Glendale Decks Moorpark, 45-21

It was not a memorable play in a football game that had several, nor did it affect the outcome. Yet it presented a vivid picture of the ease with which Glendale College defeated Moorpark, 45-21, in a Western State Conference game at Glendale High on Saturday afternoon.

Trailing, 28-7, midway through the second quarter, shellshocked Moorpark was forced to punt.

Dan Hernandez elected not to field the low, line-drive kick, but when Moorpark’s Jeff Moore punched the ball--in frustration--toward the Glendale end zone instead of downing it, Hernandez picked it up at the Vaquero 15 and returned it to the 41.

From there, Glendale went on a 12-play drive to take a 35-7 lead, capped by Rafik Thorossian’s one-yard plunge with 10 seconds remaining until halftime.

“We don’t have a big-play offense like they have,” Glendale Coach John Cicuto said, “so we knew we had to control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball to win.”

Glendale’s offensive line dominated Moorpark’s defensive front: The Vaqueros rolled up 591 yards in offense, including 367 yards on the ground.

Fullback Wes Bender gained a season-high 173 yards in 19 carries and rumbled 54 yards for the first touchdown of the game with barely 3 1/2 minutes elapsed.

Tailback Bobby Webster gained 109 yards in 20 carries and scored twice, and reserve fullback Thorossian rushed for a season-high 99 yards in 15 carries.

Quarterback Marco Arcipreste completed 12 of 14 passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns.

“They were just a lot better than we thought,” Moorpark defensive lineman Jeff Jay said. “They didn’t do anything fancy, but we couldn’t stop them.”

The victory over Moorpark, ranked sixth nationally, was the seventh in a row for Glendale (7-2, 7-1 in conference play) and clinched at least a tie for the Northern Division title. The Vaqueros (4-0 in divisional play) can win the title outright with a victory over Santa Barbara next week.

Glendale’s victory overshadowed the national record-breaking performance of Moorpark tailback Freddie Bradley, who rushed for 95 yards in 17 carries, and scored two touchdowns, the 44th and 45th regular-season rushing touchdowns of his career.

Bradley, O. J. Simpson (San Francisco City, in ‘65-66), Tommy Reamon (Fort Scott, Kan., ‘70-71) and Robert Hardy (Lees-McRae, N. C., ‘87-88) had shared the record of 43.

Bradley also ran for a two-point conversion, giving him a career total of 300 points, four shy of Simpson’s national mark.

But the day belonged to the Vaqueros, who scored touchdowns on their five first-half possessions, held Bradley to less than 100 yards rushing for the first time this season and limited Moorpark’s high-octane running attack to 119 yards.

Moorpark (7-2, 6-2) scored two touchdowns within a 14-second span in the third quarter to narrow the deficit to 35-21.

Bradley’s 11-yard run capped a nine-play, 80-yard drive with 7:07 left, and, after Moorpark (3-1 in divisional play) recovered a Webster fumble, quarterback Del Marine hit his brother Peter with a 22-yard scoring pass.

Glendale marched 85 yards in eight plays on its next possession, however, capped by Webster’s 20-yard run.

“Everyone just came together today,” Bender said. “We’ve got a lot of talent on this team.”

Moorpark would attest to that.