Crescenta Valley football gets back on track, downs Glendale
GLENDALE — After the lightning strikes and rain moved out of the area early Saturday, it allowed the Crescenta Valley High and Glendale football teams to complete their business at hand.
The Falcons and Nitros picked up Saturday where they left off Friday evening in their Pacific League showdown at Moyse Field. The game was suspended because of inclement weather late in the first quarter, forcing the teams, game officials and school officials to venture back under partly cloudy skies.
Crescenta Valley senior quarterback Cole Doyle shined brightly over the course of the two days, finishing with seven total touchdowns to propel Crescenta Valley to a 49-22 victory and keep the Falcons in contention for the league crown.
The game was stopped Friday with 1:08 left in the first quarter and Crescenta Valley leading, 21-0.
Doyle, a reigning All-Area pick, had no trouble adjusting to the odd situation of having to complete a contest the following day. In the process, Doyle matched some program history and kept the Falcons within one game of rival and first-place Arcadia with two games remaining.
“I think this is the first time I ever played in the day time, except for Pop Warner,” said Doyle, who completed 16 of 24 passes for 283 yards and six touchdowns before being removed at halftime. “I don’t think it was that hard to come back after playing the previous night and we just wanted to get back on track after losing last week to Burbank.
“We wanted to find a way to get things going.”
Doyle recorded his 24th win as quarterback at Crescenta Valley, equaling the mark set by Brian Gadsby, who accomplished the feat from 2012-14. Doyle, who rushed for 80 yards in eight carries and one touchdown, improved to 24-7 lifetime.
On Friday, Doyle threw one touchdown pass each to Angel Ochoa, Colby Rees and David Baek.
on Saturday, Glendale had possession first and Jaden Haas picked off a pass from Glendale quarterback Trent Lousararian at the Glendale 35-yard line. On the final play of the first quarter, Doyle tossed a 31-yard touchdown pass down the left side to Max Grant to make it 28-0.
Crescenta Valley (7-1, 4-1 in league) and Glendale (1-7, 0-5) combined for five touchdowns in the second quarter.
Glendale closed to within 28-8 on a one-yard run by Lousararian, followed by a two-point conversion on a pass from Lousararian to Joshua Tomihara with 10:38 remaining in the second quarter.
Crescenta Valley, ranked No. 7 in CIF Southern Section Division VII, took a 35-8 lead on a six-yard touchdown pass from Doyle to Daniel Cho with 8:28 left in the first half.
On the ensuing possession, Lousararian fired a 49-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Alvarez to bring the Nitros to within 35-14 with 6:45 to go in the quarter.
Back came the Falcons on their next possession, which was capped by a 20-yard touchdown run from Doyle to make it 42-14 with 5:07 left in the half.
Cescenta Valley wrapped up the first-half scoring on a 18-yard touchdown pass from Doyle to Michael Ruf with 2:33 to go.
“Cole is such a veteran with the way he runs things,” said Crescenta Valley coach Paul Schilling, whose team is tied for second in league with Burbank. “he reads plays so well and it’s cool to see him tie a guy like Brian Gadsby.
“It’s a strange situation after having to come back from last night like that. I think it’s fun for the players to come back out and play. We have a different setup on Saturdays.”
Glendale received a four-yard touchdown run from Azuka Ukon to make it 49-20 with 5:24 remaining in the third quarter.
The Nitros, who have lost 26 consecutive league games, recorded a safety after tackling reserve quarterback Jonathan Tejeda in the end zone with 8:03 to go in the fourth quarter.
Glendale entered the contest having scored just 19 points in league.
Lousararian threw for more than 200 yards.
“I just liked the way our guys came back today,” Glendale first-year coach Cary Harris said. “We did a good job at that and we put up 22 points after being down, 21-0.
“I thought we were hungry and we did some good things. Paul does a good job over there at CV and he does a great job at keeping them disciplined.”
Glendale and Crescenta Valley are scheduled to compete in league home games Thursday and Friday, respectively, at Moyse. Glendale will take on Burbank at 7 p.m. Thursday. Crescenta Valley is set to face Hoover at 7 p.m. Friday. Hoover forfeited its last two games following an on-campus incident Oct. 3.
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
