JR. GREMLIN FLAG
Teams do not keep score

GREMLINS
La Cañada 20,
El Monte Jets 12

JR. PEE WEE
La Cañada 6,
El Monte Jets 14

PEE WEE
La Cañada 22,
El Monte Jets 18

Jr. Midgets
La Cañada 22,
El Monte Jets 22

MIDGET
No score provided

JR. GREMLIN FLAG

La Canada Gladiators v. El Monte Jets

(Teams do not keep Score)

(Report by Ted Amorosi)

The La Canada Gladiators Jr. Gremlin team played a phenomenal game on Saturday vs. the El Monte Jets at La Canada High School.

Offensively, the Gladiators running backs including Easton Caneva, Teddy Amorosi, Michael Oklund, Corrie Cheung,  Julian Alday and Michael Martin.  They repeatedly gashed the El Monte defenders on their way to long runs.  The running backs provided the lightning the offensive front the thunder.  Opening up holes for the backs were Braden McGuinness, Diego Rouanet, Charles Khanlarian, Victor Guiragossian, David Quan and Jason Wszelaki.

Defensively, the Gladiators ran around the field like a wolfpack on the hunt.   Leading the charge grabbing flag after flag were Mo Guiragossian, Teddy Amorosi, Easton Caneva and Johnny Alejo.  Also playing defense like their hair was on fire were Cole Nava, Anthony Venneri, Shawn Irwin, Luke Nelson, Nathan Wendt and William Rappard.

The Gladiators take on the Glendale Bears this weekend at 4:30 p.m. at Glendale High School.

GREMLINS

LA CANADA 20, El Monte Jets 12

(Report submitted by Paul Lopez)

On Sunday morning, the Gremlin Division for the La Canada Gladiators avenged their first loss of the season as they returned to their winning ways at home defeating the El Monte Jets 20-12.  The Gladiators are now 2-1 on the season.

The first half of the game was a scoreless defensive battle as neither team could must a threat.  Daylon Beasley started the game off by recovering a fumble on the games’ opening kickoff, but the Gladiator were unable to move the ball.

The Gladiators defense demonstrated why they are so feared by stopping the Jets offense the entire first half.  Marcus Powe had a key fumble recovery and linebacker, Joe Kazarian was putting on a tackling clinic as he was having big hit after big hit. The defensive line led by Powe, Matthew Watson, Jonah Cisneros, Christopher Marfisi, Dylan Luper, CJ Corlett, Lucas Ponce, Charlie Stewart, and Aaron Garcia came up with stop after stop.  Linebacker Chase Center had an outstanding game. Defensive backs Patrick Weinman, Beasley, Andrew Sharman, Caden Smith, and Louie De La Cruz contained the Jets in the open field and had numerous drive ending tackles.

In the second half, both offenses came to life. Wide Receivers, Mycah Pasten, Caden Owen, Laelan Wright, Jacob Nies, Dexter Matthews, Louie De La Cruz, Caden Smith, Matty Lopez and Carson Center laid down awesome downfield blocks that helped spring the Gladiators running game.

Lucas Lenhoff was the supreme master and commander at quarterback for the Gladiators. Calling plays and adjusting his offensive line and wide-outs, Lenhoff played like a tenured quarterback in only his third game for the Gladiators.  Thanks to the great blocking from the offensive line, led by Joe Kazarian, Jake Fitzgerald, Brandon Shepherd, Charlie Stewart, Aaron Garcia, Christopher Marfisi, Efrem Rivera, Adam Griffin, Marcus Martin, Kane Austen, and Matthew Watson, the Gladiators controlled the line of scrimmage in the second half.

The Gladiators came out in the second half, riding on the strong shoulders of fullback Chase Center who barreled his way to the end zone with a 39 yard touchdown run to put the Gladiators on the scoreboard 6-0.   The Jets answered with a scoring drive to tie the game, but Beasley took the ensuing kickoff and raced 70 yards for the Gladiators second touchdown.  Andrew Sharman had two key blocks to help break Beasley in the open field. Beasley finished with over 100 all-purpose yards. Although the Jets managed to add another score, Colby Rees cemented the Gladiator victory with his 56 yard blast up the middle in the final quarter to give the Gladiator a 20-12 victory.

