Improved route-running has Sunnyside's Armando Guzman finding the end zone

Sunnyside’s Armando Guzman had a night to remember in Friday’s 41-24 win over Sierra Vista Buena.

Guzman, who starts at wide receiver, cornerback and kick returner for the Blue Devils, nearly returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. It didn’t matter, though, because a few plays later he was in the end zone anyway celebrating a 29-yard catch that put his team up 6-0.

The touchdown was the start of the trifecta for the Sunnyside senior. Guzman scored three times against the Colts: twice as a receiver, with a pick-six on defense sandwiched in between.

“That was the first time ever I’ve scored three,” Guzman said. “Even in youth football I didn’t do that.”

Guzman’s first year on varsity has been a memorable one thus far. Through four games, he leads Sunnyside (3-1) in catches (11) and yards (147), and is tied for the team lead with two touchdown catches.

“He’s on special teams, defense, offense. He’s just doing it all,” Sunnyside coach Glenn Posey said.

The Blue Devils’ potent offense runs through Deion Conde, their dynamic quarterback. Posey and the coaching staff have constructed an offense tailored to off-script plays by Conde and choice routes from receivers. Simply, Conde has as much freedom in deciding where to throw the football as his receivers do in which route they run based on the defensive coverage.

Because of that allotted freedom, Conde needs to be in sync with his receivers as much as possible. The engine has run smoothly so far with Sunnyside posting an average of 29 points per game this year.

The complexity of the offense is why it’s taken Guzman until his senior year to crack the code. Guzman admitted he felt lost at times when trying to decipher what routes to run.

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“Our receivers have to make decisions,” Posey said. “Once they understand what kind of routes we want to run versus certain coverages, they start to think the game a little bit better. That first year or two, you’re going to make mistakes then improve over time.”

Guzman finally “got it” during spring drills, Posey said. Guzman spent time with the coaching staff working on understanding coverages and how he can attack specific looks.

“He was way ahead of the curve when we showed back up (in the fall),” Posey said. “He’s done a great job of owning it and you could see the light bulb was on for him.”

As a result, Conde was beginning to look Guzman’s way more and more as the receiver got open in drills. That’s translated to Friday nights.

“Posey’s helped me a lot with my route running, telling me how to get off the press coverage and how to find the holes,” Guzman said.

With a plethora of weapons on the outside which features two sophomores and two seniors, Conde has a new favorite target seemingly every week. Four different receivers have caught two touchdown passes from Conde.

Against Buena, the go-to target was Guzman. His second receiving touchdown came on a 20-yard fade route. The Blue Devils wideout got clear separation from the Colts’ cornerback and made the grab. The score put Sunnyside up 34-17 at end of the third quarter and helped clinch the team’s third consecutive win.

“He can get in and out of his routes really fast,” Conde said. “He’s able to see the field and see what is open and what isn’t open.”