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La Cañada Gladiators 21 – Baldwin Park Roadrunners 0

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Gremlins

La Cañada 26 – Baldwin Park Roadrunners 0

The La Cañada Gladiators Gremlins visited the Baldwin Park Road Runners on Sunday, Sept. 16 at noon at Baldwin Park High School. The game broke open in the first quarter when La Cañada scored two unanswered touchdowns and followed in the second quarter with two more scores to put the game out of reach. La Cañada won 26-0.

La Cañada came out running, with Liam Pasten gaining ground on quarterback runs of 7 and 15 yards. A run by Christopher Spears put the Gladiators in the red zone, and the drive capped off with Pasten scoring on a run. Adrian (“AJ”) Garcia scored the 1-pt conversion to give the Gladiators a 7-0 lead.

The Gladiators kept their feet on the gas scoring on their next possession on some brilliant running from Spears, Pasten, and Emil Mejia, who finished the drive with a brilliant run left for 20 yards and a touchdown. The conversion failed, but the Gladiators were up 13-0. A punt by the Road Runners set up the Gladiators next offensive score, with Christian (“CJ”) Mattmann returning a punt 35 yards nearly for a score to close out the first quarter. The second quarter began with a dazzling15 yard run by Mattmann along the left side hash for a touchdown to put the Gladiators up 19-0 after missing a conversion attempt. The Gladiators closed out the first half scoring with a long touchdown pass from Pasten to Thomas DeLucia on a tight end go route for 40 yards giving the Gladiators a 26-0 lead.

The Road Runners were never able to get their offense going. The Road Runners only advanced past the Gladiators 50-yard line two times in the second half and three times overall in the game. Their only sustained drive was cut short on a pass interception by Mattmann in the third quarter.

The offensive/defensive line, including Matthew Merril, Spencer Turner, Linus Lund, Derek Flores, Dixon Womack, and Phoenix Vengco, all contributed greatly to the team’s success.

The Gladiator Gremlins play their next game against Rosemead on Sunday, Sept. 23, at 10 a.m. at La Cañada High School.

Junior Pee Wee

La Cañada 19 – Baldwin Park 20

On Sunday afternoon at Baldwin Park High School the La Cañada Jr. Pee Wees fell to 0-2 on the season with a heart breaking 20-19 loss to the Baldwin Park Roadrunners.

In the first half the Gladiators Defense held the Roadrunners to seven points behind the defensive line play of Jimmy Spears, Laz Tio, Diego Ortiz, Daniel Damaryan, Joe Martinez, and Cayden Klein. Linebackers Scotty Carey, Crowley Sullivan, and Kenyan Collins were also tough against the run. Kenyan Collins split time at linebacker and defensive end where he scored on an incredible 55-yard interception return after a sack by Spears that popped the ball into the air. Collins deftly pulled the ball from the air and outran the entire Baldwin Park defense to the endzone, and with a 1-pt conversion by Desi “DJ” Valdes, the Gladiators evened it up at 7-7 heading into halftime.

In the early third quarter the Gladiators took the lead on a 5-yard touchdown run up the middle. After the failed conversion, the Gladiators were up 13-7. Late in the quarter Baldwin Park tied the score on a touchdown pass and went ahead following the conversion 14-13.

The Roadrunner lead wouldn’t last long as the Gladiators surged ahead again thanks to a 50-yard touchdown drive led by Crowley Sullivan and the outstanding blocking of offensive linemen Jarrett Khachikian, Diego Ortiz, Gavin Gates, Justin Kong, and Joe Martinez, and capped off with a 15 yard touchdown run by Scott Carey. The Gladiators unfortunately failed to convert the extra point but held a slim lead 19-14.

With three minutes left in the game, Baldwin Park regained the lead, 20-19. Runnels led a promising drive to regain the lead, but the Gladiators failed to convert on a fourth down attempt and Bladwin Park ran out the clock.

There were also plenty of bright spots on defense. The Gladiators leading tacklers were Sullivan, William Nyhan, and Ortiz with 5, 4 and 4 tackles respectively. No. 60 had 3 tackles, one for loss. Collins had 3 tackles, Spears had 2 touchdown saving tackles and an interception he returned for 15 yards. Gates had two tackles. Runnels, Martinez, Abramian, and Tio had one tackle each. Kong, Abramian, Sullivan, and Ortiz each had a quarterback pressure leading to two pass break ups each by Valdes, Khachikian, and Carey as well as one by Ortiz.

