By Brandon HENSLEY
The Crescenta Valley High School football team got back on track last week with a dominating 51-12 win over the La Cañada Spartans at Moyse Field in the annual Gordy Warnock Game, named after the longtime CV coach who passed away several years ago.
The victory moved the Falcons record to 2-1, and completed the non-Pacific League portion of the schedule. The Falcons were also 2-1 at this time last year.
Sophomore quarterback Cole Doyle was sharp, completing 11 of 16 passes for 161 yards and touchdowns with no interceptions. Doyle also ran for two scores, as did Tyler Hill and Will Rees. The Falcons racked up 488 yards of total offense, including 156 by Rees, who received and ran. So far this season, it seems Rees is the go-to player for assistant coach Hudson Gossard’s offense, which produced over 50 points each against Verdugo Hills and La Cañada, but managed just one touchdown in a loss to Golden Valley on Sept. 9.
The Falcons play Friday against Glendale High (1-2) at Moyse Field starting at 7 p.m.
Senior Nobel Leduc led the team with 14 tackles on defense, and Hill and Brian Erickson each had 10. Grady Schilling recorded an interception and Brandon Beardt recovered a fumble. The defense has been similar to the offense in that it dominated Verdugo Hills and the Spartans (eight points and 12 points respectively). It did only allow 21 points to a good Golden Valley team, so it appears the defense will be relied upon throughout the season to carry the team while Doyle tries to get more comfortable in his role as a starting varsity quarterback for the first time.
The defense overall has recorded nine sacks and three interceptions in its first three games.
Looking at the other Pacific League teams, Hoover and Arcadia are off to 3-0 starts, with CV next in the standings. Pasadena is the only winless team at 0-3, though it did play Buena Park and St. Francis, two of the tougher programs in all of Southern California.
The Falcons stay home next week as well when they play Hoover on Sept. 30. CV only plays on the road three more times: Oct. 7 at Muir, Oct. 28 at Burbank and Nov. 4 at Arcadia.
St. Francis moved to 3-0 last week with a 24-21 win over La Serna. Senior Michael Bonds completed 22 of 31 passes for 301 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. On defense, Daniel Scott grabbed two interceptions.
The Golden Knights’ opponents in the Angelus League are looking strong. Cathedral is 4-0, and both Salesian and La Salle are 3-1. League action doesn’t start until Oct. 7 for St. Francis when it takes on La Salle at St. Francis High School. The Golden Knights host Dorsey on Friday at 7 p.m. before hosting Buena Park next week. The next four games are home contests, and the last three games of the season (Harvard-Westlake, Cathedral, St. Paul) are away.