By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor St. Francis needed and got a huge season-evening victory thanks to a reversal of fortune among its special teams. Pasadena won its third consecutive game and opened Pacific League play at Glendale. Poly bounced back with an impressive victory over Temple City. Maranatha blew out Maywood thanks to big games […]
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor
St. Francis needed and got a huge season-evening victory thanks to a reversal of fortune among its special teams.
Pasadena won its third consecutive game and opened Pacific League play at Glendale.
Poly bounced back with an impressive victory over Temple City.
Maranatha blew out Maywood thanks to big games from Enrique Garza and Isaac Fields.
Muir picked a bad night to play its worst game of the season during their Pacific League opening battle with Crescenta Valley.
La Salle and Blair fell to Apple Valley and Lighthouse Christian, respectively, by a combined margin of 128-0.
St. Francis (2-2) hosted undefeated Saugus just seven nights after watching their special teams give up three scores in a loss at Westlake.
The Golden Knights, however, made a dramatic turn for the better among their special teams, and were able to hold off a very game Saugus team, 17-13, on Friday night. r
Of all the players that might have been expected to be the game-changer, I bet nobody predicted it would be freshman Max Garrison.
Garrison is the backup for arguably the area’s best running back, Kevin Armstead, and while the star junior wasn’t quite 100 percent, Garrison was.
He scored on a short second-quarter run, picked off the Saugus quarterback before the half and then returned the second half kickoff back 90-plus yards for a TD, which turned out to be the difference.
Jake Smith, in his first start as the SF field goal kicker, turned Garrison’s second-quarter pick into three points when he booted a 38-yard field goal.
SF quarterback Darius Perrantes still hasn’t quite found his groove, as the star senior went 11 for 27 for 178 yards.
Perrantes did not throw a TD pass and was picked off once.
St. Francis’ schedule doesn’t get any easier this week, as they head to Studio City to take on Harvard-Westlake (3-2).
Pasadena (3-1 overall, 1-0 in league) destroyed Glendale, 48-7, Friday in a Pacific League opening road victory.
Andreas Solling is getting better each week, and the senior threw for four scores on Friday in the victory.
Jeremiah Hutchins caught a pair of TD passes and ran in another.
PHS’ three wins through four games is already more victories than the Bulldogs had in both 2016 or 2017, when they finished 2-8.
The Bulldogs first huge test is this Friday when they travel to undefeated Crescenta Valley.
The Falcons (4-0) dismantled Muir, 31-7, and quarterback Cole Doyle racked up over 350 yards of total offense, including 150-yards rushing against the Mustangs’ defense.
Maranatha (2-2) got four receiving touchdowns from Isaac Fields and junior quarterback Enrique Garca dissected the Maywood CES secondary throughout.
Garza finished 8 of 9 for 300 yards and 7 TD passes.
Fields caught 5 passes for 178 yards and the four scores.
Zack McClendon had three catches, and each ended up touchdowns. He finished with 122 receiving yards.
The MHS defense gave up just one first down all game, and that came on a penalty against the Minutemen.
Jacob Moreno ran a punt back 41 yards for a TD and Chris Pappas had a rushing TD.
The Minutemen walked all over the visitors from Maywood, 62-0, which improved the MHS record to 3-2 on the season.
Maranatha will host a Brentwood on Friday night,
The Eagles (4-0) are coming off a 14-13 victory over Palisades on Saturday and a week prior, Brentwood defeated Pasadena Poly, 37-27, at South Pasadena High School.
Poly (3-1) rebounded from last week’s 37-27 setback against Brentwood with an impressive, 28-12, nonleague victory over visiting Temple City.
The Panthers got two rushing TD’s from their stud, Franco Alonso, and the star senior also ran a punt back 50 yards for a third score on Friday afternoon.
Jackson Treister led the Poly rushing game with 65 yards and he scored one TD.
William McConnell continues to deny opponents yards and points with his dominant play at linebacker.
Poly will host California City on Friday at 4.
Muir (3-1 overall, 0-1 in league) couldn’t stop Crescenta Valley quarterback Cole Doyle through the air or on the ground.
The Eagles senior combined for 350 yards of total offense, including two running TD’s and a 28-yard strike to Angel Ochoa in the 31-7 Pacific League opening victory.
Tyquise Soloman,was the third of three quarterbacks that saw action for Muir.
Brian Love and Amaris Harrison preceded Soloman, but it was a 18-yard TD late in the game from Soloman to Caleb Snowden that accounted for the Mustangs lone score of the night.
As mentioned, this was easily Muir’s worst-played game of 2018 and they have too much skill and speed not to put this in their rear-view mirror.
The Mustangs will undoubtedly bounce back Friday when they host Hoover in the second Pacific League games of the year.
The Tornadoes (1-3 overall, 0-1 in league) are coming off a 44-26 setback to Burbank in their Pacific League opener, and have been outscored this season by a margin of 139-53.
Pasadena Area Week 4 Scores:
St. Francis 17, Saugus 13
Pasadena 48, Glendale 7
Crescenta Valley 31, Muir 7
Apple Valley 78, La Salle 0
Maranatha 62, Maywood 0
Poly 28, Temple City 12
Lighthouse Christian 50, Blair 0
** Flintridge Prep had bye week
Week 5 Schedule:
Thursday: Blair at Milken at 7
Friday: California City at Poly at 4
Friday: St. Francis at Harvard-Westlake at 7
Friday: Pasadena at Crescenta Valley at 7
Friday: Hoover at Muir at 7
Friday: La Salle at Cerritos Valley Christian at 7
Friday: Brentwood at Maranatha at 7
Friday: Villanova Prep at Flintridge Prep at 7
Football Standings Through September 14:
Angelus League:
Cathedral (4-1)
Crespi (3-2)
St. Francis (2-2)
Salesian: (1-4)
Del Rey League:
St. Paul (4-1)
Harvard-Westlake (3-2)
St. Genevieve (3-2)
St. Anthony (1-4)
La Salle (0-5)
Mission Valley League:
El Monte (4-1)
Gabrielino (4-1)
Arroyo (3-1)
Rosemead (3-2)
South El Monte (2-3)
Mountain View (1-4)
Marshall (0-5)
Olympic League:
Heritage Christian (5-0)
Maranatha (3-2)
Village Christian (3-2)
Valley Christian (1-4)
Whittier Christian (0-4)
Pacific League:
Crescenta Valley (4-0 overall, 1-0 in league)
Pasadena (3-1, 1-0)
Burbank (2-2, 1-0)
Arcadia (2-2, 1-0)
Muir (3-1, 0-1)
Hoover (1-3, 0-1)
Glendale (1-3, 0-1)
Burroughs (0-4, 0-1)
Prep League:
Rio Hondo Prep (4-0)
Santa Clarita Christian (4-1)
Poly (3-1)
Vasquez (1-4)
