There were a great slate of games tonight. Here are the recaps.
Cantwell Sacred Heart 35, Whittier Christian 28
MONTEBELLO – There was plenty of debate heading into Friday’s nonleague showdown between visiting Whittier Christian and host Cantwell Sacred Heart as to which private school boasted the area’s best small-school football program.
That argument ended emphatically as the Cardinals, ranked No. 2 in Division 10 of the CIF-Southern Section, twice jumped to 21-point leads in besting Division 11 top-ranked Whittier Christian, 35-28.
The victory makes Cantwell (5-0) the area’s last unbeaten. Daily News No. 5-ranked Whittier Christian suffered its first loss in falling to 5-1.
While the Heralds attempted to rally, they were turned away with 4:07 left in the fourth, trailing by 14.
Heralds quarterback Stephen Anderson (9-of-24 for 121 yards) was flushed from the pocket on a fourth-and-12 from the Whittier Christian 37 and picked up only 10 yards.
The turnover on downs preserved the Cardinals’ 35-21 lead.
Whittier Christian scored late on a Cody Bronkar 7-yard touchdown reception from Anderson with six seconds left to cement the score at 35-28.
The Heralds’ first touchdown of the second half came when running back Cameron Stanley (20 carries for 88 yards) rushed for a 6-yard score to cap a 12-play, 95-yard drive that brought the Heralds within 35-21 with 10:50 remaining.
Cantwell wasted little time in blitzing Whittier Christian in the first half, 35-14.
After surrendering an opening touchdown, the Cardinals responded with 28 straight points.
Quarterback Christian Espinoza connected on a pair of touchdown passes to junior receivers Adam Aguirre and Corey Collins.
Aguirre (five receptions for 121 yards) showed off his skills at the 11:47 mark in the second with Cantwell already up 14-7.
Espinoza (11 of 23 for 205 yards and four touchdowns) hit Aguirre on a short slant for 7 yards at the Cardinals’ 37 when Aguirre spun, broke a tackle, and then raced for a 70-yard touchdown.
The duo later hooked up with 14 seconds left on a 6-yard fade that put the Cardinals up 21 heading into the half.
The Cardinals tied the score 7-7 on their opening possession when Espinoza hooked up with Corey Collins on a 21-yard scoring pass play.
After a Heralds’ three-and-out, Espinoza gave the Cardinals the lead for good with a 2-yard touchdown flip to Collins at 2:28 that put Cantwell ahead 14-7 after the point after.
Cantwell’s other score might have been its most spectacular as running back Jonathan Mesa (21 carries for 166 yards) took a direct snap on a fake punt on a fourth-and-26 and scored from 42 yards out.
The Heralds opened the game in grand fashion when Anderson scrambled on the second play from scrimmage 59 yards to the Cantwell 5. The Heralds scored four plays later on Escobar’s 3-yard carry.
Montebello 27, California 24
WHITTIER – For the third consecutive game, the Montebello Oilers’ defense was given the task of holding onto a late second-half lead.
This time, however, the Oilers’ defense rose to the occasion, stopping California (0-5) on fourth down with 12 seconds remaining to secure a 27-24 nonleague victory Friday night.
“The key to our defense was that we played aggressive tonight,” said Oilers coach Pete Gonzalez.
That aggressiveness forced Condors quarterback Drew Castro out of the pocket all night and sacked him twice.
Montebello’s defense came up big late in the second quarter when Angel Piedra blocked a Condors field-goal attempt and Sean Gonzales scooped up the loose ball and returned it 78 yards for a touchdown to give Montebello a 13-10 halftime lead.
Montebello (1-4) extended its lead when senior fullback Michael Aguilar rambled 42 yards up the middle to make the score 20-10 with 9:25 remaining in the third quarter.
California, however, came right back on the ensuing possession, going 78 yards on 15 plays, capped off with Castro connecting with senior wideout Maximo Gonzales on a 28-yard touchdown pass with 2:26 remaining in the third quarter to make the score 20-17 in favor of Montebello.
Early in the fourth quarter, the teams exchanged punts, and with 10:02 remaining in the quarter, Montebello took advantage of a bad Condors punt.
Starting from California’s 24-yard line, Oilers senior quarterback Fernando Hoffens found junior wide receiver George Romo wide open down the left sideline with a touchdown pass to give Montebello a 27-17 lead with 9:55 remaining in the game.
California came within a field goal when Castro connected again with Gonzales, this time on a 10-yard pass to make the score 27-24 with 2:15 remaining in the game.
Santa Fe 24, Downey 21
WHITTIER – Alex Mirola scored on a 2-yard run with 27.3 seconds left in the game that proved the difference in Santa Fe’s 24-21 nonleague victory over Downey at Pioneer High School on Friday night.
Mirola’s score capped a 13-play, 60-yard drive that was set up when Ricardo Saldivar recovered a fumble by Downey’s Kyle Lewis at the Santa Fe 40. Mirola finished with 26 carries for 132 yards and the score.
Downey (3-2) made one last attempt, starting at its own 27 with 26.9 seconds left, and got the ball to their 49. On a second-down play, Downey attempted a Hail Mary with 3.3 seconds left, and Santa Fe (2-3) was called for pass interference, which gave Downey one last chance from the Chiefs’ 36.
On the last play, Dallas Lopez completed a 24-yard pass to Robert Moss, but Santa Fe secured the win when Moss was forced out of bounds at the Chiefs’ 12.
Downey took a 21-17 lead on a 95-yard scoring pass from Lopez to Isaac Den with 9:53 left in the fourth. Lopez finished 9 of 18 for 182 yards and two touchdowns. Santa Fe quarterback Justin Rincon was 9 of 19 for 114 yards and no touchdowns.
