Glendale football drops third straight in loss to Capistrano Valley Christian
The Glendale High football team’s offense struggled to find any momentum in the first half of a nonleague road game against Capistrano Valley Christian High on Thursday.
With eight starters injured, the Nitros tried everything they could to gain footing in their final nonleague game.
The depleted Glendale team couldn’t hold down Capistrano Valley Christian, which scored five unanswered touchdowns to win, 36-7, at Capistrano Valley High.
“It was good to see the fight in them against their starters out there — not second or third string,” Glendale coach Cary Harris said. “That just shows me that when you will yourself to something, you can do it. That’s the motivation that we have to take on going into next week.”
Glendale quarterback Kierson Florita finished with 31 passing yards and two interceptions on a four-of-eight effort. Nitros running back Matthew Quiroz helped generate the offense late in the first half and finished with 56 yards in six carries, while Dennis Perez tallied all three carries for 82 yards and a touchdown on the Nitros’ final drive of the game for their lone score.
Eagles quarterback Tyler Henry finished with 119 yards and two touchdowns on nine-of-12 passing. Receiver Simeon Martin caught two touchdown passes in five receptions for 69 yards, while running back Rome Demongin had 10 carries for 90 yards, one rushing touchdown andalso scored on a fumble returned for a 41-yard score.
The Eagles (2-2) punted on their first possession at 10:07 of the first, but momentum shifted back to their side after cornerback Pablo Moser intercepted a Florita pass less than two minutes later.
“We kind of sputtered a little bit, but we got the interception and kind of turned it around,” Capistrano Valley Christian coach Rick Curtis said. “Our offensive and defensive line played way better this week. We had a little redemption week this week.”
Demongin scored his first touchdown on a four-yard run at the 7:48 mark to give the Eagles a one-score lead.
At the start of the second quarter, Henry ran down the middle for a 29-yard touchdown to cap a seven-play drive to give the Eagles a 14-0 advantage.
After a three-and-out on Glendale’s first drive of the quarter, Henry found Marton for an 11-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead with 6:15 left in the half.
With 2:23 remaining in the half, Demongin scored on a 41-yard return for the Eagles’ fourth touchdown of the half to lead, 29-0, after a successful two-point conversion.
The Glendale offense started to gain momentum on a trio of runs from Quiroz for 25 yards, but the Nitros could not capitalize before halftime and left their possession on the Eagles’ 4-yard line.
“The line was blocking a little better,” said Quiroz of the offense’s push. “There were better gaps and that was pretty much it. We just had our gaps.”
The Eagles took just three passing plays for Henry to find Marton for the duo’s second touchdown with a nine-yard pass to make it 36-0 with 6:55 to go in the third.
The Nitros finally got on the board thanks to Perez’s 46-yard run to cut the Eagles’ advantage to 36-7 with 1:17 left.
Glendale (1-3) begins its Pacific League campaign against Burroughs at 7 p.m. Sept. 20 at Moyse Field.
“We have to be prepared for different situations and different scenarios,” said Harris of Burroughs. “You have to be confident with what you’re doing and do extra stuff and watch more film to get yourself prepared.”