Josh Simangunsong rushed for over 240 yards and 3 touchdowns for victorious Rams
(Temple City) – Temple City’s Josh Simangunsong may have a hard name to pronounce but he made running past defenders look easy Friday night in the Rams 27-15 win over La Canada in Rio Hondo League action.
Simangunsong piled up 240 yards rushing on 28 carries and scored three touchdowns. He scored on a one yard run in the second quarter and ran past the Spartan secondary for a touchdown jaunt of 34 yards in the third quarter and then iced the victory with a 68 yard run in the fourth.
“He’s just a dynamite running back. He played corner last year and we moved him to back,” said Temple City Coach Mike McFarland. “Every week he has continued to jell. He has gone above and beyond the call of duty.”
Temple City scored on its first possession driving 80 yards on 11 plays. Simangunsong set up the score with a 34 yard run. Quarterback Mikal Quintanilla went in from a yard out to finish it.
La Canada responded with a scoring march of its own. The Spartans needed only 3 plays to go 66 yards to get in the end zone. Daleep Sandhu broke off a 31 yard touchdown run but the extra point was missed and it was 7-6.
Temple City, staying mainly on the ground, was at it again on its next possession. This time the drive was 57 yards with Simangunsong capping it from a yard out. Quintanilla hit Simangunsong on a screen pass that totaled 18 yards to highlight the march.
The Spartans, trying to match TC score for score, got close once again late in the first half. Scott Gray kept the ball and raced in for a 13 yard touchdown to cut it to 14-12. it stayed that way until the third quarter.
The Spartans grabbed their only lead of the game in the third quarter when Franklin Cervenka booted a 27 yard field goal with 5:52 remaining in the quarter.
After that it was all Simangunsong.
A 34 yard run put the Rams up for good on the ensuing possession. Then his 68 yard sprint put it away with 3:33 left in the contest.
Neither team turned the ball over in a fairly clean game. Quintanilla threw what appeared to be an LC interception but it was called back due to a roughing the passer penalty.
Temple City improved to 3-4 overall but more importantly 2-0 in the Rio Hondo League.
“We knew we could get to this point but it’s just a matter of doing it. The kids have had a real consistent work ethic,” McFarland said. “After we started off slow we figured the only way to go is up.”
La Canada fell to 1-1 in league and 3-4 overall. Next week the Spartans will travel to Pasadena to face Blair while the Rams have their work cut out at Monrovia.
LC 6 6 3 0 15
TC 7 7 7 6 27
Summary:
1st Qtr:
TC 6:16 Quintanilla 1 yd run (Nick Palmer Kick)
LC 4:34 Sandhu 31 yd run (Kick Failed)
2nd Qtr:
TC 11:55 Simangunsong 1 yd run (Palmer Kick)
LC 5:06 Gray 13 yd run (2 pt Failed)
3rd Qtr:
LC 5:52 Cervenka 27 yd FG
4th Qtr:
TC 3:33 Simangunsong 68 yd run (Kick Failed)
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