Crescenta Valley football unable to hang on in loss to Cathedral

LOS ANGELES — With a growing number of injuries on the sidelines and inexperienced players in the huddle, the odds finally caught up with the Crescenta Valley High football team Friday evening.

The Falcons were unable to defend their 2014 division championship, falling to host Los Angeles Cathedral, 58-19, in a CIF Southern Section Southeast Division first-round game.

With the victory, third-seeded Cathedral (10-1), the Angelus League co-champion, will continue its postseason march and will face last year’s runner-up, Downey, in the quarterfinals.

As for Crescenta Valley, the Falcons cap a season in which they finished tied for second in the Pacific League with a 7-4 record.

“For our seniors, tonight is a death, the end of an era,” Crescenta Valley Coach Paul Schilling. “For those coming back, maybe this is the starting point of something special.

“Look, we played hard and well, but in the end had too many injuries to overcome and were playing a really, really good team in Cathedral. There’s no shame tonight.”

Phantoms quarterback Andrew Tovar was excellent, completing 16 of 22 passes for 300 yards and five touchdowns against one interception. Tovar’s main target was junior Arex Flemings, who hauled in five receptions for 136 yards and two touchdowns.

Despite those numbers, the Falcons were within 30-19 at the end of the three quarters when the sky caved in on Crescenta Valley and Cathedral won the fourth, 28-0.

Tovar connected on three touchdown passes in the first six minutes of the quarter, twice to Renard Ball (33 yards and 26 yards) and once to Jamire Calvin (seven yards) to give the Phantoms a 52-19 advantage.

In between the three scores, the Falcons punted and had a pass intercepted by Cathedral’s Marlon Moore.

The Phantoms took advantage of a short field on the interception and scored on a six-yard carry from Justin Mendoza to take a 58-19 advantage with 3:19 left after a blocked extra point.

“It’s a tough loss, but it was a good season and that’s what I’m thinking about,” said Falcons quarterback Tyler Hill, who rushed for 41 yards on 11 carries with two touchdowns.

Down by nine at halftime, the Falcons appeared to have momentum in the third when they stopped Cathedral on a fourth and goal at the one and then advanced 39 yards.

Crescenta Valley had a critical turnover, one of four, when a completed pass was fumbled, recovered by Cathedral’s Hunter Echols and returned 40 yards for a touchdown to give the Phantoms a 30-13 lead with 3:03 left in the third.

The Falcons did rebound with a 36-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Cole Doyle to Andrew Traber with 38.5 seconds left in the quarter to close the gap to 30-19 after a blocked extra point.

“Honestly, I wasn’t surprised with the effort from Crescenta Valley,” said Cathedral Coach Kevin Pearson. “We saw them in summer league and they’re a very good team. The only surprising thing was the score at the end.”

Rarely-used running back Marty Herboian led Crescenta Valley in rushing with 101 yards on 13 carries.

The Falcons trailed, 22-13, in a high-flying first half.

Crescenta Valley punched in a pair of touchdown runs from Hill.

Hill punched in a one-yard plunge on a fourth and goal after a pass from Hill to Joe Suh on third and goal from the seven was stopped inches short of pay dirt.

Crescenta Valley had been down, 7-0, but was unable to pull even as the ensuing extra-point attempt was blocked by Moore with 3:39 left in the first quarter.

Again Cathedral scored and again the Falcons answered back.

This time the squad marched 79 yards on nine plays and scored on a 12-yard keeper from Hill to close within 14-13 at the 10-minute mark in the second quarter.

Cathedral was its own worst enemy at times, including on the Falcons’ second scoring drive with a personal foul and ejection prolonging Crescenta Valley’s march.

The Phantoms looked unstoppable early on, as the team scored in under two minutes on its first march, which culminated on a nine-yard touchdown run from Marcos Lopez with 10:03 left in the first quarter to put the home team ahead, 7-0.

Tovar then hooked up for the first of two times with Flemings on a 20-yard corner route with 58 seconds left in the first quarter that gave Cathedral a 14-6 lead.

After Tovar was picked off in the end zone by Crescenta Valley’s Will Rees on the Phantoms’ second-to-last drive, he recovered and hit a wide-open Flemings on a 57-yard pass play that appeared to be the result of a busted coverage.

“That’s what happens when you have guys other than starters in the game,” said Hill, who played for injured quarterback Evan Nelson and who was without star receiver Bostin Lakin (four catches for 46 yards) for most of the second half because of an injury.

The touchdown came with 1:28 left in the second quarter and, coupled with a two-point conversion, gave the Phantoms a 22-13 lead going into the break.