Advertisement

Gardena Tops Emotional Roosevelt

Share
TIMES STAFF WRITER

Roosevelt Coach Jose Casagran looked like a beaten man Friday night and his Roughriders were a beaten team.

On the Coliseum field, the Gardena Panthers proudly held high the City Section Invitational championship trophy after beating the Roughriders, 31-7.

The Roughriders wanted to win for teammate Steve Delgado, but after the events of last Sunday, when Delgado was slain outside an East Los Angeles restaurant, they knew winning or losing wasn’t the most important thing.

Advertisement

Roosevelt running back Manuel Esparza said he could feel Delgado’s presence Friday.

“We wanted to win, you know, but if Steve was here, he’d want us to hold up heads up high and take pride in giving our best,” Esparza said. “I’m just disappointed that we couldn’t get this win for him.”

Delgado was attending a quinceanera after-party at Betty’s Pasta House and was sitting in his mother’s car when security guards hired by the restaurant got into a heated argument with about 10 people who were asked to leave.

L.A. County Sheriff’s detectives are investigating whether Delgado was shot accidentally by a guard.

Delgado was one of the team’s five captains. Before the game, Gabriel Adewale and Robert Smith carried his No. 77 jersey out to midfield for the coin toss.

On the sideline, a portrait of Delgado along with his helmet sat on the Roosevelt bench. Players and coaches wore black armbands.

Casagran said it has been the most difficult week of his life. He considered not playing the game, but was talked out of it by Delgado’s mother.

Advertisement

“I’m extremely tired right now,” he said. “I feel bad for the kids. This game became extremely insignificant, but at the same time, it became more important once the family said we had to play.”

A week’s worth of emotion spilled over at the beginning of the game. Esparza took the opening kickoff 53 yards to the Gardena 35.

The Roughriders (10-4) took it to a stunned Panther defense on the opening drive. Esparza ran 10 yards for a first down and Angel Cruz ran 13 yards for another.

On the next play, Esparza, a 5-foot-7, 155-pound senior, busted off right tackle and scored from 12 yards out for a 7-0 lead only 53 seconds into the game.

Gardena Coach Marshall Jones said he expected Roosevelt to come out fired up. Nearly two years ago, Jones’ team dealt with the shooting death of quarterback Jeffrey Gardner.

“We were prepared for them,” Jones said. “We knew they would come out with a great deal of determination and desire. We knew we would have to withstand that.

Advertisement

“I know it took a great deal of courage for them to come out and play. You deal with players getting hurt, even players getting seriously hurt. Nothing prepares you for the death of a player.

“For us, we had six months to deal with it before playing. They’ve only had a week.”

Gardena (10-4) was the better team Friday. The Panthers ran for 144 yards and quarterback Chris Phillips threw for 132 yards and two touchdowns.

Phillips and Richard Jenkins hooked up on a 45-yard scoring play with under a minute left in the first quarter to give the Panthers a 14-7 lead. Jenkins caught the ball at the 10-yard line after Roosevelt safety Gabriel Hernandez tipped the ball in the air.

Dennis Smith scored on a six-yard run in the third quarter and Xavier Ross finished off Roosevelt with a 92-yard interception return late in the game.

“I probably didn’t do a good job preparing my team as normally I can,” Casagran said. “They came out hard. We just ran out of gas.”

Advertisement