Glendale football can’t keep close with Muir

GLENDALE — Glendale High’s football team played well in the early going of Thursday night’s game against Muir, as the teams were even after the first quarter.

The Nitros also matched the Mustangs point for point in the third quarter of their Pacific League game at Moyse Field.

However, Glendale allowed 30 points in the second quarter, which enabled Muir to turn the game into a rout, as the Nitros remained winless in league after a 62-26 loss at home.

In a hard-hitting game, both teams lost players to injuries. The Nitros, who already had a thin squad, lost starters Matthew Torres, a senior running back and middle linebacker, and junior running back/outside linebacker Nate Huiza, in the first half.

“Injuries really slowed us down a lot,” said Glendale Coach George Maiale, whose team slipped to 1-7, 0-5. “When the leader of our defense Matt Torres went out early, that was a huge blow to us. Then his backup went out and I just got a text that he has a broken fibula. It was just one of those things with injuries where what could go wrong did go wrong.

“At the end of the game, we ran out of linebackers and we ran out of running backs, that’s how bad it got. That is just my big concern now is how healthy we are and how many guys we’ll be missing.”

Against the Mustangs (4-4, 2-3), the Nitros received a fine effort from quarterback Tyler Artavia, who was coming back from an injury that forced him to miss the previous game against Burroughs. The senior carried the ball 16 times for 70 yards and a one-yard touchdown. He was also 10 of 24 passing for 125 yards, three touchdowns and an interception.

Artavia’s prime target was junior Anthony Luna, who hauled in four passes for 88 yards and touchdowns of 29 and 26 yards. Senior Matthew Bejanian also caught a 13-yard touchdown.

The Glendale offense was clicking in the first quarter and, when Artavia hooked up with Luna on a 26-yard scoring strike with 1:41 left, the Nitros tied the score at 14, which is how the opening stanza ended.

But a balanced Muir offensive attack wore down Glendale in the second quarter. The Mustangs outscored the Nitros in the second, 30-6, which included a run of 22 straight points. Muir went into halftime with a 44-10 advantage.

At the half, Muir had four players who had gained 50 yards or more on the ground.

“We came out to play. Our offense was doing what it was supposed to do, but it was just our defense that couldn’t wrap it up and get it done,” Artavia said. “We just let them get some big plays and they turned those into touchdowns.

“It’s the little things that we have to learn to do, because those things are what really hurts us.”

The Nitros had problems containing Muir quarterback Darren Meyers. The senior completed seven of 14 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns. Meyers rushed also for 98 yards in 14 carries and two touchdowns.

The teams played evenly in the third quarter, 6-6. However, when the Mustangs scored their touchdown with 1:22 left they went up, 50-26, as the teams headed to the fourth quarter.

Senior Carlos Ramos carried the ball 20 times for 96 yards and sophomore Cameron Hoffman had 10 rushes for 52 yards for Glendale.