La Cañada football finds going rough against Kaiser

FONTANA — In a search for its first win of the football season, La Cañada High made the journey east to take on host Henry J. Kaiser High.

La Cañada, however, was overwhelmed by the host Cats, falling behind by a huge margin early on the way to losing 55-0 in a nonleague contest Friday night at Bryan E. Malloy Stadium.

“It was a tough game. We just need to come out and get better,” La Cañada’s first-year coach Jason Sarceda said.

La Cañada is now 0-2 in games played, although officially the Spartans are 0-3 after taking a forfeit to South Hills last week, necessitated by conditions resulting from the La Tuna Canyon fire.

“We always have to try to get better. We’ve got to learn from our mistakes. We have to get healthy. Then make sure we stay healthy and get after it,” Sarceda said.

At kickoff a rainbow arced over the field, but after that it got ugly for La Cañada. All five of the Kats’ first scores were rushing touchdowns for Kaiser (1-2) of Fontana. The scores on the ground came from 29, 12, 42, 15 and six yards out.

The first two and the fourth scoring runs were carried in by Cat Tyler Allgeier. Allgeier also intercepted a batted pass and returned it for a 34-yard score, accounting for four touchdowns by himself in the first quarter, after which the hosts led 42-0.

Allgeier finished with four carries for 81 yards and the three rushing touchdowns.

Kaiser quarterback Manuel Ferrel completed his first pass of the game midway through the second quarter. It was a 12-yard toss to Devyn Reece and was the last score of the half. After the aerial score, the referees ordered a running clock. It was the only pass the Cats attempted.

The hosts held a 49-0 advantage at the break, necessitating a running clock for the entire second half.

The third quarter started out on a positive note for the Spartans. Quarterback Eric Helbing connected on a 41-yard pass to JT Knapp on the first play. On the next play, however, Helbing was picked off again for a Cats touchdown when Justin Kilpatrick stepped in front of the throw and returned it 65 yards, accounting for the only six points of the half.

“Defensively we have to be able to tackle,” Sarceda, who is also the defensive coordinator, said. “We have to be sound. It is fundamental football. We have to get the basics of football and get after it.”

The La Cañada passing attack misfired on its first eight attempts. On the ground in the first half, six of seven runs were for a loss. The one first-half highlight was a 34-yard pass from Helbing to Tobias Humphrey.

Humphrey finished with three catches for 76 yards.

“[Tobias] had a couple good catches,” Sarceda said. “He is definitely someone we want to get the ball to.”

The Spartans looked poised to score early in the fourth with the ball at the one-yard line. However, on fourth down, Spartan Thomas Oh was stuffed for no gain. Oh led the visitors in rushing with five carries for 11 yards.