La Cañada High football sunk by Glazier, San Marino

LA CAÑADA — A relentless offense, fueled by an aerial attack led by one of the more polished quarterbacks in the San Gabriel Valley, handed the La Cañada High football its first defeat at home of the season and first loss in Rio Hondo League play Friday evening.

The Spartans knew what was coming and did their homework on San Marino quarterback Carson Glazier and the Titans offense, but the preparation didn’t quite translate into execution, as Glazier compiled 354 passing yards, threw for six touchdowns and rushed for another in a 55-14 victory against league foe La Cañada.

PHOTOS: La Cañada football suffers first league loss against San Marino, 55-14

“That QB doesn’t miss much,” Spartans first-year Coach Ramsey Lambert said. “Hats off to San Marino. That was a display.”

La Cañada and San Marino each go into the final two games of the season with 2-1 league marks and identical overall records. The Spartans will travel to face defending league champion Monrovia before hosting South Pasadena in the season finale. With the win, San Marino puts itself in prime position to finish in second place.

Lambert’s squad had held league opponents to seven points in its first two league contests. A Glazier to JP Shohfi 16-yard connection matched that total on the first drive of Friday’s meeting.

La Cañada (6-2, 2-1) answered Glazier’s second touchdown pass with a Spartans-like 14-play, 93-yard drive with eight running plays, capped off by an Anthony Connell six-yard touchdown as time elapsed in the first quarter.

Samuel Brown intercepted Glazier on the ensuing drive and gave the Spartans the ball in San Marino (6-2, 2-1) territory. However, La Cañada committed one of its three turnovers on the very next play and squandered a potential momentum swing.

It would also dictate the tone of a forgettable second quarter for the Spartans, who allowed 20 points in the frame and trailed 34-7 at the half.

The second half yielded similar results for the Spartans, with Glazier and Shohfi hooking up for their fourth touchdown to give San Marino a 48-7 cushion. The junior quarterback was pulled midway through the fourth quarter.

“Phenomenal quarterback,” Titans Coach Mike Hobbie said. “He’s not the biggest and he’s not great at running, but he has courage, makes decisions and is great at adjusting. He’s as good as there is.”

Connell added his second touchdown of the game with 5:40 remaining in the game — this time a 16-yard dash that was made possible by Spartans quarterback Kevin McGowin avoiding a sack and pitching the ball back to Connell, who broke a couple tackles on his way to the end zone.

Connell finished with 86 yards in 11 carries that, in addition to McGowin’s 69 yards in 15 carries and Ryan Breneman’s 50 yards in 13 carries, accounted for 205 of the team’s 324 yards of total offense. Trent Bauer caught five passes for 85 of McGowin’s 107 yards through the air.

“We need to execute a little better,” Lambert said. “There were some plays we looked good and some plays we didn’t execute as well. Their game plan was smart; they’ve done a good job of game planning against everybody.

“We were hoping to contain them, but that second quarter was tough to overcome.”

La Cañada has now dropped four straight meetings with San Marino, ranked ninth in the CIF Southern Section Central Division.

“We need to keep doing what we’re doing,” Lambert said. “Every game is big in league, we call it a gauntlet.”