JR. GREMLIN FLAG

La Cañada Gladiators v. Temple City Rams

(Teams do not keep Score)

The La Canada Gladiator Jr. Gremlins closed out their season with a fantastic performance against the Temple City Rams at La Canada High School last Sunday.

Quarterback Maddox Freeman had a great game throwing for 100 yards including a 45-yard touchdown pass to Harrison Schloessman, and making heads up plays on defense. Running back Jake Lee had 45 rushing yards and one touchdown. Andrew Sibbrell rushed and received for offensive gains, and dove for defensive stops. Alec Heberger’s constant pressure and alert play strengthened the Gladiators with pulled flags in the backfield and a 1^st quarter interception that established the tone of the game.

Sebastian Pascuzzo was extremely effective for the Jr. Gremlins, stacking up flags and quarterback sacks against the Rams. Aaron Matthews and Joseph Padilla had very sound defensive performances. LC’s offensive and defensive lines: Luke Danni, Matthew Merrill, Jackson Radabaugh, Jaymes Hale-Dietlein, Liam Pasten, Andrew Ortiz, Carter Freeman, Gunner Herman, Abraham Saleah, Izacc Alzaga-Servin and Flynn Millstein are all to be commended for a first-rate team effort.

The Gladiators had a season filled with rugged competitive play, dedication and exemplary sportsmanship. Congratulations Jr. Gremlins!

Gremlins

La Cañada 8, El Sereno 13

No Report Received.

Jr. Pee Wee – PLAYOFF

La Cañada 21, Huntington Park Spartans 6

On Sunday, at La Canada High School, the Gladiator Jr. Pee Wee defeated a tough Huntington Park Spartan squad 21-6 in the playoff quarterfinals. Next week the Gladiators will travel to Walnut High School to take on the Covina Vikings in the semi-final-round of playoffs. This will be the second meeting of the Gladiators and Vikings. On October 18, 2014 the Gladiators handed the Vikings their only defeat of the season in a tough 25-15 game.

Pee Wee – PLAYOFF

La Cañada 18, Pico Rivera Dons 30

The LC Gladiator PeeWee squad travelled to Pico Rivera to take on the undefeated Dons in the playoffs on Sunday.  The Gladiators fell after a spirited and hard-fought performance, 30-18.

The Pee Wees got off to a slow start, failing to score on the game’s first possession, and then giving up a score on their first defensive possession. They played ball control the next time they were on offense, chewing up some clock but failing again to score.  The first quarter ended with Dons leading 8-0.

The Dons added to their lead early in the second quarter, but then the Gladiator offense got down to business.  Duncan Sprengel, Kilian Trulik, Luke Waters, Ryan Villalobos, and Adam Griffin pushed the Dons off the line of scrimmage.  Runners Chase Center, Colby Rees, and Aaron Garcia softened Pico Rivera with short, but effective runs.  After Rees converted on a Fourth and one from Pico’s 25 yard line, Center faked a handoff and hit Zeal Shumate in the left flat.  The speedy Shumate raced passed the surprised Dons, and the Gladiators were on the board.  The impressive drive totaled 70 yards on 13 plays, consuming 5:36 of the second quarter.

Following the drive, the defense stepped up.  Playing a 3-4, defensive linemen Lucas Ponce, Mher Baranian, and Anton Verheyen stood their ground, while outside linebackers Max Grant and Max Herman turned up field to disrupt the Dons’ offensive intent.  Taking to the air on third and long, corners Samuel Galeano and Jacob Martinez resembled a blanket, and Pico was forced to punt.

Getting the ball back at their own 32 yard line with just 2:56 left in the first half, the Gladiators staged a furious drive for the equalizing score.  Center scrambled for 20 yards to the Don 40 yard line with just 29 seconds left, then passed to Shumate for another 15 to the 22 yard line.  A Shumate run brought the ball to the ten yard line, but the half ran out as the Gladiators struggled to get off a final play.  Still, the first half ended with the Gladiators in great shape, down 14-6.

The second half started fast for Pico, and the Gladiators started their first possession of the third quarter down 22-6.  The offense sputtered on its first possession, but the Gladiator defense rose up, turning back the Dons again.  The Gladiators were driving again on offense, but a 10 yard pass from Center to Shumate fell just short of a first down and, as the third quarter clocked ticked away, it looked like the Dons, were poised to take control of the game.  But Sam Galeano rose up and made a spectacular interception in the quarter’s final seconds.  The quarter ended with the Gladiators very much alive, trailing 22-6.