The Gladiator Gremlins look to continue their dominance as they face their cross-town rivals, the Glendale Bears, next Saturday, October 6^th at 2:30 p.m. at Glendale High School.

Junior Pee Wee

LA CANADA 6, El Monte Jets 14

(Report by Paul Lopez)

Although the Gladiator came up short 14-6 against the El Monte Jets on Saturday afternoon at La Canada High School, sometimes a football game is not determined by the scoreboard at the end of a game. This was evident when the Gladiators walked off the field Saturday with their heads held high after their moral victory.

Triston Kekahuna set the defensive tone for the Gladiators. Big hit after big hit, Kekahuna was all over the field! The Gladiators defense had a goal line stand for the ages late in the 3^rd quarter. After a Clayton Byer chased down a Jet for a touchdown saving tackle on the one yard line, the Gladiators defense was left with their backs in their own end zone. Four Jet plays yielded four tackles for consecutive losses. The defensive line led by Armand Mkrtchyan, Kilian Trulick, Jarid Ramos, Andres Ramirez, Anthony Lopez, Ryan Kim and Triston Kekahuna, with the help of inside linebacker, Talent Finn dominated the line of scrimmage and kept the Gladiators within a touchdown of the lead.

The Gladiators defense also caused an amazing 5 turnovers as Maceo Della Catena had an interception in the Gladiators red zone, and four separate Gladiators (Austin Heberger, Wiley Roberts, Armand Mkrtchyan and Jarid Ramos) came away with fumble recoveries.

The defensive backs led by Milad Lashgari, Anthony Vasquez, Maceo Della Catena, Devin Matthews, and Johnny Vasily, helped keep the score close by not giving up any big plays.

Clayton Byer took control of the offense as the quarterback completing several passes to Austin Heberger. When Byer was not picking apart the defense in the air, he was scrambling around, picking up first downs with his feet.

Maceo Della Catena had the crowd on their feet every time he touched the ball. Della Catena powered his way to a 150 yard game. Knocking down defenders and running passed them; Della Catena had several runs of over 20 yards. In the 4^th quarter, Della Catena took a handoff from Byer wide to the left and broke tackles as he had a 12 yard touchdown run to get the Gladiators on the board.

When Johnny Vasily was not leading the way for Della Catena, he was picking up his own yardage, keeping the running game going for the Gladiators. The offensive line was missing a key blocker, Charles Myer due to an injury, however, Kilian Trulick, Triston Kekahuna, Wiley Roberts, Mitchell Frus, Valentin Nunez, Daniel Castaneda and Jayden Rhee were relentless, opening holes all day for the running game.

The Gladiator Junior Pee Wee’s look to forward to their cross-town rivals next week as they travel to Glendale to face the Bears on Saturday, October 6^th at 12: 30 p.m. at Glendale High School.

Pee Wee

La Canada 22 El Monte Jets 18

(Reported by Ken Putnam)

On Saturday afternoon the La Canada Gladiator Pee Wee team held on for its first victory of the season 22-18 against a tough El Monte Jet squad.  The Gladiator had a 22-12 lead late into the 4^th period, but the Jets behind a quick score and a successfully onside kick surged to overcome the La Canada Pee Wee Gladiators in the last 5 minutes, but the Gladiators came through with sparkling plays to win 22 to 18 at the La Canada High School Field.  The Gladiators are now 1-2 on the season.

Vince Lombardi one said that football was not a game of yards, but of inches.  In fact, the Gladiator victory on Saturday was a game of feet, and those two feet belonged to Gladiator kicker Chris Wood. Wood who was two-for-three on extra point kicks which were the difference in a game where each team scored three touchdowns.

