Tornadoes no match for Arcadia
SOUTHEAST GLENDALE — Hoover High wide receiver Gerardo Frasco perfectly summed up Friday’s postgame activities when he quipped, “it’s a reunion.”
Arcadia had just defeated the Tornadoes, 49-7, in a Pacific League game at Moyse Field when the Tornadoes went searching for the opposing coach and the Apaches joked with the Hoover coach.
The Tornadoes reunited with former Coach Chris Long — the Apaches’ current assistant mentor — and the Apaches reminisced with Hoover’s Andrew Policky, one of their former leaders at Arcadia.
“It’s weird, “said Long, who resigned as Hoover’s coach in May and served as Friday’s honorary head coach for the Apaches, who drenched him with a bucket of Gatorade after the win. “When we pulled up on the bus, I felt nervous. It brought back a lot of old memories. I miss everybody, the players, the faculty, the staff, the administration and the drive to school. I’m happy at Arcadia, though.”
Arcadia was happy with the win and with seeing Policky, who graduated from the school in 1998.
“It was nice of them to come up to me,” said Policky, a wide receiver with the Apaches, who he helped reach the CIF semifinals his senior season, when he also scored 19 touchdowns as a wide receiver.
“I know all of those guys. I have a lot of respect for those guys. I taught some of those guys in middle school, but I tried not to think about it until after the game.”
During the game, the Apaches (5-2, 3-1 in league) proved to be overwhelming for the Tornadoes (0-7, 0-4).
Arcadia gained 425 yards of total offense to the Tornadoes’ 126.
The Apaches, the league’s defending champion, raced out to a 14-0 lead less than four minutes into the game, scoring on Myles Carr’s 72-yard strike to Alex McElwee on the first play from scrimmage and Joey Willm’s five-yard touchdown catch from Carr three minutes later.
Carr had three touchdown passes and was nine of 16 for 155 yards before sitting out the entire second half. He also rushed for a 14-yard touchdown in the first half, when Arcadia built a 35-0 lead. Jake Medel had a pair of touchdowns — a 27-yard run and a 30-yard reception — in the half.
Hoover’s offensive struggles continued in the half, as it had just one yard of total offense to Arcadia’s 290.
“We struggle to move the ball, we struggle to run the ball and we struggle to protect the quarterback,” Policky said.
Hoover ended its league-scoring drought, finding the end zone for the first time in four games when leading-rusher Luke Tabayoyong, who had 80 yards rushing in eight carries, scored from three yards out with six minutes remaining in the fourth.
“It felt good for Luke to score,” Policky said of Tabayoyong’s first touchdown of the season. “I felt like he was going to be the first guy to run for a 1,000 yards and not score.”
The score was the Tornadoes’ lone highlight on a night that felt like a reunion for the players and coaches.
“We’re a family,” Arcadia Coach Jon Dimalante said. “Andrew is family. Chris Long is family.”