OTHELLO — The Othello Huskies got off to a hot start for their 2026 football season as they beat the Ellensburg Bulldogs 24-0 Friday evening. This victory marked both the start of the season and a new era of Othello football with new head coach Jerome Learman. 

“I thought we did a lot of things well, I’m pleased with our effort,” said Huskies Head Coach Jerome Learman. “We obviously made a lot of mistakes too. We didn’t make one PAT or two-point conversion, so we have a lot to fix, but your biggest improvement should be from game one to game two.” 

Junior quarterback Noah Ozuna led the Huskies offense with rushing touchdowns.  

“I’m feeling great,” he said. “I mean, there’s no other way, I just feel amazing.” 

The game started out with a tight first quarter as the Huskies and the Bulldogs battled to earn the first score of the season. A strong defensive effort from both teams kept both teams scoreless by the end of the first quarter. 

Othello became the first to score late in the second quarter as Ozuna found an opening and punched himself in for a touchdown. When Ellensburg returned their offense to the field, the Huskies defense held strong and kept the opposition scoreless to keep the game at 6-0 going into halftime. 

Returning from halftime, the Huskies received the kick and quickly turned it into points on the board as junior running back Cain Gonzalez scored a rushing touchdown. After putting up another defensive stop, the Huskies began to march downfield and got deep into Bulldogs territory before the end of the third. 

Going into the fourth quarter, Othello was in the redzone when an altercation broke out between a player from the Huskies and a player from the Bulldogs. This resulted in both players being ejected from the game. 

This didn’t slow down the Huskies as Ozuna quickly ran in for another touchdown. After Ellensburg received the kick, Othello’s Armoni Zuniga-Mendez intercepted the ball which resulted in a third rushing touchdown by Ozuna. 

“I wanted to run somebody over so bad,” said Ozuna. “I’ve been called small for my height, I wasn’t the biggest guy in the world, but I just wanted to run somebody over, that’s what I came in to do. I watched a Marshawn Lynch highlight and he said, ‘You run through somebody, they don’t want to be hit again,’ and that’s what my mindset is.” 

Othello remained strong on defense, holding the opposition scoreless through the final seconds of the game to earn the 24-0 victory. 

Learman said he was very pleased in the offensive efforts from Ozuna and junior running back Cain Gonzalez. With the help of the offensive line, both Ozuna and Gonzalez found opportunities to run for large gains of yardage. 

The coach said he was also proud of the defensive efforts to shut out Ellensburg. 

“Defense was just lights out all night,” he said. “I don’t know what (Ellensburg’s) yardage was, but they got very few first downs.” 

As Othello moves into week two for their season, Learman said he wants the team to focus on their growth mentality and even with a dominant game, know that there is still room for improvement. Coming out of the home opener with a win is a great accomplishment for the team, but he still wants them to focus one week at a time. 

“Obviously, the goal this week was to beat Ellensburg and you kind of got 24 hours to celebrate that and then you’ve got to start getting ready to beat Prosser, who’s a great team,” said the coach after Friday’s game.  

Ozuna said Friday’s win is a great head start for their season as the Huskies work to prove themselves. Earning a shutout victory proves their abilities and that they have what it takes to beat anyone this season.  

“I want to prove to people that we’re better than what people think we are,” he said. “I also owe it to myself, I work too hard to have anything other than greatness come out.” 

The Huskies will test their strength on the road as they face Prosser Thursday at 7 p.m. 

BOX SCORE 

OTHL: 0-6-12-6: 24 

ELLN: 0-0-0-0: 0 

ROSTER 

Jersey, Name, Position, Grade 

2 Noah Ozuna QB/DB 11 

3 Tyler Suarez  WR/DB 11  

4 Jonah Garza QB/DB 9  

5 Jonah Hahn WR/DB 12  

6 Bentley Pena WR/DB 11  

7 Cain Gonzales RB/LB 11  

8 Isaac Roylance WR/LB 10  

9 Sammy Marroquin WR/DB 11  

10 Brayden DeLeon WR/DB 10  

12 C Noah Gonzalez WR/DB 10  

16 Dominic Mendez QB/LB 10  

18H/81A Eddie Gonzalez RB/DL 10  

21 ** Miguel Sandoval  RB/LB 12  

22 AJ Gonzalez RB/LB 12  

24 Abisai Chavez RB/LB 11  

26 Jesus Farias WR/DB 9  

28 Caleb Giles RB/LB 10  

30 Jeremiah Lemus-DeLeon WR/DB 9  

31 Bo Jorgensen TE/LB 11  

32 Abel Cantu RB/LB 12  

34 Armoni Zuniga-Mendez WR/DL 12  

38 Jacob Hensley RB/LB 10  

40 Shane Perez RB/LB 11  

42 LJ Nunez WR/DB 11  

44 Weston Peters WR/DB 9  

46 Donny Suarez RB/LB 11  

50 Ino Uresti OL/DL 9  

51 Leonidas Perez OL/DL 11  

52 Robert Arrieta OL/DL 12  

54 JD Rico Torres OL/DL 12  

55 Isaac Garza OL/DL 9  

58 Joshua Garza OL/DL 11  

60 Cashes Garza OL/DL 9  

62 Kipton Sams OL/DL 10  

64 Jayden Rojas OL/DL 11  

66 C Elliot Mitchell OL/DL 11  

67 Justin Arroyo Lugo OL/DL 9  

68 Xavier Capetillo OL/DL 11  

70 Travis McIndoe OL/DL 9  

72 Aiden Valdez OL/DL 12  

75 Alex Munoz OL/DL 12  

76 Kason Alvarez OL/DL 12  

77 Ozais Martinez Villegas OL/DL 10  

78 Fabian Zuniga OL/DL 10  

79 Neymar Andrade OL/DL 9  

80 Austyn Miller WR/DB 12  

82 Andres Silva OL/DL 9  

83 DJ Galvez WR/DB 9  

84 Brenden Ditton OL/DL 10  

85 Ben Fonseca OL/DL 9  

88 Andrez Jimenez WR/LB 11  

90 Juan Rodriguez Jr OL/DL 12  

99 Brooks Sly WR/DL 9

    Cain Gonzalez, a junior running back from Othello, sprints past the Ellensburg defense to gain a first down Friday night.
  

    Huskies sophomore Isaac Roylance pushes into a Bulldogs defender after catching their punt Friday.
  

    Othello’s sophomore offensive lineman Elliot Mitchell (66) lifts up his quarterback Noah Ozuna after he scored a rushing touchdown against Ellensburg.
  

    Sammy Marroquin, a junior for Othello, prepares to kick during Friday’s game against Ellensburg.
  

    The Ellensburg Bulldogs defense lines up against the Othello Huskies offense as they prepare to snap the ball Friday night.