Glendale College Falls to Pasadena City, 24-16

It wasn’t the outcome John Cicuto desired but it wasn’t entirely unexpected.

Cicuto, in his first season as coach of the Glendale College football team, obviously would have preferred to start the new era with a victory.

Instead, his Vaqueros suffered a 24-16 nonconference defeat to cross-town rival Pasadena City College on Saturday at Glendale High in the teams’ opener.

Glendale entered the game ranked 17th in the nation by USA Today and ninth in the state by the JC Athletic Bureau. But Cicuto didn’t seem to mind the fact that his team is bound to tumble in the polls.

“We’ve always said we’re going to go into a practice game playing as many guys as we can,” said Cicuto, who had been Glendale’s defensive coordinator for 13 years before replacing Jim Sartoris, the Vaqueros’ coach for 17 seasons. “Knowing this, there’s always a chance you may not win because you’re playing so many guys.

“At least it gives us a chance to look at our kids against a good team, so when we’re getting ready to play in our conference we know the guys that can play.”

Glendale has a bye next week before opening Western State Conference play Sept. 23 against defending national champion Bakersfield. One of Cicuto’s main tasks over the next two weeks will be deciding on a quarterback.

Against unranked Pasadena, Darren Fitzgerald, Marco Arcipreste and Ronnie Lopez all saw action, but none of them looked particularly impressive while directing a Vaquero offense that generated just 164 yards.

Fitzgerald, a sophomore who started the game, completed one of five passes for 28 yards. Arcipreste, a freshman from Burroughs High, completed two of seven for 57 yards, including a 42-yard touchdown pass to tailback Sean Hampton on a broken play in the second quarter that gave Glendale a 16-7 lead. Lopez, a sophomore transfer from Pierce who was the 1987 City Section 3-A Division co-Player of the Year at Franklin High, completed none of his five attempts.

The quarterbacks, however, weren’t helped much by an offensive line that allowed six sacks.

“We still have a lot to learn,” said Hampton, a returning all-conference tailback who rushed for 40 yards in eight carries. “We have to start clicking. We’re not a family yet. We have to get fired up and come out together.”

The Vaqueros did nothing with three fourth-quarter possessions after Armando Toscano kicked a 34-yard field goal that gave Pasadena its first lead, 17-16, with 14:12 to play.

Nigel Bostic, who gained 82 yards in 12 carries, iced the victory for the Lancers when he scored on a 17-yard run with 47 seconds left.

The Vaqueros seemed to have plenty of fire at the outset. On the first series of the game, Glendale defensive back Sheamus Martin picked off a pass by Pasadena quarterback Willie Reyna and rumbled 18 yards into the end zone for a touchdown.

Reyna, who completed 10 of 24 passes for 150 yards, drove his team 86 yards in 11 plays to tie the score on the ensuing possession, however. The Lancers produced 369 yards in offense.

Doug Dragomer led Glendale rushers with 73 yards in 13 carries and he had an apparent 71 yard-touchdown run in the second quarter shortened to a 47-yard gain when an official ruled that he had stepped out of bounds.