Somewhere in that sandwich of humanity is South El Monte running back Dominic Munoz who took the brunt of the beating in a very physical game.
(Temple City)- In a hit fest where momentum flashed back and forth like a Rocky Balboa-Apollo Creed bout, it was South El Monte’s combination of four touchdown blows in the fourth quarter that took down Temple City in the Eagles 41-27 victory Friday night.
On the last play of the third quarter Temple City quarterback Mikal Quintanilla found Kasmir Khaliq in the corner of the west endzone from 28-yards out to give the Rams a 27-14.
On the first play of the fourth quarter South El Monte’s Andrew Barcenas fielded the kick-off at his own 26 and pinballed his way seemingly off of every other player, friend and foe, on the field before breaking free and going the distance to pay dirt.
Agustin Pinto added the extra-point and it was 27-21, advantage TC.
The Rams drove to the SEM 33 on its next possession before punting and giving the ball back at the 20 after the kick went into the end zone.
The Eagles were hit immediately with a delay of game penalty. Then on first and15 Temple City was hit with Sal Bustos.
The receiver jetted around the corner on a reverse and went 85-yards for the tying score. (The point after failed.)
Southman Sal Bustos scores on an 85-yard reverse in the fourth quarter.
“No,” said South El Monte HC Ibis Aguilar. “It was not the same reverse play we scored on against Nogales last week. We have variety of plays.”
If the old one-two of a kick-off return followed by the 85-yard dash weren’t enough to put TC down, the Eagles third score of the quarter was an uppercut jawbreaker.
When the kick-off was misplayed the Temple City took over at its own one. Two plays later Quintanilla was tackled in the end zone, the ball coughed out, and Barcenas recovered for the tie breaking score.
“I’ve known him (Barcenas) since he was a kid,” said Aguliar. “He’s just a great player for us.”
Two minutes later after a holding penalty forced the Rams to give the ball back, South El Monte was facing a second down and twenty from its own 44. TC came with everything but the kitchen sink, but Southman quarterback Henry Mascorro was able to go 56-yards over the top to Javier Machuca, in single coverage, and the visiting team lead by a 41-27 margin.
The heartbreak of the evening belonged of course to a now 0-4 Temple City squad, which came back after finding itself down 14-0 midway through the second quarter. A victim of its poor special teams play and inability to move the ball early.
Late in the second it did come together long enough for Quintanilla to engineer a 10-play, 92-yard drive that ended with a 9-yard scoring pass to Anthony Valencia.
The momentum carried over into the third quarter when Christian Li blocked South’s Jerry Valencia’s punt and Brandon Barudi won the scramble in the end zone to tie the score at 14-14.
Five minutes later an Eagle punt landed the Rams at their own four. Two plays later Quintanilla hooked up with Valencia on a sideline pattern and Valencia took it 94-yards for the go head score.
The teams traded punts, Temple City’s Li intercepted Mascorro with 1:37 to play in the quarter. Starting at the South 40, TC advanced 12 yards before Quintanilla went to Khaliq and built a 27-14 lead.
“I honestly expected us to comeback,” said Aguilar after South improved to 4-0 and Temple City dropped to 0-4. “We made a lot of mistakes we need to fix. I don’t want to sound cocky, but we expect to compete in every game. We expect to win every game.”
The Eagles early scores came on a pair of touchdown passes. The first from Mascorro to Bustos from 8-yards out following a botched snap on a Temple City punt. The second with 7:24 to play in the second quarter when Mascorro went 10-yard to Jimmy Martinez.
Quintanilla finished with 300 yards passing, completing 17 of 39 for three touchdowns. Valencia caught 12 of those balls for 240 yards.
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