La Cañada High football runs past Temple City

TEMPLE CITY — A year ago, the La Cañada High football team ended Rio Hondo League play with a convincing win against Temple City that not only displayed its improvements, but also clinched the league’s final playoff berth.

A year later, the Spartans and Rams met to start league play, knowing that the winner of the annual matchup between the rivals had finished third in league and advanced to the postseason in each of the past two years.

The result in Friday’s league opener was the same as last season’s finale.

Thanks to a pounding rushing attack and an opportunistic passing game, the Spartans defeated the Rams, 24-7, at Temple City, notching an important early win in their bid to advance to the postseason for a second straight year.

“We knew how important this game was, but I told them, ‘Let’s go 1-0,’“ said Spartans first-year Coach Ramsey Lambert. “Every team we play is going to be tough to beat. We have to bring our ‘A’ game no matter what.”

The Spartans didn’t have their “A” game for the first half Friday night.

The Spartans (5-1) had to overcome an error-filled game to defeat the Rams (2-4), as Lambert’s squad committed 14 penalties for 84 yards.

Ten of those penalties, which went for 64 yards, came in the first half, limiting the Spartans’ opportunities and giving the Rams extra chances.

“It was crazy,” said Lambert, whose team will continue its push toward the playoffs when it meets Blair at 7 p.m. on Friday at Muir High in its second league contest. “I don’t think that we have had 10 penalties all year.

“We had to clean that up. We can’t get away with that.”

The Rams couldn’t capitalize on the mistakes as the teams played to a 7-7 tie in the opening 24 minutes.

It was a crucial penalty on the Rams that gave the Spartans an opportunity to take a lead.

The Rams jumped offsides as the Spartans were lining up for a field goal on a fourth-and-four play, giving the Spartans a new set of downs. On the next play, Anthony Connell raced in from 10 yards and the Spartans converted the two-point play for a 15-7 lead.

Connell’s score capped a 12-play drive, which featured all runs.

The Spartans stuck to their run game for almost the entire second half. They ran 31 plays in the second half, with all but one being a rushing play.

“We condition so much that we’re used to this,” said Spartan quarterback Kevin McGowin, who threw a 56-yard touchdown pass to Samuel Brown to tie the score at 7 in the second quarter. “Our main advantage is our conditioning.”

Their other advantage was their running game.

Ryan Breneman led the Spartans with 158 yards rushing in 18 carries. Connell had 81 yards on the ground in nine carries and Jace Harrick had 34 yards rushing, 24 of which came on a touchdown run that capped the scoring in the fourth quarter.

The Spartans rushed for 302 yards in 49 carries, an average of 6.2 yards per carry.

“Our running backs are super strong,” McGowin said. “They make all of the right reads. They’re powerful backs. They’ll do anything to score.”

The running backs executed the Spartans’ game plan.

“We wear on people,” Lambert said. “We get the kids in shape and we kept pounding teams. We wanted to dominate up front.”