By Seth AMITIN

It was a long season, filled with brutal injuries for Crescenta Valley High’s football team, that ended on a sour
note.

An overwhelming number of injuries to the team’s core cost them and after starting 4-1 on the season, the Falcons limped to the finish line with five straight losses, their final one against Arcadia, 35-17, on Friday.

“The schedule helped and hurt us,” said first-year Head Coach Paul Schilling. “We came out 4-1 and then lost five straight. We were better than we played at times.

“It was a learning experience, especially in people work [for me] and the business side.”

Despite losing to Arcadia, the Falcons were up 17-14 at the half and “ran out of gas,” as Schilling said, in the second half.

“We prepared for [Arcadia quarterback Myles Carr] and the son of a gun still made the plays,” said Schilling.

Carr, a junior, threw for 197 yards and three touchdowns on 14 of 20 passing. His rushing counterpart, sophomore running back Sheldon McKinley, ran for 83 yards on 18 carries.

Crescenta Valley had the lead at the half. CV’s Kevin Fernandez ran in a 20-yarder for a touchdown in the first quarter and guard Bryan Luna, the team’s leading tackler, ran in a second one, a 30-yard gain, in the second quarter on a trick play.

A field goal put the Falcons up 17-14 at the half.

But Arcadia came out strong in the second half, capping a 12-play drive with a five-yard touchdown pass. On the ensuing drive, CV got to midfield when quarterback Paul Perugini threw an interception. That was the closest the Falcons got to a touchdown in the second half.

Arcadia added two more scores to put the game away.

On the season, Falcons running back Marro Lee led the team on offense with 109 yards rushing (and total yards) per game. Lee injured his thumb against Hoover on Oct. 8, an injury that ended up costing Lee the rest of the season.

In his place, Mark Sereno and Sean Johnson picked up the slack, but Johnson fell to injury against Burbank on Nov. 5.

Overall, Schilling said the season was a success and complimented his players.

“These guys are awesome,” he said. “There’s some tears now, but two weeks from now, we’ll talk about all the good times this season.”

  cvhs football, Sports