Downey took a 7-0 lead on a 15-yard Lewis run with 9:13 left in the first. Then Santa Fe took a 14-7 lead on two touchdowns by Gael Esparza – a 1-yard run with 3:26 left in the half and a 2-yard run with 1:33 left that was set up by an interception by Ernesto Ledesma.
Santa Fe’s Steven Hernandez had five catches for 73 yards.
La Mirada 48, John Glenn 6
LA MIRADA – La Mirada High School’s impressive defense led the host Matadores to a 48-6 Suburban League victory over Glenn on Friday.
The Matadores’ defense controlled the tempo of the game and was a major factor in taking a 34-0 lead at halftime and keeping Glenn (0-6, 0-2) winless.
Isaac Luatua and Zach Ponce of La Mirada (3-3, 2-0) each returned fumbles for touchdowns.
Junior Reuben Poncedelon also had a 47-yard punt return in the first half.
The defensive line sacked Eagles quarterback Anthony Escobar five times and limited him to six completions in 13 attempts.
Dejon Bernard’s accounted for Glenn’s scoring with a third-quarter touchdown.
The Matadores offense lost its enthusiasm but maintained the impressive lead in the second half even after backup quarterback Jeremy Shirley replaced starter Shane Blood, who completed all five pass attempts for 50 yards.
Salesian 20, Pioneer 16
LOS ANGELES – With seconds left in the fourth quarter and the game on the line, a series of incomplete passes doomed Whittier High School in its 20-16 nonleague loss to Salesian on Friday night.
The Cardinals (0-5) began the final drive of the game on their own 5-yard line and made their way to the Salesian 38 with the help of a 28-yard run by Christopher Barclay.
Whittier quarterback Michael Viramontes struggled throughout the drive, completing only 1 of 6 passes, including an interception that was negated by a Salesian penalty. Viramontes finished 4 of 16 for 20 yards.
Cardinals running back Javier Ornelas ran for 85 yards and two touchdowns. With 34 seconds left in the first quarter, Ornelas scored on a 63-yard run to make it 9-0. Kevin Medina had kicked a 23-yard field goal to open the scoring.
Salesian, however, controlled the second quarter to take a 13-9 halftime lead.
Whittier’s other touchdown came on a 7-yard run by Ornelas with 8 minutes left in the third to give the Cardinals a 16-13 lead, but Salesian (4-2) pulled ahead again on a 29-yard pass from Jihad Vercher to Francisco Ascencio.
El Rancho 33, Fontana 14
PICO RIVERA – Call it “road rage reversal.”
El Rancho High School took advantage of freeway-weary Fontana in a 33-14 nonleague victory Friday.
The Dons (4-1) drove down the middle of the field on their first three possessions and totaled 205 yards, all on the ground, to take a 20-0 lead in the first half. Fontana’s blue-collar Steelers (0-5) may have been frustrated by a long drive to the game. They arrived just 15 minutes before kickoff.
Andrew Romero was the primary driving force for the Dons, who are ranked fourth by the Daily News.
Romero scored the Dons’ first touchdown on a 25-yard run that capped an 80-yard drive that took just six plays and 2:10 off the clock. Mark Lopez set up the score with a 41-yard end run to the Steelers’ 32-yard line. Alan Infante had the first of three extra-point kicks.
Romero also scored on a 2-yard dive with five minutes left in the first half and went on to finish the night with 77 yards in 13 carries.
Ronnel Lone had 55 yards on 11 attempts, including a 15-yard scoring run that concluded the Dons’ scoring.
The Dons’ defensive line was impressive in allowing only two long plays for touchdowns by the Steelers. The line was anchored by two-way performer Alfred Villanueva, a 6-foot-1, 275-pounder, Jordan Barron, Raul Orihuela and Edwin Chavez.
The secondary intercepted four passes, including two by Freddy Garcia and one each by Leonard Baldwin and Lopez.
St. Paul 42, Schurr 7
SANTA FE SPRINGS – With an overwhelming effort by the offensive line, St. Paul High School defeated visiting Schurr 42-7 in a nonleague game Friday night.
St. Paul’s offensive line of Cristian Garcia, Paul Governale, Greg Gilmore, Rick Garcia and David Pilkington paved the way for Michael Ortega to gain 257 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries and David Cabral to gain 131 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries.
St. Paul completed its nonleague schedule with a 4-1 record. Schurr dropped to 2-3.
On the game’s opening drive, the Swordsmen gained 69 yards on eight plays, with Cabral scoring the touchdown on a 7-yard run.
The long-gaining play was a 30-yard run by Cabral in the middle of the drive.
After Schurr punted late in the second quarter, St. Paul drove 46 yards in three plays to take a 14-0 lead on Ortega’s 34-yard run with 3:22 left in the first half.
The Spartans then drove to the St. Paul 6 in a drive featuring four passes from Aaron Cantu, of which the longest were 10 yards to Alejandro Castro and 17 yards to Gabriel Escobar, before losing the ball on downs with two seconds left in the half.
St. Paul’s four touchdowns in the second half were preceded by interceptions by Gabriel Gonzalez and Albert Llamas, a fumble recovery by Cabral and a blocked punt by Alex Sanchez.
The resulting touchdowns were scored by Ortega on a 90-yard run, Cabral on runs of 2 and 5 yards, and Peter Echeverria on a 4-yard run.
Schurr’s Bradley Powell scored the game’s final touchdown on an 80-yard run with 3:21 remaining.
