Isaiah Orozco: Golden Valley’s Star Running Back

Byline photo of Brayden Brewer
Brayden Brewer, Staff Writer, Sports News
October 4, 2023
Varsity football lined up for kickoff against Garfield on September 8th.
Varsity football lined up for kickoff against Garfield on September 8th.
Sophia Walker

Golden Valley football has a new star player in the backfield. Senior running back Isaiah Orozco has been dominant this season and has continued to take his play to another level. With over 879 yards over the first seven games, Isaiah is off to an elite start to the season, driving the Golden Valley offense.

Isaiah got into football at the age of five, and has played ever since. Isaiah says playing the game of football allows him to “get away from reality and play the game I love.”

As a running back this season, he’s averaging 125.6 yards per game, and has turned into a star in the back field for the Grizzlies. So far he has scored eight touchdowns this season, which already exceeds his total of two from last year by far.

He attributes his success to the work he put in during the offseason and during summer camp, stating “As summer camp went on, I have advanced, as a player, as a person, and I’m looking to still grow out of it”.

Head football coach Dan Kelley also noticed an improvement in Isaiah’s performance, saying “He’s gotten stronger, I think he’s gotten faster, last year towards the end of the season he really started picking it up at running back, and he’s grown a lot this offseason.”

Running back isn’t the only way that Isaiah excels on the field. As head football coach Dan Kelley mentioned, “He plays a lot of roles on the football team, he’s a team captain, he’s a running back, he’s a strong safety, he’s sometimes a linebacker, he plays special teams, he plays a big role on this team.” Isaiah is a crucial part of the football team and is a true team player, willing to play any role the team needs him to, and as he states “What I strive for is to be an asset to the team.”

Isaiah says he plans to “play football at COC or wherever my path takes me.” He’ll be a great asset to anyone who he decides to play for because of his leadership qualities, hard work, and consistency that he brings to the field every day. He has consistently been a very important asset to the GV football team, and will continue to be an asset wherever he ends up in college.

Recently, in an away game against Castaic, Isaiah had 19 carries for 100 yards and punched in another touchdown run, in a 28-21 loss. He also caught 3 passes for another 51 yards, further showing his importance to the team.

Golden Valley football is 2-5 and has a game on Friday vs Canyon at Canyon High School.

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About the Contributors
Brayden Brewer
Brayden Brewer, Staff Writer
Brayden Brewer is a staff writer for the Grizzly Gazette on the Sports News Team and the captain of the baseball team here at Golden Valley. He is a senior who has played baseball all four years of high school and has a deep interest and understanding in the world of sports. Aside from sports, he loves country music and lifting weights. His favorite artist is Zach Bryan.  Brayden wants to go into sports journalism in college and continue with it as a career. He wants to cover all of the sports that he can at Golden Valley, and continues to regularly attend GV sports events. Brayden’s favorite teams are the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Kings, and his favorite baseball  players are Aaron Judge, Gerrit Cole, and Anthony Volpe. His favorite hockey player is Adrian Kempe because he is the best scorer the Kings have had since the greatest hockey player of all time, Wayne Gretzky. He also loves watching Penn State football on Saturdays and is excited for the Drew Allar era.
Sophia Walker
Sophia Walker, Staff Writer
Sophia Walker is a Staff Writer  for the Sports New Team on the Grizzly Gazette and she is in her last year of highschool. She's very passionate about writing about campus activities, student spotlight stories and community issues because she wants to be involved with everything that is happening and to be able to share what needs to be shared which is very important to her. Being a part of the Grizzly Gazette to her is extremely important because there is so much that is going on and all people need to be educated with everything in the world and our community which is very diverse and different. She loves journaling, writing their thoughts and making poems with what happens to make her feel better and researching common things going on to learn more. She also loves helping people and leading them in any way she can, she strives to help and understand anyone. She has had many hobbies including hockey, dance, tennis, volleyball, and acting. Eventually I would love to be a therapist or counselor for families, relationships, and or with any people in need of help or support.