Hoover football shows improvement in league defeat
GLENDALE — Though his football team lost its fifth consecutive game, Hoover High first-year coach Terrance Jones wasn’t distressed.
A week after being blanked by Muir, Hoover showed some resilience against talented Arcadia in a Pacific League contest Friday night.
Having made some changes on both sides of the ball, Hoover responded with a better effort in a 47-18 defeat at Moyse Field.
“I have nothing negative to say about our performance tonight and I thought we played much better,” Jones said. “We had an entire secondary filled with sophomores and they got a chance to get used to the game speed at the varsity level. We’re building for the future this season and beyond.
“I thought we played a lot better as a team tonight. We were without our starting quarterback Quran Bouldin because of an injury and Andrew Rangel stepped in and did well. We just want to keep growing.”
Rangel completed 11 of 18 passes for 197 yards and three touchdown passes. Hoover sophomore receiver Sebastian Sologaistoa caught five passes for 100 yards and one touchdown for Hoover (1-6, 0-4 in league).
The Tornadoes had some growing pains in the secondary, getting beat by Arcadia’s athletic receivers. Arcadia quarterback Maxmillian Davila completed seven of 13 passes for 275 yards and four touchdowns to spark the Apaches (4-3, 3-1). All of Davila’s touchdown passes went for 26 yards or more.
Arcadia, ranked sixth in CIF Southern Section Division XI, took a 7-0 lead on a six-yard run by Jake Medders (12 rushes for 84 yards) with 9:25 left in the first quarter.
Hoover closed to within 7-6 on the ensuing possession when Rangel tossed a 42-yard touchdown pass to Sologaistoa with 7:32 to go.
Davila then went to work passing, tossing a 42-yard touchdown pass to Frankie Contreras with 3:58 to play in the first quarter to make it 13-6. Davila connected with Contreras for a 26-yard touchdown pass to give the Apaches a 20-6 lead with 1:58 remaining in the first quarter. Contreras finished with four catches for 152 yards.
Arcadia’s Rolandiss Whitener caught a 32-yard touchdown pass from Davila to extend the lead to 27-6 with 4:38 left in the second quarter. The Apaches closed out the first-half scoring with two minutes to go on a 33-yard touchdown pass from Davila to Whitener.
“We have some talented players at the skill positions and you saw what they can do,” said Arcadia coach Andrew Policky, who previously was the head coach at Hoover.
Deonte Bevel of Arcadia hauled in a 25-yard touchdown pass from reserve quarterback Dylan Guerra to make it 40-6 with six minutes left in the third quarter.
Hoover cut the deficit to 40-12 on a nine-yard touchdown pass from Rangel to James Chang with 1:38 remaining in the third quarter.
The Apaches and Tornadoes swapped touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
A five-yard run by Austin Guerra gave Arcadia a 47-12 lead with 11:08 left. Rangel threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Maurice Herrera on the final play of the game.
“We were able to move the ball much better compared to the last game,” said Sologaiston, a sophomore. “Our passing game was much better, so we have some things to build off.”
Hoover will compete in a league road game at 7 p.m. Friday at Pasadena.
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
