Glendale Community College football shut down by L.A. Valley

VALLEY GLEN — For the first time in a month, Glendale Community College’s football team played an opponent in the American Division Pacific Conference that already had a divisional win under its belt.

It was on the road against Los Angeles Valley College and the Vaqueros arrived riding a two-game winning streak as well as a two-game win streak against the Monarchs, who came in a tie for second in the division.

On Saturday night, in the final road game of the season for Glendale, it was not to be for the Vaqueros as Valley came out on top 15-9 on the strength of its defense.

“We wanted to make it into an old-fashioned slugfest, and I think we did, against a team that I think is probably the most talented in the conference,” GCC Coach John Rome said.

In the fourth quarter, trailing, 15-0, Glendale (3-6, 2-4) reached into its bag of tricks to get on the scoreboard.

Quarterback David Ariaga took the snap from center and handed off to Tru Jarvis, who then pitched the ball to running back Travis Custis outside the left hash mark. Custis then threw the ball into the end zone, where it was snagged by Elonzo Griffen for a 25-yard touchdown.

Kevin Garcia successfully booted through the extra point to draw the Vaqueros within one score with 14:09 left in the contest. The drive was set up by a fumble recovery from Deamon Thompson. However, that would be all for the Glendale offense, which was unable to come close to scoring on its final two possessions.

Ariaga, in his fourth start, split time with Jarvis at quarterback throughout the contest.

“We wanted to bring something different for Valley, obviously,” Jarvis said. “It was actually fun running the Wildcat. It was different. I thought we surprised them.”

Ariaga was a modest two of three for 13 yards, while Jarvis did not attempt a pass. By default, Custis led the Vaqueros through the air, going one for one for 25 yards and the score. Griffen caught two passes for 37 yards, including the touchdown. Custis also was the leading ground gainer for Glendale, carrying the ball 14 times for 47 yards.

The first points of the contest and only touchdown of the first half came from the Monarchs on their opening possession.

The Monarchs marched 77 yards in 10 plays, culminating in a 15-yard touchdown run by Anthony Wyche, who bounced his way up the middle into the end zone with 7:30 left in the opening quarter. Wyche finished with 115 yards on 17 carries.

Monarchs kicker Ryan Boyd, a product of Burbank High, booted a 19-yard field goal on the final play of the second quarter.

The Monarchs carried a 9-0 advantage into the break in a defensive struggle that saw each team only get three possessions in the opening half.

Late in the second quarter, Glendale lost the ball in the red zone when Jarvis made an errant pitch that Robert Jones was unable to handle. The fumble was recovered by Michael Sewell Jr., starting the drive that ended in Boyd’s field goal.

In the second half, the hosts extended their advantage on their first possession with a 26-yard field goal from Boyd. He connected on a 29-yard field goal later in the quarter.

“Our offense did really good and we fought really hard,” Jarvis said. “It just didn’t work out the way we wanted it to.”

Glendale now has just one game left. The Vaqueros finale will be next Saturday back in the home confines of Sartoris Field, hosting Santa Barbara City College at 1 p.m.