PREP FOOTBALL ROUNDUP : Chino Rallies to Tie Bell Gardens

Bell Gardens battled back from a one-point deficit to take a seven-point lead over Chino with less than two minutes to play, but Chino staged a last-minute rally to tie the nonleague game Friday at Bell Gardens.

Chino quarterback Matt Montello connected with Randy Velarde on a 22-yard touchdown pass with 15 seconds left and Gary Neal’s added extra point tied the score at 21.

Bell Gardens, which had no timeouts remaining, was unable to run a play before time expired.

Trailing 14-13, Junior Samano scored on a 13-yard run with 1:29 to play. Quarterback Ricky Oropeza and Samano teamed on the two-point conversion pass to put Bell Gardens ahead, 21-14.

But the Cowboys came back with a 72-yard drive in eight plays. Montello hooked up with Mike Cowan on a 20-yard pass to move the Cowboys to the Bell Gardens’ 22 with 37 seconds left. After two incomplete passes, Montello found Velarde in the end zone.

Oropeza hooked up with George Villa on a 25-yard pass on third-and-11 to move the ball to the Chino 13. Samano bolted in for the go-ahead touchdown on the next play.

Samano finished with 85 yards in 19 carries and caught four passes for 71 yards. Oropeza completed eight of 17 passes for 120 yards for a touchdown and rushed for another score.

“All we can do is learn from this game,” Bell Gardens Coach Dave Newell said. “At least we didn’t come out with a loss.”

Records: Chino 1-0-1; Bell Gardens 1-0-1.

Next week: Downey at Bell Gardens.

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Dorsey 26, Manual Arts 13--After stunning Crenshaw last week, Manual Arts came back to reality Wednesday night as Dorsey easily defeated the Toilers in a nonconference game at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

Senior running back Chris Phillips, a transfer from Fresno, led the way with 173 yards in 19 carries, including two 14-yard touchdowns.

Both teams relied heavily on their running game, but Dorsey dominated, gaining 227 yards on the ground to the Toilers’ 92.

Early in the second half, Manual Arts made just one first down in its first three possessions. When Dorsey got the ball back, the Dons drove 69 yards as Phillips scored his second touchdown on another 14-yard run. After a two-point conversion, the lead grew to 20-7 with 7:09 in the third quarter. The rest of the quarter contained three turnovers as both teams were sloppy on offense.

The Dons’ defense was strong again at the start of the fourth quarter. Manual Arts’ Kareem Wafer was sacked at his own one-yard line by a trio of Dorsey defenders. He fumbled on the next play and Dorsey recovered. Wilson scored on a one-yard run to give the Dons a commanding 26-7 lead late in the game. Manual Arts made it respectable when Wafer connected with tight end Andre Griffin for 12-yard touchdown.

Records: Manual Arts 1-1; Dorsey 2-0

Next week: Manual Arts at Washington; Fairfax at Dorsey.

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Locke 14, Jordan 6--Saint quarterback Hasayn Bailey, filling in for Akili Roberson who missed the game with a sprained ankle, connected with Russell Shaw on a 43-yard touchdown pass to seal a nonleague victory Wednesday at Locke.

A fumble recovery by linebacker Allan Williams set up a 23-yard touchdown run by Ronald Smith to give the Saints an 8-0 advantage midway through the first quarter. Sirr Parker rushed for 85 yards in 15 carries and Ronald Smith had 66 yards in nine tries for Locke.

Andre Wallace scored on a 39-yard fumble recovery in the third quarter for the Bulldogs’ only score.

Records: Jordan 0-2; Locke 1-1

Next week: Jefferson at Jordan; Locke at South Gate.

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Fremont 19, South Gate 14--William Yates completed three of nine passes for 90 yards, including a 45-yard touchdown pass to receiver Andre Johnson, in a Southeastern Conference game Wednesday at Fremont.

Crehon Taylor contributed to his team’s victory with a 20-yard touchdown run to give Fremont a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

South Gate running back Rolando Jeffery made a valiant effort with 130 yards in 22 carries. Ram quarterbacks Juan Vasquez and Richard Gonzalez had scoring runs of 12 and one yard, respectively.

Fremont’s defense held the Rams to a scoreless second half.

The Pathfinders clinched the victory when defensive back Derone Owens returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter. Records: Fremont 1-1; South Gate 1-1

Next week: Bell at Fremont; Locke at South Gate.

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Roosevelt 17, Washington 14--Down 14-10 with 11:51 left in the game, the Roughriders took advantage of an interception to set up a 14-yard scoring pass from senior quarterback Frank Madrid to Jesus Zesati in an upset over the Generals in a nonconference game Friday.

After Elio Zavala grabbed the interception at the Washington 26, Zesati made a diving grab at the 14-yard line on a hook pattern to set up the game-winning play, a crossing pattern that found him wide open in the end zone.

City sprint champ Jim McElroy gave Washington a brief lead when quarterback Chris Johnson hit him in full stride up the sideline on a 65-yard streak.

With 2:41 remaining in the game, the Generals’ attempt at a comeback was thwarted when Roughrider senior linebacker Jaime Benavides slammed into full back Joseph Brown and forced a fumble that was recovered by by Roosevelt junior defensive end Juan Leon.

Brown led all rushers with 14 carries for 84 yards.

Records: Washington 1-1; Roosevelt 2-0

Next week: Washington at Manual Arts; Roosevelt at Huntington Park.

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Paramount 33, Verbum Dei 0--Junior quarterback Michael Fletcher ran for three touchdowns to lead host Paramount to a rout over the Eagles in a nonleague game Friday.

Running backs Rafael Villasenor and Scot Vaiagae combined to rush for 111 yards for the Pirates, while Fletcher added 25 yards and passed for 69 yards.

Verbum Dei senior quarterback Andre Miller completed six of nine passes for 100 yards.

Records: Verbum Dei 0-2; Paramount 2-0

Next week: Verbum Dei at Narbonne.

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Salesian 20, Wilson 0--Quarterback Jess Martinez threw touchdown passes of 14 and 34 yards in Salesian’s nonleague win Friday at Wilson.

Martinez hit split end Eddie Corona on a 14-yard score early in the second quarter and connected with Rafael Morales Jr. on a 34-yard touchdown late in the fourth. Morales also rushed for a game high 88 yards on 11 carries.

Wilson was led by Buster Bradley’s 68 yards on five carries, but couldn’t get much going on offense after starting quarterback Eddie Johnson left the game with an injured right ankle early in the second quarter.

Records: Salesian, 1-0-1; Wilson 0-2

Next week: Salesian at El Rancho.

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Bell 21, Huntington Park 7--Gary Herrera had six receptions for 141 yards and two touchdowns to give Bell a Southeastern Conference victory at home Friday.

Danny Morales of Bell, who started last season at quarterback for Huntington Park, completed nine of 17 passes with an interception for 159 yards and two touchdowns.

Herrera caught touchdown passes of 50 and 37 yards in the second quarter to give the Eagles the lead for good, 14-7, at halftime.

The Spartans played without new quarterback Deon Mayes, who sprained an ankle last week. Andre Medina started in his place and completed seven of 14 passes for 54 yards with three interceptions.

Records: Bell 1-1; Huntington Park 0-2

Next week: Bell at Fremont; Roosevelt at Huntington Park.