Glendale Community College football takes another shot at first win
There will be another opportunity for the Glendale Community College football team to win its first game.
It will come at 6 p.m. Saturday when host Glendale meets former conference rival L.A. Valley at Sartoris Field.
It’s been a tough beginning to the season for the snakebit Vaqueros, who suffered a 27-26 double-overtime defeat against Mount San Jacinto on Saturday. The Vaqueros dropped to 0-3 and would like to close out nonconference action with a victory before starting up American Division Metro League action on the road against West L.A. on Sept. 30.
Glendale struggled on special teams against Mt. San Jacinto, missing two field goal and extra-point attempts. The Vaqueros missed a 47-yard field-goal try at the end of regulation and a short field goal in the first overtime. They missed an extra-point attempt after taking a 26-20 lead in the second overtime.
“We’ve been right there in two of the first three games we’ve played,” said Glendale coach John Rome, whose team rallied from a 20-0 deficit. “I thought we played our best game of the season and we did a lot of real good things. It’s just frustrating when you come up short like that in the end.
“Now, we have another chance and it will be a real good chance going up against a very good Valley team. It’s a Valley team that likes to grind things out, so we have to find a way to stay on top of that and try to make some plays.”
Glendale finished with 300 yards of offense against Mt. San Jacinto, which had 428. Glendale freshman quarterback Michael Bonds, a St. Francis High graduate, completed 15 of 21 passes for 157 yards and two touchdowns. He tossed two four-yard touchdown passes to Tyree O’Neil. The first touchdown pass tied the game at 20 early in the fourth quarter and the last came in double overtime. Running back Daniel Torres rushed for 83 yards in 24 carries and scored a touchdown for the Vaqueros.
On the season, Bonds has completed 45 of 86 passes for 346 yards. He’s thrown three touchdowns passes and doesn’t have an interception.
Valley (2-0) had a bye after picking up nonconference wins against Cerritos (25-14) and College of the Desert.(28-21 in overtime). Valley finished 11-0 last season and won the American Pacific Conference. The Monarchs defeated Chula Vista Southwestern to capture the American Division Championship Bowl.
Against Desert, Fazion Knight caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Julious Sabasti for the winning touchdown. Sabash completed 10 of 21 passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns.
Valley recorded a 13-0 home win against Glendale last season. The teams have faced off each season since 2010, when the Vaqueros joined the Pacific League. Valley has won five of the seven matchups, with Glendale’s last win coming in 2014.
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
