Winless Glendale college football overwhelmed by Chaffey
RANCHO CUCAMONGA — The Glendale Community College football team had a difficult matchup against Chaffey College on Saturday, but on its first possession of the game, the Vaqueros had some momentum swinging their way.
The drive spanned 11-plays, covered 50 yards and resulted in a field goal which cut the Panthers’ lead to four points in the first quarter.
However, Glendale’s offense stalled and its defense couldn’t hang on as Chaffey scored 49 unanswered points to win, 56-3, in an American Metro Conference contest at Grigsby Field.
“It was just tough. Just tough,” Glendale coach John Rome said. “We knew that going in and they’ve won 16 straight. No one’s done that.”
The Vaqueros remain winless with an 0-6 record (0-2 in conference). Chaffey improves to 6-0, 2-0 on the back of a 16-game winning streak dating back to the 2018 season when it suffered a 24-22 loss to Los Angeles Harbor college on Sept. 1. It’s the longest current winning streak in the state.
Eight Panthers scored for Chaffey and the hosts did not punt until their opening possession of the second half.
“I think the offense did a great job,” Chaffey coach Rob Hadaway said. “If you’re not punting the ball, that means you’re scoring in some fashion, whether it’s field goals or touchdowns. They did a tremendous job.”
First-half quarterback Caleb Arreola finished with a 17-of-25 passing effort for 247 yards and two touchdowns, while Maximillian Davila completed all six of his pass attempts for 103 yards and a touchdown in the second half. Both quarterbacks also scored on two-yard runs.
Chaffey receiver Tyler Sweet led the receiving corps with six catches for 114 yards and a touchdown, while Shakell Brown and Omari Sanders also scored for the Panthers. In the rushing department, Manuel Castaneda and Jamal Moorefield tacked on a scores for the hosts.
Glendale failed to score a touchdown for the first time this season and has given up at least 50 points in each of its last three games.
“We just keep making Football 101 mistakes,” Rome said.
Vaqueros quarterback Nathan Eldridge started the first half and completed eight of 17 passes for 90 yards. Glendale running back and St. Francis grad Elijah Washington finished with 11 carries for 23 yards and caught four passes for 50 yards.
It took five plays for the Panthers to get on the board on their opening drive, capped by a 36-yard touchdown reception by Sanders at 12:53 in the first.
The Vaqueros’ first possession of the game took 11 plays and ate up 6:30 as Glendale came away with a 36-yard field goal from Crescenta Valley grad Kevin McCollum to cut the Chaffey lead to 7-3 midway into the first quarter.
“Our offensive line gives us a chance in every game,” Rome said. “They’re great tough kids and I love them to death. They’ll give you everything they’ve got.”
The Panthers responded with a three-yard run from Castaneda to take a 14-3 lead at 4:50 in the first.
After the Panthers missed a 27-yard field-goal attempt to start the second quarter, Chaffey added to its lead after the punt attempt from Glendale kicker Angel Giron was blocked by defensive back Musa Traylor. The ball was recovered and scored by safety Joseph Lumingkewas for a 21-3 lead at 11:20 in the second quarter.
“We’re very young on defense,” Hadaway said. “We mature each week and we’ve gotten better on assignments. We’re not giving up explosive plays and when you can do that, you have a chance in every ball game.”
The Panthers took a 28-3 lead with 4:01 left in the second quarter on a 14-yard reception from Brown and extended its lead on a two-yard run from Arreola with six seconds left in the half.
With quarterback Davila in for the Panthers, the sophomore threw three straight completions and finished off the drive with a 50-yard touchdown pass to Sweet to increase the advantage to 42-3 with 5:19 left in the third.
Chaffey ran in a two-yard score from Moorefield to make it 49-3 with12:40 remaining in the fourth quarter, before Davila’s two-yard run completed the scoring with 4:40 remaining.
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