Bell Gardens' Coach David Ramos and quarterback Josh Adame have guided the Lancers into second place in the Almont.
It’s easy to take shots at San Gabriel right now. The Matadors are 1-2 in league and 3-5 overall. They lost their first three games and their first win was over some dude named Contreras.
But Friday night in a 37-35 barn burning loss to Bell Gardens they never stopped playing. When Bell Gardens went up 14-6 they never stopped playing. When BG went up 21-9 they didn’t stop playing. When the Matadors were down to their third string quarterback they didn’t stop playing.
Even when the Lancers went up 37-23 in the fourth quarter San Gabriel rallied to score the last two touchdowns of the contest and was a two point conversion away from tying it with seven minutes left.
Arthur Brown, who stepped in for the inured Erik Alvarez, who filled in for the injured Andy Guerrero, scored on touchdown runs of 62 and 49 yards. The 49 yarder came when Guerrero was still in the game and Brown was at running back.
Alex Villalobos scored on a 43 yard reception. Joey Villalobos scored on a 66 yard kick off return. And Coach Jude Oliva dug into the playbook and pulled out a 49 yard touchdown run by the kicker Gilmar Tenes, off of a fake punt.
Yeah, you can say the Mats are down. You can say they’ll probably miss the playoffs. But you can’t say they’ll stop playing.
On the Bell Gardens side we found out one thing. I think we knew it already but Josh Adame confirmed it Friday night. He can throw the ball.
The Lancers over the years have been known as a team that likes to pound the ball with guys like Bobby Andrade Jesus Campos and Daniel Martinez. Even this year Steven Ibarra has rushed for close to 700 yards. They traditionally stay on the ground.
But Adame threw for over 300 yards against San Gabriel. In fact he threw for almost 400 – 378 – to be exact and two touchdowns. He has racked up over 1100 yards passing so far this year.
The win puts Bell Gardens on a clear path to second place in the Almont. They’ve already knocked off Montebello as well as the Matadors after a league opening loss to Almont. With Keppel and Alhambra remaining on the schedule a 4-1 record looks good for the Lancers.
“Hey, you picked against us,” said BG Coach David Ramos after the game. You’re right coach I did. But I won’t again…at least not in the next two games.
Northview has flown under the radar in the Valle Vista. With all the pre season talk about San Dimas and Baldwin Park and then Covina eclipsing everybody’s expectations nobody has talked about the Vikings.
After last week’s 41-14 rout of Nogales, Marcel Perez’ crew is 3-2 in league and in fourth place. Northview beat Wilson and Pomona in its first two games and only lost to Covina by three.
Who’s standing out for North? Running back Marquis Thomas, quarterback Raymond Hernandez and receiver Marcus Ellis. Whatever happened to last year’s quarterback Martin Arredondo? He’s still there. But he’s playing a solid linebacker for the Vikings.
I guess I can’t complain too much about starting Chad Henne, who threw a touchdown pass, in place of Matthew Stafford, who threw four touchdowns, on my fantasy football league team. Last week I won by one point even though my quarterback Tony Romo went down with an injury and another one of my players in the stating line up was on a bye.
Okay we’re not sure if Bonita has a running game. But, wow! West Covina does. Do they ever! But we already knew that right?
I got to see Andrew Elfers of Maranatha for the first time Saturday night in a win over Village Christian. Although it was the defense that saved the day for the Minutemen, Elfers, with his powerful and accurate arm, was a joy to watch. Only a sophomore, he’s going places. I wonder if I could start him instead of Henne.
That’s my principle.
Tim can be reached at tspeterson32@yahoo.com
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