The running game of La Canada was led by Elijah Washington’s 108 yards gained including a touchdown followed by Quarterback Greg Dulcich’s running passing of 47 yards and one touchdown. In the heat of the battle several Gladiators players made key plays such as Marcelino Martinez’s catching of an on-side kick-off, a key interception by Artis Candler, and a Jet fumble recovery by Chris Simonian stopped the Jets as they moved down the field contributing to La Canada coming out on top in the contest.

The Gladiator offense along with Washington and Dulcich included Evan Estrada, Kai Aguila, Marcelino Martinez, Ashton Baron, Chris Simonian, Clayton Esparza, Jacob Buntich, Will Stewart, Tyler Shakibai, Anthony Alvarado, Aaron Wilson, Derek Albanese and Manuel Lopez-Torres.

It was the Gladiator defense though that worked every play to contain the strong El Monte Jet’s offense squad. The defensive block included Carson Okland, Justin Morris, Ryan Beegle, Jason Watson, Chris Wood, and Daron Derderian.

Lending side-line support for their teammates were injured Gladiators Ian Goodstein, Mitchell Espinosa, Colman Trulik and Diego Apolito.

Next up for the Gladiators are the always tough Glendale Bears on Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. at Glendale High School.

Jr. Midgets

La Canada 22 El Monte Jets 22

On Saturday afternoon at La Canada High School the La Canada Gladiator Jr. Midget fought the El Monte Jets to a tie 22-22.  The Gladiators are now 1-1-1 on the season.

The Gladiator offense took the field first and demonstrated their powerful rushing game as they drove downfield with key runs by by Drake Barron, Michael Chan, and Steven Brown, aided by the combined forces of the offensive line consisting of Brandt Lukas, Peter Simmeth, Gavin Chi, Theo Chamberlain, Chase Sanford, and Zach Kejmar. The first points of the game were placed on the board when Chan broke through the Jet defense on an 85-yard touchdown run to put the Gladiators up 6-0.

The Gladiators further displayed their command of the field as the game progressed with a solid defensive line consisting of Brian Erickson, Zach Kejmar, Theo Chamberlain, Hugo Wallington, Justin Danbourin, and Jackson Totleben and Daniel Diaz. Key tackles were made by Barron, Tyler Hill, Erickson and Gabriel Mathews, impeding the progress of the Jet’s running game.  The Jets did, however, manage to tie the game on a quick score and at the end of the first quarter the game was tied 6-6.
The second quarter featured a quarterback sack by Erickson, and carries by Hill, Chan, Mathews and Michael Doud. Chan ran for 28 yards and delivered another touchdown. The two-point conversion was scored by Hill to put the Gladiators up 14-6 with just a few seconds left in the first half. The Jets, however, scored on the last play of the half and the teams went into the locker rooms knotted 14-14 at the half.

The Gladiators continued to unleash the offensive force of Barron, Chan, Doud, Jack Rappard, Jules Buenabenta, Diaz, Maxx Moreno and Chi in the third quarter. The Gladiator spirit soared when Hill showcased his power and broke through the Jet’s defensive line, running for a 65 yard touchdown.  Hill then added the two-point conversion to put the Gladiators up 22-14 at the end of the third quarter.  The following kick-off by Jake Schaeffer gave the Gladiators good defensive field position in the third quarter.

A Jet drive to tie appeared to stall, when Gladiator safety Gabriel Mathews made a great interception at the Gladiator 40 yard line and returned the ball to Jet territory. The interception was nullified by a penalty, and on the next play the Jets cashed in on a long run and tied the game 22-22.

The Gladiators continued to battle back, and key defensive plays were also made by Gavin Campbell, Neil Lenhoff, Jack Kazarian, and Andrew Van Ginkel. Bobby Gazmarian was instrumental when he defended against the pass at cornerback.

Although the score was tied up by the Jets in the fourth quarter, the Gladiator defense held the Jets at bay. The highlights of the Gladiator defensive skills included a quarterback sack by Totleben and a magnificent game-saving stop of the scrambling Jet quarterback by Campbell.

The Jr. Midgets are eagerly preparing to take on the Glendale Bears in Glendale this Saturday, October 6th at 6:30 p.m. at Glendale High School.