The fourth quarter saw a never-say-die Gladiator team attempt a furious comeback.  With the ball and the clock on their side, Pico was driving again when Max Grant stepped up with a huge sack and then, on the next play, Duncan Sprengel fought through a crowd to recover a fumble and put the PeeWees back in business.  An energized offensive line resumed its push, and Center, Rees and Zeal mixed hard drives through the line with short passes.  Big plays on the 52-yard drive were a fourth down catch that Shumate hung onto after absorbing a big hit, a dramatic pass from Rees to Center on a slant route that carried the ball to the three, and Max Herman reaching high to pull down a three yard touchdown pass, his first of the season.

With three minutes left in the game, the score was 22-12.

Undefeated Pico seemed to put the game away shortly after, when they scored quickly, and led 30-12 with 2 minutes remaining.  But the Gladiators refused to die.  Again the line pushed and again the Gladiators moved the ball.  When Center scrambled away from the Pico pass rush and broke free for a 35-yard touchdown run, La Canada was riding high and Pico Rivera was looking concerned.

The ensuing onside kick, with just 1:12 remaining, took a fortunate home town bounce and the Pico Rivera Dons, having lost a number of battles, finally won the war, 30-18.

The La Canada Gladiator PeeWee team walked off the gridiron with their heads held high and a cheer from the fans of both teams.

Jr. Midgets

La Canada 0, Claremont Wolfpack 14

No Report Received.

Midget

La Cañada 34, East Los Angeles Bulldogs 8

The La Canada Gladiator Midget won its final game of the regular season on Sunday evening at La Canada High School 34-8 over the visiting East Los Angeles Bulldogs and finished the regular season with a record of 7-1.

In the first quarter the Bulldogs started the game with an unexpected onside kick that was recovered by the Bulldog kick off team.  The ensuing East LA drive was stopped at the 8 yard line by a strong Gladiator defense led by Daniel Cho, Beau Hobbie, and William Stewart.  On La Canada’s very first play from scrimmage, Jahlique Stephens took the ball on a pitch from quarterback Tyrone Clark and ran 92 yards around left end for the Gladiators first score.  Clark was stopped short of the goal line on the conversion attempt.  The remainder of the quarter had the Gladiator defense on the field as La Canada ran only 2 plays from scrimmage during the entire 1st quarter.

Another goal line stand by the Gladiator defense, culminating with an interception by Carson Okland in the Bulldog end zone stopped the Bulldog drive.  A penalty negated a 95 yard screen pass to Beau Hobbie for a score.  The Gladiators, however, could not be stopped and marched down the field on a variety of pass plays by Clark.  Clark hit Artis Candler for a 40 yard pass.  Clark hit Candler again for a 15 yard gain, and Clark threw his final pass which was a 35 yard strike to Ricardo Pena who fought his way into the end zone for a touchdown.  Stephens took the ball across the goal line to put the Gladiators a-head 14-0.

Late in the second quarter an interception by Stephens was returned 35 yards all the way to the Bulldogs 25 yard line.  Davion Rutherford took the ball on a reverse and scored another Gladiator TD.  The conversion was successful as Clark hit Okland in the end zone with a pass making the half time score 22-0.

In the third quarter the Gladiator defense was once gain on the field for most of the period.  Pena, James Smith, Lawrence Palmer, Jack Stellwagen, Cole Beadles, Jason Watson, Isaac Faulkner, Charlie Daves, Carson Palmer, Louis Menacho, Ruben Munoz and Jacob Erdmier played tough on the line for the Gladiator defense.  Okland had another interception to stop a Bulldog drive deep in Gladiator territory. The Bulldogs did, however, manage a score to cut the Gladiator lead to 22-8.

The final quarter was controlled by La Canada and marked by a La Canada drive that ended in a 28 yard run by Stephens for another touchdown.  A pass attempt to Michael Leyva for the conversion over the middle was not successful, but the Gladiators were comfortably ahead 28-8.  On the final play of the game, Candler intercepted a Bulldog pass and returned the ball over 60 yards for a score ending the game. The final score was 34-8.

Next week the Midgets travel to Walnut High School to take on the Charter Oak Chargers in the semi-finals on Sunday, November 16^th.