Aztecs Flat in 21-0 Loss to Palm Springs

Palm Desert struggled to find their form in Friday night's 21-0 season opening loss to defending Desert Valley League champion Palm Springs.

Palm Desert came out firing on thier first possession, as Senior quarterback Joey Castelli pitched to back-up QB, junior Kyle Kabeary.  Kabeary then luanched a 32-yard sideline pass to Senior Alex Jones.  

It would be only play of more than 11 yards for the rest of the night.

The Aztec offense struggled to get any momentum, and in the second quarter, its best drive of the night ending with a bad snap on a 30 yard field goal attempt.   It was all downhill from there.

Palm Springs struck on their next two possessions, opening a 13-0 lead at halftime.  

For Palm Desert, the Aztecs would struggle on both sides of the ball; with missed tackles on defense and an offense that generated almost as many penalty flags as it did first downs.  

"We're not in very good condition.  We looked really tired out there," said Aztec Head Coach Pat Blackburn.  "We have a lot of guys playing on both sides of the football, and you gotta be in shape to perform like that." 

A first half fumble ended a drive into Palm Springs territory; and  two dropped passes by open recievers late in the game added to the Aztec frustration.

"We had a few [plays] that almost broke open, but we had fumbles, dropped passes.  We were close," Blackburn said.  

Palm Desert, who has a open week coming, opens the home schedule on September 7, hosting Damien/La Verne on Friday at 7:00 p.m.