By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor As disappointed as each member of the La Salle coaching staff and their players were when they walked off the field Friday night, there were definitely signs of hope for the near future. The Lancers fell 20-10, to visiting Arcadia, thanks to some late game heroics by the Apaches and […]
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor
As disappointed as each member of the La Salle coaching staff and their players were when they walked off the field Friday night, there were definitely signs of hope for the near future.
The Lancers fell 20-10, to visiting Arcadia, thanks to some late game heroics by the Apaches and critical mistakes by the young Lancers.
Leading 13-10 with about 9 minutes to play, and just 20 yards from going up two scores, freshman quarterback CJ Montes was picked at the 12-yard line, and Rolandiss Whitener took it back 88 yards for the score.
And for all intents and purposes, that play turned out to be game, set and match for Arcadia.
The ensuing drive saw La Salle lose yards and on their punt attempt, the Lancers’ punter had to chase the ball (errant snap) down to about his own goal line.
He picked it up and made the best of it, but it set up Arcadia for the fatal blow.
Arcadia, leading 14-10, had a 4th-and-7 and were set to attempt about a 39-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter.
In high school, a FG attempt of that length is about a 50-50 shot, and had Arcadia made it, La Salle would still be down just one score and chances still remained.
But La Salle, who had played incredibly disciplined all game, jumped offside,.
Arcadia then pulled its kicker off the field, went for it on 4th-and-2, and the drive and game ended when Max Davila hit Jake Medders on a 5-yard TD pass to put the game out of reach.
Davila was an efficient 11 of 21 for 162 yards.
The senior threw for two TD passes and as importantly, didn’t commit a turnover.
Davila had a 25-yard scoring strike with 25 seconds left in the first half to Frankie Contreras to give the Apaches a 7-3 halftime lead.
It seemed at the half that La Salle’s defense had controlled the game, and Arcadia had hurt itself with some costly penalties, and yet the Apaches still took a lead into the break.
But Jacob McDonough, on the first play of the second half, muffed the kick off, but picked it up and went 90 yards for the score and a 10-7 Lancers’ lead.
As mentioned, however, the game changed on a dime when Whitener got the Pick-6 and Arcadia’s defense sacked Montes four times in the fourth quarter alone to close out the victory for the Apaches.
Cristian Reyes’ 32-yard field goal at 7:04 in the first quarter gave La Salle a 3-0 lead that lasted until the Davila to Contreras score with 25 seconds to play in the half.
Chris Wilson got the start for La Salle and completed 7 of 10 passes for 43 yards and didn’t turn the ball over.
CJ Montes took over for Wilson in the second half, and was 11 of 21 for 86 yards, no touchdowns and was picked once.
Contreras had 5 catches for 68 yards and a score for Arcadia, and Whitener caught 3 passes for 58 yards.
Quotable:
La Salle coach Russell Gordon: “I thought (Wilson and Montes) played well. There was some good and bad. We had a couple of open throws, but that’s OK. (The pick-6) was just an over-throw. It happens at every level. The discipline is something we focused on, and I’m really proud of them.”
Arcadia coach Andrew Policky: “We played hard. We told them if they played hard every snap good things would happen. I thought (Davila’s experience) was the difference tonight. We knew they had a freshman and sophomore (at quarterback) and we were going after them. The pick-6 was a back-breaker.”
Arcadia quarterback Max Davila: “We have a lot of great guys so I just needed to control them and get them the ball and let them do their thing. I tried to be perfect and execute our game plan. (Whitener’s pick-6) changed the momentum.”
Arcadia receiver-defensive back Rolandiss Whitener: “I seen the ball coming to my hands and I just had to snatch it and go. As soon as I got to the 50, I was open and nobody was going to catch me. We stopped the run and pass. They couldn’t get off and didn’t doing anything else.”
Box Score:
Arcadia: 0-7-0-13-(20)
La Salle: 3-0-7-0-(10
Scoring:
LS: Cristian Reyes 32 FG
A: Frankie Contreras 25 pass from Max Davila (Randy Ludwig kick)
LS: Jacob McDonough 90 kickoff return (Cristian Reyes kick)
A: Rolandiss Whitener 88 interception return (Randy Ludwig kick)
A: Jake Medders 5 pass from Max Davila (kick blocked)
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