Muir's Ormoni Duncan (#17), Michael White (#19), and Marquis White (#2) close in on CV's Dai Dai McFadden
(Glendale, Ca) – Crescenta Valley (5-2, 3-1) narrowly escaped with 21-14 victory against Muir (1-6, 1-3) in a crucial Pacific League battle on Thursday night.
“Our kids thought the game was over,” said Falcon Head Coach Tony Zarrillo. “The coaching staff has to remind the kids that this is a 48-minute game.”
A story of two halves took place as the Falcons looked dominant in the first half, taking a 21-0 lead into the second half. The Mustangs would not go away quietly however as they battled back to make the game interesting late in the fourth quarter.
“We have to keep fighting and battling,” said Muir head coach Ken Howard. “We have been in this position before. You can’t expect a team to lay down because we are Muir. We tried to run the ball down the middle and it didn’t work.”
Crescenta Valley jumped on Muir early in the game when Tanner Hamilton returned the opening kickoff from the Falcon 5-yard line for a touchdown, that was called back on a illegal chop-block at the Mustang 14-yard line. Ten plays later saw Harold Pessy find a hole from three-yards to give Crescenta Valley an early 7-0.
Muir’s offense was not firing early as their first series saw two straight false start calls and a forced pass by Jarron Williams was nearly picked off. The Mustangs two series in the first quarter saw four and outs and 15 yards in penalties.
The Falcons would score again with 9:23 to play in the second quarter as Kyle Cota would sneak in between the guard and center from the one-yard out. The key play of the series was a Muir offside on fourth and two at their seven-yard line.
Coach Howard attempted to kick-start the offense in the second quarter by inserting Jeffrey Davis into the game at quarterback. At first it worked as he found Kevon Seymour for 10-yards and a first down. Two plays later, Davis’s errant throw was tipped and intercepted by Crescenta Valley defensive back Tyler Martinez at the his 45-yard line and returned to the Muir 11-yard line.
Two plays later, Dai Dai McFadden found the end-zone on end around sweep from four-yards to close the scoring.
With time winding down the Mustangs looked as though they would be going down another score as the Falcons were driving only to have Cota fumble the football during a sack. The ball would be recovered by Michael White to end the half.
After a quiet nine minutes of play in the third quarter, Muir’s offense finally woke up when Jarron Williams connected with Ormoni Duncan for a a 27-yard score. The connection was Williams second pass completion of the night to that point.
The biggest defense stop for Crescenta Valley came with 8:17 to play as they were facing a rejuvenated Mustang offense that got inside the red zone. With a third down and three to go for a first, Williams ran straight up the gut only to get stifled by the Falcon defensive line. On the very next play, Muir ran the same exact play with Ricky Vaughns only to lose a yard and the ball.
With Crescenta Valley’s offense sputtering, the Mustangs were able to get the ball back with 6:02 remaining in the game. Williams would find Lawrence Phillips on the first play from scrimmage for a 39-yard post play that would get Muir to within seven points.
The Falcons had enough offense to run out the clock.
For the Mustangs it was their third Pacific League loss of seven-points or less.
“It is going to be rough now,” Said Coach Howard. “We are going to have to battle for the playoffs now. We just have to go out and play football the last three games.”
1 2 3 4 F
Muir 0 0 7 7 14
Crescenta Valley 7 14 0 0 21
SCORING:
CV – Harold Pessy 3 Run (Troy Hunter kick)
CV – Kyle Cota 1 Run (Hunter kick)
CV – Dai Dai McFadden 4 Run (Hunter kick)
M – Ormoni Duncan 27 pass from Jarron Williams (Edwin Felix kick)
M – Lawrence Phillips 39 pass from Williams (Felix kick)
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