Next week, the Jr. Pee Wees will take on the always tough Rosemead Rebels at La Cañada High School.

Pee Wee

La Cañada 24 – East Los Angeles Bulldogs 28

On Sunday, Sept. 16, the La Cañada Gladiator Pee Wee football team faced the Jr. Pee Wee defending champion East LA Bulldogs at Baldwin Park High School. In a close-fought battle, the Gladiators came up short, losing by a score of 24 to 28.

The La Cañada offense unleashed a blistering passing attack, with quarterback David Mysza completing 17 of 30 passes for 253 yards and three touchdowns. Wide receiver Trent Carrey had a standout game catching 9 balls on 11 targets for 172 yards and 2 touchdowns. Also contributing to the air show were receivers Shade Schaefer with 3 receptions and a touchdown, Scottie Smith, Ted Amorosi, and running back Corey Cheung, who also ran the football 8 times for 22 yards.

The game started out poorly for the visiting Gladiators as East LA’s star running back Aaron Herrera took the opening kickoff 50 yards to the La Cañada 8-yard line. East LA capitalized and scored four plays later to go ahead 6-0. East LA extended their lead to 14-0 midway through the first quarter on a 47-yard run through the middle of the La Cañada defense. Penalties and poor special teams play would plague the Gladiators throughout the day.

The Gladiators finally cleaned up their act in the second quarter when first the defense stopped the third East LA possession with two strong tackles by defensive end Sebastian Pascuzzo, and a pressure from other defensive end Thomas Sorensen, who forced the Bulldog quarterback to throw the ball away for an intentional grounding. La Cañada’s offense then took over with good field position on the East LA 20-yard line. Mysza then connected with Schaefer on two passes, the second an 11-yard touchdown to put the Gladiators on the scoreboard. Kicker Jaiden Espadas converted on the PAT kick to bring the Gladiators closer at 14-8, which is how the two teams entered halftime.

La Cañada struck first in the second half when Mysza connected with Carrey on a 75-yard bomb down the right sideline. Espadas’ extra point attempt was blocked, leaving the teams even at 14-14. La Cañada’s celebration was short-lived, however. East LA returned the ensuing kickoff 71 yards for a touchdown, followed by a 2-pt conversion to regain the lead 22-14. La Cañada fought back again on their next possession as quarterback Mysza picked apart the Bulldog defense, completing passes of 11, 20 and 16 yards, and scrambling for another 8 yards. Stellar offensive line play from Brian Boyer, Dominick Cozza, Luke Cullen, Noah Zarate, Sorensen, David Galaviz, and David O’Connor provided protection all day long for Mysza, who was never sacked. Mysza’s third pass of 16 yards to Carrey was good for a touchdown and the Gladiators tied the score at 22-22 with another strong kick by Espadas.

As the game entered the fourth quarter, the La Cañada defense stepped up its play and stopped the East LA offense on two of their three fourth quarter drives. The defense was led by linebackers Nevada Miller, Scottie Smith, Mysza and Jacob Lopez, defensive linemen Pascuzzo, Boyer, Zarate, Espadas, Sorensen, Frank Higginbotham, and Jayden Siques, and defensive backs Cheung, Carrey, Jake Arellano, Schaefer, and Nick Battany. The defense played strong throughout the fourth quarter with one exception, a 47-yard touchdown run which moved East LA ahead 28-22.

La Cañada’s offense engineered one final long drive in the fourth quarter, starting at their own 30 yard line and using a deft combination of runs and passes, driving 69 yards on 12 plays. However, the Gladiators were unable to score on four plays after having 1^st and goal from the East LA 5-yard line. On 4^th and 4, Mysza threw a swing pass to Cheung, but he was stopped one yard short of the Bulldog end zone. East LA then ran out the clock, taking a meaningless safety to bring the final score to 28-24.

La Cañada plays Rosemead at home next Sunday at 2 p.m. at La Cañada High School’s Spartan Stadium.