Glendale Wins in a Landslide, 75-0

The last time the Glendale College football team defeated an opponent this convincingly, the school’s athletic director was the quarterback and the rising star in the Democratic party was John F. Kennedy.

The Vaqueros, on a scoring binge of mammoth proportions, obliterated Compton, 75-0, Saturday in a Western State Conference Northern Division game at Glendale High.

The margin of victory was second only to that in Glendale’s 80-0 win over Harbor in 1962. Athletic Director Jim Sartoris was a freshman quarterback on that team.

“We came into this game expecting a tough game,” said current quarterback Eric Kiesau, a sophomore who threw all four of his touchdown passes in the first half. “We didn’t expect this.”

Against a Compton team that last won in 1989, Glendale (7-1, 6-1 in the conference, 3-0 in the division) amassed 392 yards in offense while holding the Tartars (0-8, 0-7, 0-3) to 114.

In its past two games, Glendale has outscored winless opponents by a combined 138-13.

Compton committed eight turnovers--four in each half--and Glendale scored a touchdown on the ensuing play on six of those occasions. In addition, defensive back Diedrick Joseph returned a fumble 19 yards for a score.

In the third quarter alone, Glendale, ranked 12th in the state, ran only six offensive plays but scored 26 points.

Glendale rushed for 243 yards with Pathon Rucker (110 yards in eight carries with two touchdowns), Leon Gable (71 yards, three carries, two touchdowns) and Andy Cleland (43 yards, seven carries, one touchdown) leading the charge.

“That’s just a beautiful job by the offense,” said Rucker, who ended the first half with a 40-yard touchdown run that gave Glendale a 49-0 lead. “We were having fun.”

Glendale intercepted four passes. Felix Goodson and Robert Rivera each had one and Vance Mitchell picked off two, returning the second 46 yards. Lineman Greg Garrison recorded two sacks and knocked down a pass.

Kiesau, 10 of 14 passing for 147 yards in slightly more than one half of action, began the onslaught with a nine-yard touchdown pass to tight end Troy Aldrich on Glendale’s opening series.

Less than four minutes later, Kiesau hooked up with wide receiver Angel Martinez (four catches for 79 yards and two touchdowns) on a 13-yard scoring play.

Midway through the first quarter, Gable followed Goodson’s interception with a dazzling 49-yard touchdown run.

Compton, which failed to penetrate farther than the Glendale 28-yard line, was led by receiver Darryl Nolan, who caught three passes for 57 yards.

“You feel kind of sorry for (Compton), but we’re trying as hard as we can,” Glendale Coach John Cicuto said. “We were trying not to put more points on the board. But you always have to play hard.”