Friday Night Final: San Gabriel knocks out Alhambra, but Arcadia, Temple City secure playoff spots; Rio Hondo easily wins Prep League title, Maranatha and South Pas, lose, likely out

KNOCK OUT PUNCH: Joseph Mayorga accounted for 145 yards and two TDs as San Gabriel likely knocked Alhambra out of the playoffs with a 15-9 victory over Moors. Photo by Larry Goren

The dominoes tumbled in the right order for some area teams, in the wrong order for others, who were likely eliminated. I use likely for schools like Alhambra, San Gabriel, Pasadena Poly, South Pasadena and Gabrielino, who finished the regular season without an automatic playoff spot. But all under new CIF-SS rules can apply for an at-large bid. CIF-SS has done away with the .500 margin elgibility. But we do know that Rio Hondo Prep is the Prep League champion and is likely the No. 2 seed for the Northeast Division. Monrovia is No. from the Rio Hondo and might receive a No. 2 seed in the Mid-Valley. San Marino clinched a playoff spot by routing South Pasadena, and Flintridge Prep is in with RHP’s win over Poly, which must play the waiting game. The clock likely struck midnight for South Pasadena, Gabrielino, Alhambra, San Gabriel, Maranatha and Duarte, whose record doesn’t appear to be good enough. I like Poly’s chance to get in in the Northeast.

FRIDAY’S SCORES
San Gabriel 15, Alhambra 9 — The Matadors, who were eliminated when Schurr beat Montebello, ended the season by also knocking out the Moors. San Gabriel got 145 yards and two TDs from Joseph Mayorga.
Crescenta Valley 23, Arcadia 7 — The Apaches needed to win to get in, but caught a break when Burbank took second in the Pacific by beating Burroughs, which also pushed Arcadia in.
San Marino 43, So. Pasadena 8 — The Titans clinched second with the win, knocking out South Pas, who at 6-4 might get an at-large bid.
Village Chr. 36, Maranatha 0 — The Minutemen’s quest to recover from an 0-5 start to make the playoffs ended with the loss to the Crusaders.
RH Prep 49, Pasadena Poly 0 — The Kares clinch the Prep League and are looking good for a divison title. Poly will play the waiting and hoping game.
Monrovia 35, Temple City 14 — Monrovia cinches the Rio Hondo League and will be a player in the Mid-Valley. Win that, and a state bowl could be in its future. Temple City takes third and will make the playoffs.
La Salle 73, Bosco Tech 3 — The Lancers complete an undefeated regular season and now take aim at a Northwest title.
Other Scores
St. Francis 34, St. Paul 14
Duarte 41, Bassett 30
La Canada 42, Blair 0

Here are your area playoff teams
Mid-Valley

Monrovia (RH champ)
San Marino
Temple City
Northeast
RH Prep (Prep champ)
Flintridge Prep
Northwest
La Salle (Del Rey champ)
Southeast
Muir (Pacific champ)
Arcadia

Possible at-large entries
Mid-Valley

Gabrielino (7-3)
South Pasadena (6-4)
Northeast
Pasadena (Poly 6-3)

FEATURED GAME
SAN GABRIEL 15, ALHAMBRA 9
By Steve Ramirez, SGVn
twitter.com/srammy8

ALHAMBRA — San Gabriel High School is likely out of the CIF-Southern Section playoffs.
The Matadors’ fate was sealed when Schurr beat rival Montebello on Friday. But there wasn’t any disappointment in San Gabriel’s camp after Joe Mayorga scored two touchdowns, the second one in the middle of the fourth quarter, to give San Gabriel a 15-9 victory over Alhambra in a Almont League game at Moor Field.
San Gabriel, getting 145 total yards from Mayorga, improved to 3-7 overall and 2-3 in league. Alhambra, which also was knocked out of an automatic bid, slipped to 4-6 and 2-3. Both teams are, in theory, eligible to apply for an at-large bid.
Ezra Broadus had 106 yards rushing to lead Alhambra.
“You (finish) on a high note,” San Gabriel coach Jude Olivia said. “All we could do, and I told the kids that all we can do is control what we can control, and that’s the result of our game. We didn’t want to worry about what everybody else was doing, but what we did.
“We talked about getting this (win) to propelling us into even the spring of next year. I’m proud of them. Yeah, it’s tough knowing your season’s over, but I’m proud of the guys tonight.”
Mayorga, who had 99 yards receiving and 46 rushing, proved to be the difference. He had a 4-yard run for a 7-6 lead during the middle of the third quarter, then after Alhambra took a 9-7 lead on a 31-yard field goal by Jorge Campos with 8:03 left, gave the Matadors the lead back.
This time he caught a pass from Marqus Valenzuela and turned it into a 73-yard catch and run for a 15-9 lead with 5:49 left. Rigoberto Sanchez caught a pass from Valenzuela on the 2-point conversion.
“We just pushed it,” Mayorga said. “We had to do all we could. It was a good play for us.
“I did a good arrow route and broke it outside. I’m just proud of my team. We’ve had a hard season, but we pushed it.”
Alhambra, which would have clinched a playoff spot with a win, looked like it might pull it out. Jermey Maresca returned the kickoff 24 yards to the Moors’ 45 and following a personal foul on San Gabriel, Alhambra was set up at the Matadors’ 40.
But Steven Garcia caught a tipped pass for an interception on the next play to give the ball back to the Matadors.
San Gabriel, most on runs by Mayorga and Garcia, then drove inside the Alhambra 25 to run out the clock and seal it.
“We gave it our shot,” Alhambra coach Jerry De Santis said. “Our offense just couldn’t get going tonight. Our defense played great. It’s not how we wanted to end up, but our kids played tough.”
The first half was a near stalemate, with Alhambra taking a 6-0 lead on an Armando Amaya 3-yard run during the middle of the second quarter.

The Moors, who held San Gabriel’s usually-potent offense to 97 yards during the first two quarters, finally got a field-position opportunity and took advantage of it in the second quarter.
Broadus, who rushed for 56 yards in the first half, had five runs for 22 yards to give Alhambra a first down at the San Gabriel 12. He then followed with runs of 6 and 1 yards to the 3 before Amaya plunged in on fourth-and-1 for the go-ahead score with 4:34 left in the half.
The Matadors’ only chance in the first half was after taking a punt at Alhambra’s 47. But San Gabriel gave it up on downs at the 34 when Valenzuela threw incomplete on fourth and 10.

Facebook Twitter Plusone Reddit Tumblr Email