Crescenta Valley Remains Unbeaten After 33-12 Win

They yelled the word from the sidelines all night. And they earned it on the field.

Respect.

Crescenta Valley High improved to 4-0 with a 33-12 victory over South Pasadena in a nonleague game Thursday night at Glendale High.

Usually in the second tier of the Pacific League behind Muir and Glendale, the Falcons are looking to leap into the upper echelon. And they’re off to a good start.

“That’s our goal,” Crescenta Valley Coach Jim Beckenhauer said of the quest for respect. “I think we’ve gotten some, but we still need to lift our play a notch.”

There are three primary reasons for Crescenta Valley’s surge--a punishing defense and running backs Erik LaCom and Paul Lopez.

Lopez rushed for 130 yards and two touchdowns in 11 carries against South Pasadena (3-1); LaCom gained 92 and scored two touchdowns in 17 carries.

Falcon quarterback David Fielder, whose job amounts to handing off the ball play after play, connected on one of four passes for six yards.

LaCom was instrumental in the pivotal fourth quarter. After seeing their 19-0 halftime lead shrink to 19-12 after three quarters, the Falcons buckled down.

Crescenta Valley began the fourth quarter by driving 80 yards in 11 plays, including nine rushes by LaCom. The drive took more than seven minutes and ended with Fielder scoring on a 16-yard keeper with 4 minutes 41 seconds to play.

“We just had to think about what we had to do again,” said LaCom, who added the final touchdown on a drive that started after Lopez recovered a fumble.

Big plays have been the trademark of the Crescenta Valley defense. Although the Falcons yielded 171 yards, they allowed only 12 points and have outscored opponents, 100-22, this season.

“We’ve put a decent number of points on the board, but the defense has played great all year,” Beckenhauer said.

Crescenta Valley’s defense was dominant from the outset. South Pasadena gained only 73 yards in the first half.

On their first possession, the Falcons drove 50 yards for a touchdown--a 10-yard run by LaCom.

On Crescenta Valley’s second possession, Lopez ran untouched down the middle of the field for a 44-yard touchdown.

The Falcons finished the first-half scoring with a 55-yard drive that ended on an 11-yard touchdown run by Lopez.