Glendale Community College runs down West Los Angeles, 35-10

GLENDALE — With the No. 3 passing offense and the No. 2 rushing attack in Southern California on opposing sidelines, a scoring downpour was forecasted for Saturday afternoon’s American Division Pacific Conference football game pitting West Los Angeles College and Glendale.

Yet, with 371 yards on the ground for Glendale contrasted with 215 yards in the air for West Los Angeles, there wasn’t much in the matchup, as the Vaqueros stormed their way to a third straight victory, 35-10, at Sartoris Field through a light shower.

With the victory, state No. 23-ranked Glendale, which is also No. 5 in the American Division, improved to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in conference while American Division ninth-ranked LA Valley dropped to 3-5, 2-3.

PHOTOS: Glendale Community College wins third straight with 35-10 victory over West L.A.

“The team was prepared,” said Glendale Coach John Rome, whose won seven games in a season for the first time in his career. “We had a very good game plan – hats off to [defensive coordinator] Steve Ruedalfores – and to the players for executing.

“This time of season, it’s very easy to get sidetracked with Halloween and other things, but that didn’t happen and I’m really proud of the team.”

Down 11 points to start the second half, the Wildcats attempted to climb back into the contest on the first possession when the team advanced to the Glendale five and had a third and goal.

On the subsequent play, West Los Angeles quarterback Dallas Lopez (23 of 33 for 171 yards) pitched to running back Trayviel Boone, who was stacked up at the five and then stripped by defensive back Reggie Jackson.

The loose ball was recovered and advanced by Glendale’s Payton Lowery-Sanders to the 24 with 11:43 remaining in the third.

Off that turnover, Glendale drove 10 plays (all runs) before running back Robert Jones scored the second of his two touchdowns from seven yards out to give Glendale a 28-10 lead with 9:08 left.

“This whole week our linemen and running backs have been clicking,” said Jones, who carried 12 times for 92 yards. “The O-line has been opening up holes and we’ve been taking advantage.”

Glendale added a touchdown later in the third when quarterback Sean Murphy, who spelled an injured and ineffective Andre Nunez, threw a strong 25-yard fade that receiver William Fennessy caught in the corner of the end zone while keeping his feet in bounds.

The score put Glendale up, 35-10, with 2:14 left in the third.

As impressive as Glendale’s rushing attacking was, the defense was certainly no slouch in holding West Los Angeles 93 passing yards under its average with interceptions from Lowery-Sanders and Deron Smith along with the one fumble recovery.

“Defensively, we just played as a unit,” said Glendale defensive lineman David Smith, who led the team with eight tackles (two for a loss). “We had good coverage, we ran to the ball to make sure they didn’t pick up extra yards and we just did our job.”

Glendale took a 21-10 advantage into halftime.

The Vaqueros went ahead for good, 14-7, with 12:11 left in the second quarter on a 34-yard touchdown scamper from sophomore running back Marquise McGuire, who led the team with 107 rushing yards on 11 carries.

McGuire scored on the play thanks in part to a great downfield block from receiver Danavian Clay.

After West Los Angeles countered with a 40-yard field goal from sophomore kicker Dennis Melara to close within 14-10, Glendale came back with a quick strike.

The Vaqueros marched 80 yards on nine plays, all runs, in 2 minutes, 40 seconds, with the drive culminating on a five-yard score from Jones to put Glendale up, 21-10, with 5:16 left in the half.

Glendale’s other touchdown came on its first drive.

Nunez connected on a 10-yard inside slant to receiver Tru Jarvis, who turned the short gain into a 35-yard touchdown with excellent downfield blocking again, this time from McGuire.

The touchdown came with 13:37 left in the first quarter on a drive that lasted 1:16.

West Los Angeles countered Glendale with a methodical 14-play, 62-yard drive that lasted 5:03 and resulted in a one-yard touchdown plunge from Kyle Lewis with 8:28 left that knotted the score at 7.

There were a couple of big plays that ultimately didn’t result in points for either side, as a blocked punt from Glendale’s Dillon Chaney led to a three-and-out.

West Long Angeles defensive back Jarmaine Dobbs also had an interception with 51.7 seconds left in the second quarter.

The Wildcats drove to the Glendale 27, but mismanaged the clock as time ran out even though West Los Angeles still had two timeouts.