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TONIGHT’S RESULTS WITH COMMENTARY
Monrovia 38, Temple City 21 — Temple City was stymied by questionable first-half penalties. Two pass interferences and a fumble that wasn’t? Craig Brown returned a 37-yard fumble to give Monrovia a 19-7 lead. That fumble came after Temple City quarterback Justin Smith threw a pass to Andrew Torres, who had the ball bounce off his chest and onto the ground before Brown picked it up. The whistle never blew, much to the chagrin of Temple City coach Anthony White. C’mon! If not for those penalties the Rams are in it in the second half. Despite a 73-yard touchdown pass from Nick Bueno to De’Shawn Ramirez, I thought Monrovia played a stale first half. Their special teams need some work. Monrovia was lucky to be leading 19-14 heading into halftime. Temple City showed a lot of heart, especially in the closing seconds. Torres caught a 47-yard touchdown pass from Smith in the closing seconds of the second quarter to pull the Rams within 19-17. The pass from Smith came with less than five seconds to go and bounced off Monrovia’s Jay Henderson and Charlie Cimmarusti before falling into Torres’ hands. Temple City got within 26-21 after Smith connected on a 37-yard touchdown pass to David Spratt. Ramirez finished with 136 yards rushing and scored on runs of 68 and 44 yards. Smith completed 12 of 26 passes for 203 yards and two touchdowns but he also had three interceptions. Max Ruckle, aside from his 46-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, was nonexistent. The San Gabriel Valley’s leading-rusher was stuffed for 80 yards.
San Marino 41, South Pasadena 14 — Stephen Yortsos caught three of quarterback Joe Forgatch’s four touchdown passing to lead San Marino High School to a 41-14 Rio Hondo League victory over South Pasadena at Ray Solari Stadium on Friday night. “San Marino just cleaned our clock. They deserve all the credit. They’re a very good team,” South Pasadena coach Edward Smith said. The victory gave San Marino (6-1, 1-1) its first league victory as well as the inaugural ownership of the Crowley Cup, a newly-instituted trophy that will now go to the victor of this long-standing rivalry. The cup’s namesake, Paul Crowley, was in attendance at the game, as he has been at each of the 55 games in the series, starting in 1955. Yortos had touchdown receptions of 66, 10 and 30 yards for the Titans, all in the first half. Yortos accounted for 23 first-half points by also kicking all five of the PATs. The senior led all receivers with 7 catches for 150 yards. He also had 46 yards rushing on three carries.
Rio Hondo Prep 43 Chadwick 7 — The highly anticipated showdown of the unbeatens proved to be a Rio Hondo Prep rout. The Kares, behind five rushing touchdowns by four different players, improved to 2-0 in league and 7-0 overall with a 43-7 rout of Chadwick in a Prep League game Friday night. Chadwick, ranked No. 1 before the game, fell to 1-1 in league and 6-1 overall. The only number that will matter to the Dolphins coaching staff will be 310 — the number of rushing yards their defense gave up to the physical Kares’ line.
St. Francis 27, Loyola 23 — Travis Talianko caught a 3-yard touchdown pass with 11 seconds left in the game to lift the Golden Knights at L.A. Valley College. St. Francis quarterback Justin Posthuma had 229 yards total offense to lead the Golden Knights. He rushed for 74 yards and one score and passed for 155 yards. He completed 13 of 19 pass attempts, including a second touchdown pass of 10 yards to Dietrich Riley — who also rushed for 84 yards — earlier in the game. The Golden Knights’ comeback bid started when linebacker Ryan McAleenan intercepted Loyola quarterback Jerry Neuheisel with 4:30 left in the game. Neuheisel, the son of UCLA football coach Rick Neuheisel, completed 14 of 21 passes for 202 yards and two scores.
Pasadena 48, Glendale 0 — Pasadena High School racked up 432 rushing yards in a brand-new double-wing offense, defeating visiting Glendale
Alhambra 32, Montebello 27 — Senior quarterback Darrian Cazarin passed for 338 yards and three touchdowns and also ran three yards for the game-winning score with just 36 seconds remaining, giving the Moors a come-from-behind 32-27 win over Montebello.
La Canada 42, Blair 6 — Spartans quarterback Rocky Moore’s five touchdown passes, which totaled 129 yards, gave him a school-record 31 for his La Caada career. Teammate Michael Arkfeld led the Spartans in scoring with two touchdown receptions.
Burroughs 35, Arcadia 25 — Burroughs High School’s Tyler Tilton returned a fumble recovery 98 yards to help lead the Indians to a 35-25 victory over Arcadia in Pacific League play on Friday night. On fourth down from the Burroughs 1-yard line, Arcadia quarterback Garrett Tuck rolled out to his right side, was hit and fumbled the ball on the 2. Tilton picked the ball up on the run and went untouched to the end zone to break open a close contest, giving the Indians a 35-19 lead. Five Apaches turnovers proved to be costly.
Rosemead 41, Moutain View 7 — Matt Fregoso had an impressive third quarter and almost single-handedly was the difference as Rosemead routed winless Mountain View. Fregoso scored four touchdowns and accounted for 98 of his 163 rushing yards in the decisive third quarter. With Rosemead (2-5, 1-1) entering the third quarter holding on to a slim 14-7 lead, Fregoso took it upon himself to lead the way.
Schurr 28, Keppel 7 — The Spartans took advantage of Aztecs miscues and roughed up Keppel en route to a 21-0 halftime lead in an Almont League game Friday night. “We couldn’t get anything going early,” first-year head coach Bobby Madrid said. “They were just physical and kicked our butts in the first half. Unfortunately, you can’t do that against Schurr or anybody else in our league.” The Aztecs (1-6, 0-2) went to backup quarterback Henry Ahn in the second half. He threw an 18-yard TD pass to Edson Pena in the fourth quarter.
San Gabriel 49, Bell Gardens 28 — The monkey is definitely off San Gabriel High School’s back. Until two years ago, the Matadors had never won a football game at Bell Gardens. Friday night in an Almont League game, they made it two in a row over the Lancers, and three consecutive including last year’s win at San Gabriel, with a 49-28 victory. The Matadors held a four-point lead at the half, but kept the Lancers (5-2 overall, 1-1 in league) scoreless in the second half.
Maranatha 35, Montclair Prep 16 — Maranatha began the season 0-2, but the Minutemen have gradually begun to grasp coach Joel Murphy’s new schemes. Friday, the Minutemen won their fourth consecutive with a 35-16 victory over host Montclair Prep game in an Alpha League contest at Pierce College. “We’re kind of catching our stride,” Murphy said. “The kids are obviously understanding and believing in it. It’s just the little things. The way we warm up and finish a game. But I like our progress. We’re doing good things, but we’re not at our potential yet.” The Minutemen (4-0 in league) took a 35-0 lead into the fourth quarter. The Cavaliers (1-6, 1-3) scored on a pair of big plays.
