Crescenta Valley builds big lead, cruises past Muir

GLENDALE — After Crescenta Valley High got tripped up in its Pacific League football opener, Falcons Coach Paul Schilling said his team has “taken the approach of having the rest of our games be like playoff games.”

Going into week four of league play and hosting always contentious Muir, the need to stick to that approach was clear. A win over the Mustangs would put the Falcons into a three-way split for second place, while a loss would relegate the defending champions to the lower half of the standings, looking up at the postseason.

On Friday night, the host Falcons overcame the Mustangs, 40-27, at Moyse Field, thanks to an extraordinary effort by Tyler Hill. The victory keeps Crescenta Valley in tie for second place in the Pacific, where the top three are assured playoff spots.

“It was a grinder. It’s always a big game when we play Muir,” Schilling said. “This is the second time we’ve beat them twice, first in [19]77-78, and now we’ve beaten them in [20]14-15, so that’s a big deal for us.”

Hill, who did not start at quarterback but made the majority of big plays on offense, scored three touchdowns on the ground. The junior carried the ball 22 times for 178 yards, all off the direct snap.

“Against a team like that, you’ve got to drop your head and just run [and] not worry about getting hit, just run,” Hill said.

Hill started the scoring with a six-yard run with 4:59 left in the opening quarter. He added two more rushing scores as part of a 26-point Falcon third quarter. With the score tied at 14, Hill and the Falcons answered on the ensuing drive, capped by a 13-yard run by Hill. Later in the third, Hill extended the CV advantage with a one-yard run. The junior also saw significant time at safety and even was called on to punt in the fourth quarter.

“He is a beast,” Schilling said. “He plays hard on offense and defense and gives us that little extra.”

The win over the Mustangs (1-6, 1-3) was the third overall in league for Crescenta Valley (5-2, 3-1), which moved up to a tie for the No. 9 ranking in the CIF-Southern Section Southeast Division from No. 10 last week and unranked the week before.

The Mustangs tied the game on the first play of both the second and third quarters.

In the second, it was a seven-yard run by junior Michael Hamon, who tied the score at 7. Crescenta Valley answered, taking a 14-7 lead into the break, thanks to a four-yard pass from starting quarterback Evan Nelson to Brandon Beardt with 5:24 left in the second.

Nelson finished 11 of 19 for 121 yards and the one score.

On the first snap of the third quarter, Muir quarterback Joey Knowles threw a 65-yard bomb to Elijah Blades to tie the game at 14. After that, the floodgates opened for Crescenta Valley, which scored the next 26 points to build an insurmountable 40-14 lead by the end of the third quarter.

The first two scores came via the legs of Hill. The third touchdown of the quarter was a six-yard run by sophomore running back Joe Suh. The final score of the third was a 31-yard interception return for touchdown by CV’s Bostin Lakin.

Lakin added a second interception in the fourth quarter, which saw the Mustangs outscore the home team 13-0 and reduce the final margin.

Lakin was the leading receiver for Crescenta Valley, with four receptions for 51 yards, all coming in the first quarter.

“We were happy to win,” Schilling said, “but we didn’t play very well toward the end of the day.”

Muir blocked three kicks: two extra-point tries and one punt. Mustang Darren Myers blocked the punt and one extra point.

Up next for Crescenta Valley, which is now tied for second in the Pacific League with Burbank and Arcadia, is a series of two road games with the first against Pasadena before a match-up with Burroughs the following week. Muir will return to Moyse Field again next Friday to face host Hoover High.

“We’re just going to try to get better every day,” Schilling said.