors, including quarterback Logan Grant, and 18 sophomores, along with two freshmen. 

“We limped into this game. I had the (East Valley League) MVP completely out of uniform, and three other starters went out (during the game)…” Faer reflected after the game. “The subs aren’t quite there yet to take over for our starters… all those guys that were in there towards the end of the game were sophomores and juniors, so (it’s) a lot to build on.”

Cleveland will face Fairfax in the CIF City Section DII semifinals on Thursday evening at Taft High School. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m.

All photos by VST photographer David Martinez