La Cañada rushes to first Rio Hondo League victory

TEMPLE CITY — Brandon Sharman did the majority of the work. But it was Vince Dioguardi and David Vardanian who got the the glory Friday night for the La Cañada High football team.

It didn’t matter to Sharman who received the credit, as long as the Spartans got the result they desired at Temple City.

Sharman rushed 29 times for 200 yards, with Dioguardi and Vardanian scoring second-half touchdowns to help La Cañada secure a 14-0 Rio Hondo League victory.

La Cañada (4-4, 1-2 in league) accumulated 297 yards on the ground and attempted just two passes.

The catalyst for the success was Sharman, who had 156 yards in the second half, setting up both Spartans touchdowns.

“We got the win, so it’s totally fine with me that these guys got the glory.” Sharman said. “They’re my brothers. I’m glad to share the glory with them.”

A Sharman 67-yard run set up a Dioguardi one-yard score in the middle of the fourth quarter to give La Cañada a 14-0 lead.

“We practiced running the ball, so we had confidence we could do it,” said Dioguardi, who finished with 62 yards on 16 carries.　 “It was just a matter of time before we got in the end zone. Coach [Ryan Zerbel] said it would come down to who had more heart in the second half.”

The Spartans took an 8-0 lead, driving 44 yards — 37 coming from Sharman —on eight plays, culminated with a four-yard run by Vardanian, who also added the ensuing two-point conversion run with 1:02 left in the third quarter.

“I was excited to get the chance to run the ball when I heard the coaches call for ‘the Beast’ package,” said Vardanian, who finished with 11 yards on three carries. “All I knew was the team needed it and I had to get it.”

Vardanian also had a big game on defense, recording two sacks and batting down a fourth-down pass early in the fourth quarter.

“Two of our starters were down, so we had to step it up and stop them,” Vardanian said.

Temple City (1-7, 0-3) appeared to take an early lead when Justin Bowman connected with Benjamin Clark on an 84-yard touchdown pass. But the score was nullified because of a holding penalty.

Neither team generated any offense in the first half with a combined seven first downs and five turnovers.

The Rams missed a scoring opportunity when they recovered a fumble on the La Cañada 31-yard line. But five plays netted just 12 yards and Ernie Ramos missed a 36-yard field goal wide right.