Inside the Win: La Quinta makes second-half shift, James Madden Ruberg dominates

THOUSAND PALMS, Calif. (KESQ) – The La Quinta Blackhawks have finished the regular season 6-4 overall and 5-0 in the Desert Empire League. The Blackhawks took the DEL title in Week 10 against Xavier Prep, but wanted to take back the flag in their annual Flag Game against Palm Desert on Friday.

It wasn't the easiest game for La Quinta, as the Blackhawks were down 21-6 early in the third quarter. But after halftime, something shifted in this team and players stepped up to take the win 36-28.

"We had a tough time in that first half," La Quinta head coach Juan Ramon Ruiz said. "But second half, I told both O-line and D-line, 'It's up to you guys. You guys need to step up.' And they did. They did. Proud of them."

While the linemen stepped up for La Quinta, their star running back in James Madden Ruberg cannot be ignored. Ruberg put up three touchdowns in the second half of the game, one of them breaking the 28-28 tie with Palm Desert.

Ruberg joined the Blackhawks late this season, coming off knee surgery. Coming into the game with Palm Desert, Ruberg played just four games this season with six touchdowns. He stepped onto the field for the Blackhawks, and played like he never left.

For head coach Ramon Ruiz, he's proud of the second-half effort and hopes they can expand it to four quarters of strong play heading into the playoffs.

"We're the heart attack kids," Ramon Ruiz said. "We came out and we're a second half team, I guess. One day we're going to put four quarters together and we're going to be unstoppable."

Stay with News Channel 3 for continuing coverage of high school football and for Inside the Win with Kendall Flynn every Saturday throughout the football season.