Wildomar, CA — After 9 months of setbacks and uncertainty, the Freshman Elsinore Tigers finally got their chance to play football in the first game of the Covid delayed spring 2021 season. There would be no losers anywhere in Westphal stadium on this Saturday afternoon, in a game that represented the culmination of months of perseverance by Tiger players, parents, and coaches. As expected, there was a sudden change to the schedule, meaning the Tigers would take on the visiting John W. North Huskies from Riverside, after rival school Lakeside could not field a lower level team. The Tigers were led onto the Field by Squad Leaders Jesse Livingston, Oscar Flores, Evan Tindell, Ryu-Ken Robinson and honorary leader Micah Davis, who earned student of the month honors earlier this year in addition to never missing a single team event all year. Davis won the coin toss and the Tigers received the opening kickoff. Elsinore’s offense came out strong, driving right down the field and scoring on an 8 play, run-only drive behind the blocking of offensive linemen Sam “Big Flo” Flores, Jacob Ramirez, Anthony “Bear" Hebert, Jesse Livingston, Jackson “Big Jack/Fergie"Ferguson, and Evan Tindell along with wide receiver Andrew Irvin. The ball was evenly distributed from Quarterback Marco Rupp to a backfield of Caden “Mad Max” Maxfield, Oscar “Lil Flo” Flores, and Julian Santoyo. After a low laser beam extra point, Tindell’s ensuing kickoff was recovered by Linebacker/Tight End Nicholas Gonzalez. However, the Tiger offense failed to score in the red zone, which finally made it the defense’s turn to take the field. Strong Safety Ryu-Ken Robinson led a solid effort in the first half, highlighted by his multiple tackles for loss (including one on 4th down to turn away the Huskies) and an interception by Maxfield. The defensive front of Livingston, Tindell, Hebert, Gonzalez, and Flores X 2 shut down the North inside run game throughout the day. The Tigers trailed at 13-7 at halftime and scored to get within 25-13 late in the 3rd, but faded in the 4th quarter in a 48-13 loss. The Tigers learned many lessons about the high price of victory on the gridiron. Rest assured that although this game resulted in a loss, we will continue to focus on the process of Excellence and Integrity in everything we do. The failures that result in losing a game cannot defeat us unless we choose to quit. Look for the Tigers to band together, learn from their mistakes, and put on a strong showing against Hemet High School at home on Wednesday. A special thanks to Jason Smith and Rob Whitlock for being our “chain crew” along with BriShawn, Andrew, and Aaron (hopefully future Tigers) for being our ball boys. We appreciate the support and look forward to seeing everyone again this week.