After a tough loss last week against Perry High School, the Cesar Chavez Champio+ns bounced back in a big way with a 56-12 home win against the Maryvale Panthers in Friday night’s Class 6A Metro region matchup.

From the opening whistle, Cesar Chavez (3-3, 1-0 region) was clearly trying to establish its running game, and running back Andrew Blitzke did just that with 60 yards rushing and a touchdown on only five carries during their opening drive.

After Maryvale (0-6, 0-1) fumbled on only its second play from scrimmage, giving Cesar Chavez the ball on the Maryvale 11-yard line, quarterback Lucas Arnds ran it in himself to put Maryvale in a 14-0 hole only three minutes into the first quarter.

Cesar Chavez seized a big lead and all the momentum within a few minutes of the game, and it never looked back.

Andrew Blitzke continued to gash Maryvale throughout the night, finishing the game with 141 rushing yards and two touchdowns while adding another score on a 28-yard screen pass.

While Blitzke led the way on the ground, Arnds carved up the Maryvale secondary to the tune of five touchdown passes while also contributing his rushing score.

Even after his six-touchdown performance, Lucas Arnds was quick to point out what the team needed to work on, saying that they should have been better prepared.

“That rainy day that we had on Wednesday didn’t allow us to practice, and I believe that showed with some of the miscommunications we had out there,” Arnds said. “And Maryvale came out and worked hard. That team is legit and has a great coaching staff, so give them a couple years and I think they’ll be great.”

For Maryvale, even after falling into an early hole and letting the game slip away, the players continued to fight and play until the final whistle, scoring two touchdowns to prevent the shutout.

Maryvale coach Justin Watson praised his team’s effort and progress in the game.

“The kids are getting better literally each and every game,” he said. “Unfortunately, we have to put kids out on the field that simply aren’t ready, but we will get better.”

Cesar Chavez coach Manuel Alcantar echoed coach Watson’s statement, praising the work that he has done for the program and acknowledging how hard the Maryvale players competed. But just like his quarterback, he was quick to point out his own team’s mistakes.

“It was a sloppy game,” he said. “We started slow and we definitely need to play smarter. But we’ll continue to get better and grow from here on out.”