Sports briefs
Spartan Spiker Clinic a hit
La Cañada High girls’ volleyball team held its first Spartan Spiker Clinic for girls Saturday.
The clinic was open to public- and private-school athletes in La Cañada Flintridge in the fourth through sixth grades.
More than 40 girls showed up for the all-skills clinic, where they were instructed by members of the Spartans’ varsity girl’s team, which is currently ranked No. 1 in CIF Southern Section Division II-AA. The clinic was designed to introduce girls to the sport of volleyball and to help other players improve their skill levels during the two-hour event.
“I was excited about the turnout, but more excited about all the fun the girls were having, running around and participating in all the drills,” La Cañada Coach Brock Turner said. “Later that day, I even received an e-mail from a parent saying that her girls really enjoyed it, and now volleyball is their favorite sport.”
Flintridge Autumn Classic on tap
The Flintridge Riding Club is hosting its 70th annual Flintridge Autumn Classic Friday at 8 a.m. through Sunday evening.
Equitation riders of all ages, and from all over Southern California, are invited to the Flintridge Riding Club to ride their way through one of the 28 divisions — both hunter and jumper divisions — vying for championships.
Riders who have qualified earlier in the year will compete for the San Fernando Hunter Jumper Assn. Challenge Medal Finals and the Pacific Coast Horse Show Assn. Awards for best child or adult rider also will be up for grabs.
For those looking to ease their way into the saddle, there will be 188 classes for all skill levels available to take throughout the weekend.
The public is welcome to attend the event for free. For more information, call the club at (818) 952-1233, or visit their website at https://www.flintridgeridingclub.org.
Gladiators enjoy some fine results
La Cañada Gladiators football results from last week.
Flag football
Junior Gremlins-Cardinals vs. El Sereno Stallions (no score is kept): Bryson Reeves and quarterback Michael Lund had a great games, and so did running backs Andrew Sharman and Jonah Cisneros.
Gladiators cornerback Caden Smith, safety Zachary Roh and defensive end Andrew Seace all pulled their first flags of the season on Saturday. Jordan McWhorter and Caden Smith successfully forced a Stallion fumble.
Reeves also stood out, returning an interception for a touchdown. He later notched another touchdown on offense.
The La Cañada Junior Gremlins-Gold vs. Temple City Rams (no score is kept): Under steadily warming skies, quarterback Bennett Oakes led the local squad. During the first quarter, Oakes completed a pass to Banich for a 15-yard gain. And during the third quarter, Oakes completed a pass to Valentine Nunez for a gain of 20. Handoffs from Oakes to Nathan Lee, in the third and fourth quarters, also resulted in respective gains of 10 and eight yards, respectively.
Dylan Luper had the highlight of the game as he led the Gladiators defense, pulling eight flags in the game. Mathew Banich also stood out, pulling six flags.
Tackle football
Temple City 14, La Cañada Gremlins 12: The Gladiators almost pulled off a win against the Temple City Rams. Temple City scored on two touchdowns, as did the Gladiators, but the difference in the game was Temple City’s ability to convert both extra points attempts. The La Cañada team is 0-2.
In hot weather, running backs Chris Wood, Tanner Gish, Charlie Rocca, Adam Crawford, Thomas McConnell and Elijah Washington all carried the ball a total of 27 carries for 165 yards and two touchdowns. Washington got the brunt of the work, carrying the ball 15 times for 90 yards.
The Gladiators defense held the Temple City scoreless in the second half.
The Gremlins will go up against the Arcadia Indians next week on Sunday, Oct. 3, at 11 a.m. at La Cañada High School.
La Cañada Junior Pee-Wees 24, La Puente 0: The Junior Pee-Wees defeated the La Puente Warriors to even its record to 1-1.
The Gladiator offense scored its first touchdowns early in the first quarter. Quarterback Brian Erickson handed off to running back Eli Chavez for two 25-yard gains behind his offensive line early in the first quarter.
On the ensuing Warrior possession, the Gladiator defense, led by linebacker Will McConnell, was stifling. McConnell sacked the opposing quarterback to force a fourth-and-23 situation. Bobby Gazmarian and Brian Erickson both came up with interceptions in the first half to allow the Gladiators to maintain momentum.
