By Vincent PAGE

In their first season under head coach Hudson Gossard, the Crescenta Valley Falcons football team has gone undefeated. This is the second time in this decade this has happened, and the first time since 2014 the Falcons had a perfect regular season.

The regular season was capped off by a dominant performance against CV rival Arcadia High School on Thursday. A final score of 39-0 in favor of the Falcons tells enough of the story but it’s even more impressive when considering starting quarterback and team MVP Chase Center missed this game due to a leg injury.

Backup quarterback Brendon Pehar had a successful start. He completed nine of 15 passes for 66 yards as the Falcons leaned heavily on the run throughout the game. While Pehar doesn’t provide the same threat as Center does when running the ball, he is still a capable quarterback.

Star running back Maximus Grant also didn’t play against Arcadia but senior James Cho led the way on the ground with 17 carries for 144 yards and two touchdowns.

The Falcons also leaned on Sebastian Deleon who usually makes his impact on the defensive side of the ball. However, he was able to score one rushing and one receiving touchdown.

Obviously, in any shutout, the defense was dominant for the Falcons. They had eight tackles for a loss, two sacks, one interception and two forced fumbles. It was their best performance of the season and they’ll go into the playoffs with confidence.

Speaking of the playoffs, the Falcons earned the No. 1 seed in their bracket and will face the at-large bid Peninsula Panthers. An overall record of 3-7 won’t intimidate many people, and it probably shouldn’t. The Falcons and Panthers had two of the same opponents in 2019: Muir High School and Redondo Union. CVHS won both of those games by a combined score of 49-21, while Peninsula fell to Redondo Union by a score of 17-14 and was beaten handily by Muir 26-8.

Going off of seeding, record and shared opponents, CV should be a large favorite for this game. While anything can happen in a one game playoff, Gossard’s Falcons are a No. 1 seed for a reason. Falling short of the championship game in the year’s playoffs would be a disappointment, but there shouldn’t be any real worry yet for the Falcons.

CVHS is slated to begin its quest for a third CIF title at 7 p.m. on Friday at Glendale High School’s Moyse Field.

  Vincent PAGE