Rene Flores has keyed a South Resurgence
By Juan Carlos Salas
(San Gabriel) – A well-rounded performance helped South El Monte clinch its playoff bid with a 28-3 win over Gabrielino Friday night.
Alex Ruiz had two touchdowns while Rene Flores and Brian Aguilar added two more through special teams and a tight defense.
“We try to spread the ball around a little bit and those kids do great a job,” said South El Monte Head Coach RJ Hernandez. “They have been working hard and do everything we ask and today they did a little bit more.”
After Gabrielino drew first blood with a field goal, early in the second quarter, South quarterback Anthony Jimenez connected with Ruiz, who slipped through a tackle and turned on the jets for a 75-yard touchdown.
Gabby couldn’t find any offense and ended the half with an interception by quarterback Joshua Acosta.
Meanwhile, SEM came back from the locker room with a quick touchdown with the first play of the second half. Flores took the kick-off from inside the South ten, broke several tackles, and raced down the sidelines across the field to silence the home crowd and extend his team’s lead to 14-3.
“We feel like we are at mid season on how we are playing. We kept the momentum going,” said Hernandez. “We did exactly what we wanted to do and came out and play hard.”
After several change of possessions via a Gabrielino fumble and a South missed Field Goal, Jimenez notched his second touchdown of the night with a 20-yard pass to Ruiz.
The SEM defense capped its impressive performance in the fourth quarter, adding its own touchdown to make the score 28-3 with a pick by Aguilar, who returned it 60-yards.
Gabrielino will face Rosemead next week while South faces Arroyo to try to get a piece of the league title.
“We punched the ticket the playoffs but we are not going to look ahead obviously,” said Hernandez. “We got Arroyo next week, they are going to be tough. So our kids will be ready to go.”
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