Will McConnell took over running-back duties for the Gladiators and ran the ball in for a touchdown, pushing the Gladiators lead to 12–0 at halftime.
The Gladiators defense continued to shine in the second half, as they blocked a punt to keep the ball at midfield. The Gladiators marched back down the field as Eli Chavez capped the drive with a nine-yard touchdown run, putting the team’s lead at 18-0.
The defensive scheme of the Gladiators continued to dominate, as Jackson Totleben and Andrew Van Ginkel both intercepted passes. Ginkel’s pick led to a touchdown on an eight-yard screen pass from Erickson to McConnell on the first play of the fourth quarter. The conversion attempt failed, but the Gladiators led, 24-0, which ended the scoring for the day.
The Gladiator’s controlled the pace at the end of the game, rushing for more than 200 yards, led by Chavez, who had more than 100.
La Cañada Pee-Wees, 38 Temple City 0: In its first home game of the season, the locals shut out the Temple City Rams to improve to 2-0.
In the first series of the first quarter, the Gladiator Defense made its presence known as Mario Martinez forced a fumble, then picked up the ball to run for a 45-yard touchdown. A successful extra-point conversion made it 8-0.
The Gladiator defense stopped Temple City’s offense with a sack and forced fumble in its next possession. The fumble was recovered by Tyler Hill. On its next offensive possession, Daivon Grayson ran for a 60-yard touchdown that brought the score to 16-0 after a two-point conversion by Martinez.
By the end of the second quarter, the Gladiators had upped the score to 30-0. The Temple City offense was stopped by excellent interior-line play, with sacks by David Vardinian and Michael Doud. Temple City’s total offense was a minus-five yards, with no first downs.
The Gladiators defense stayed strong, as Temple City was poised to score on a 40-yard pass, but Mario Martinez tackled the ball carrier at the 1-yard line, forcing a fumble that was recovered in the end zone by cornerback Dominic Jones. That brought the Gladiators to their own 20-yard line, where quarterback Brett Gangi ran for a 80-yard touchdown. Grayson scored the final touchdown, making the final score 38-0.
The Pee-Wees will square up against the Arcadia Indians next Sunday, Oct. 3 at 3 p.m. at La Cañada High School.
La Cañada Junior Midgets, 27 Temple City 6: The locals were able to gain the win. Next week they face the Arcadia Indians at La Cañada High School. Kickoff is at 5 p.m.
La Cañada Midgets, 40 Whittier Redskins 18: The local squad dominated the Whittier Redskins on both sides of the ball to improve to 2-0.
The first half was a tough defensive battle. After a scoreless first quarter, La Cañada drew first blood on a pin-point 45-yard pass from quarterback Jeremiah Martin to wide receiver Chip Crowley. But as the second quarter drew to a close, Whittier tied the game at 6.
The Gladiators took control of the game in the third quarter. On Whittier’s first possession of the half, safety Chase Walker intercepted an errant Redskin pass. Will Lombardo followed the pick with a 25-yard run and another 20-yard rush for a touchdown. Martin then hit tight-end Todd Murray with a pass in the back of the end zone for the two-point conversion to put the Gladiators in front, 14-6.
On the next series, Julian Najera recovered a Redskin fumble, which then led to a 45-yard touchdown pass from Martin to Murray. At the end of the third quarter, the Gladiators had a commanding 20-6 lead.
After turning the ball over, La Cañada forced a turnover of its own as Will Lombardo snatched up a fumble and returned it for a touchdown. Matt Bayle punched in a two-point conversion to bring the score to 28-6. The Redskins refused to quit and narrowed the score to 28-12.
La Cañada stormed right back with its rushing attack as Lombardo scored on a 35-yard run to push the lead to 34-12.
La Cañada’s final score came on defense, when Bayle stepped in front of a Whittier receiver and returned the interception 40 yards for a score to put the Gladiators up, 40-12.
Whittier came up with a final touchdown with 2:00 on the clock to make it 40-18.