Arroyo’s Jose Valdivia hauled in two touchdown passes
(Montebello) – Randy Amezcua broke through the line and raced to a 74 yard touchdown run with 1:09 left in the game to cap off Arroyo’s 28-14 win over Schurr and a trip to the CIF Mid Valley Division Semi Finals.
Amezcua, who finished with 153 yards on 19 carries, was only part of the story however. The Arroyo defense stood up time after time and forced a Schurr fumble late in the fourth to set up Amezcua’s gallop.
The Knights’ defensive unit forced Schurr into five turnovers, intercepting quarterback Sal Chavez three times and forcing a pair of fumbles. The Spartans two scores came the unconventional way. One came on a fake punt 61-yard run by Noah Quintero and the other was set up in the fourth quarter when Arroyo muffed a punt on its own 17 yard line.
***Trailing 21-7, Schurr capitalized when Arroyo dropped the punt and took over at the 17. Four plays later, Eric Perez scored on a nine-yard sweep around left side to cut the lead to 21-14.
***The Spartans had a shot to tie after stopping Arroyo and regaining possession. But a fumble at the Knight 21 ended the threat and Amezcua iced it on the following possession.
***Jacob Salmon, Sonny Gonzalez and Jose Valdivia all had picks for the Knights to go along with two fumble recoveries.
***Valdivia caught a 23-yard pass from Nathan Coto to give Arroyo a 6-0 lead in the first. In the second he hauled in an eight-yard strike from Coto to extend the margin to 13-0.
***Valdivia had seven receptions for 69 yards and the two scores.
***Coto completed 12 of 19 for 143 yards and two scores and also rushed for 46 yards on nine carries.
***Down 13-0, Schurr surprised Arroyo in the second quarter with a fake punt on fourth and six from its own 39. Quintero took the snap as the up back and outran the Arroyo secondary 61 yards for a touchdown and Arroyo’s lead was 13-7 at the half.
***Abel Troncoza led the Spartans with 95 yards rushing on 16 carries while Quintero finshed with six carries for 69 yards.
***Arroyo struck gold mid way though the third quarter when Coto connected with Nico Lozano for a 50-yard touchdown to give the Knights a 21-7 lead.
***”Nobody would have wanted our players last year or at the beginning of this year. Nobody would have wanted our quarterback. Nobody knew who he was. But we kept playing and just kept winning. I’m proud to be with a group that includes San Dimas, Paraclete and Monrovia. I’m happy that we are the one MVL team that is represented in the semis,” said Arroyo Coach Jim Singiser.
***This is the first time Arroyo has reached the semi finals since 2004.
***Arroyo offensive line: LT- Joseph Pinon, LG-Sergio Mardueno, C-Ronald Galvan, RG-Mark Rangel, RT-Adrian Hernandez.
***Schurr offensive line: LT-Andrew Ortiz, LG-Israel Lorenzo, C- Adrian Diaz, RG-Daniel Rodriguez, RT-Robert Melendez
****Arroyo improved to 11-1 overall and will face San Dimas nexr week. Schurr finished the season at 6-6.
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