Glendale college football blitzed in conference loss to L.A Valley
GLENDALE —For the second home game in a row, the Glendale Community College football team faced a new conference opponent.
Playing Los Angeles Valley College was nothing new, but this season the game had extra meaning with both being part of the American Metro Conference.
The Vaqueros kept it close through the first quarter, but after that the disparity between the two squads became more and more obvious, as the Monarchs came away with a 69-18 victory Saturday afternoon at Sartoris Field.
“It’s frustrating to put in the time and effort we do and have this be the result,” Glendale coach John Rome said. “For a lack of a better word, it’s frustrating.”
Glendale (1-7, 1-3 in conference) was coming off its first win of the season, but could not continue the momentum against L.A. Valley (6-3, 4-1). The Monarchs remain in second place in conference with the win. The Monarchs sit just behind Chaffey College, which the Vaqueros lost to, 37-0, in their last home game.
“There was just a physical disparity between their athletes and ours,” Rome said. “We can hang, like we did with Chaffey, for a while, but eventually they can make plays and we can’t.
“When we drop the ball it rolls right to them. When they drop the ball it bounces off five people into their hands and they run across the field and score. It looks like a comedy routine from the Three Stooges.”
L.A. Valley over-matched the Vaquero offense across the board. Glendale ran one more play than the Monarchs, but was outgained in yards, 662-198. Through the air it was 314-141. It was even worse on the ground, where the hosts were outgained, 348-57.
Monarch Darian Albrecht led all rushers with 95 yards in 11 carries with two touchdowns. L.A. Valley also got 79 yards from reserve quarterback Julious Sabastiano, while Dawson Schick had 77 yards in six carries with two scores.
L.A. Valley received the opening kickoff, and seven plays later the Monarchs got three points on the board via a Jake Calver 20-yard field goal.
Glendale’s first possession ended after two plays when Adayus Robertson fumbled and Marquis Deweert recovered. The visitors soon turned the mistake into points on a one-yard touchdown run around the left side by Albrecht for a 10-0 Monarchs advantage.
Glendale broke through with 15 seconds left in the opening quarter to score the Vaqueros’ first points against L.A. Valley, and first in awhile, after being shut out the last two years in nonconference play. Job McGinty received a punt at the 27-yard line. The sophomore built a head of steam and got loose down the right sideline, taking it 73 yards for a touchdown.
“I saw three people and I said, ‘All I got to do is beat all three people,’ so I grabbed the ball and took it to the house,” McGinty said. “I saw the end zone even before I touched the ball.”
The score was 10-7 after the first. However, after that things started to get out of hand.
Sabastiano took over at quarterback for the Monarchs in the second quarter and led two touchdown drives. The first one concluded with a two-yard pass to Kareem Miles. The second was a 40-yard run by Schick in which he was barely touched.
Glendale did mount a drive at the end of the half that culminated in a 27-yard field goal from Chris Wood, a Crescenta Valley High product. At the break it was 27-10 for the visitors.
If they hadn’t already, L.A. Valley put the game away in the third quarter, outscoring the Vaqueros, 21-0. The first touchdown came three plays after McGinty made an ill-advised attempt to field a bouncing punt and muffed it for a turnover. The second came on a 73-yard over-the-top pass from Sabastiano to Miles. The third came on a two-yard fumble return after Wood bobbled a snap on a punt attempt standing on the goal line.
The teams combined for four touchdowns in the final five minutes of the contest. The first was a Albrecht 46-yard run up the middle. The second of came when Glendale quarterback Nathan Eldridge found Christopher Lee in the back left corner of the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown.
Eldridge finished 14 of 30 for 141 yards with one score and one interception.
On the ensuing extra-point attempt after the Lee score, holder Matt Bejanian bobbled the snap, but the sophomore scrambled to his right and, after not finding an open receiver, ran the ball in himself for a two-point conversion to make it 55-18.
L.A. Valley added two more touchdowns in the final 1:10 on a Schick run and an interception return.
“We’ve just got to practice harder and be more disciplined,” McGinty said. “We just need to be patient and good things will come.”