Rucker Gains 284 Yards as Glendale Routs Arcadia, 56-7

The Pathon Rucker Show, perhaps the area’s best-produced hit this season, made a stop at Arcadia High on Friday night.

The Apaches couldn’t wait for it to leave town.

Arcadia, the defending Pacific League champion, was overwhelmed by the Dynamiters, 56-7, in the teams’ league opener.

Rucker, meanwhile, with five touchdowns and 284 yards, made sure unbeaten Glendale (6-0) remained that way. Rucker has rushed for an area-best 1,084 yards.

“Pathon was more focused for this game than he has been all year,” Glendale Coach Don Shoemaker said. “All our kids were focused. We’ve been told we hadn’t played anyone tough all year, but tonight we beat a good Arcadia team.”

Rucker’s performance overshadowed a superb effort by the Glendale defense, which yielded Arcadia only one sustained drive.

“We had great practices this week,” Rucker said. “And we showed it tonight.”

His second touchdown, a 90-yard run, gave his team a 28-7 halftime lead. From his 10, he darted to near midfield and lost his balance when hit by a defender. He seemed ready to go down, but somehow straightened, accelerated and went all the way.

Glendale took a 7-0 lead when Hector Maya scored from one yard. The drive was set up by one impressive Rucker run after another.

On Arcadia’s first play from scrimmage after the touchdown, quarterback Kevin Schramm threw the ball into the hands of Glendale linebacker Danny Pardo, who returned the ball 23 yards for his team’s second score.