Premature Burial! Fans, and sportswriters, were far too quick in writing off the Whittier Cardinals in 2009. They displayed more than a pulse against ER last night.
By Big Tony Solorzano
(Whittier)- Two touchdowns by Andrew Moreno helped Whittier close out its 2009 Del Rio football season with a 24-7 victory over EL Rancho, putting a damper on the Dons’ slim playoff hopes.
The Cardinals (5-5, 2-3) lived up to their recent reputation as spoilers as they earned their second win in the league and put themselves in contention for a possible playoff spot pending the outcome of Friday’s Cal High-La Serna contest. The Dons(5-5, 2-3), however, saw most of their chances of reaching the post-season evaporate as a result of the loss.
Whittier opened the scoring on its first possession, recovering El Rancho’s onside attempt at mid-field then driving 47-yards to set up Moreno’s first touchdown, from 7-yards out.
After a 35-yard field goal from Cardinals kicker Kevin Medina increased the lead to 10-0 in the second quarter, the Dons came back and closed the gap to 10-7 on Ronnel Lone’s 5-yard run with 4:36 left in the half.
Cardinals quarterback, Matt Viramontes responded by calling his own number and scoring from 17-yards out to make the halftime lead 17-7.
ER attempted to come back late in the third, driving to the Cardinal 8-yard line, but Dons quarterback Josh Perea’s two pass attempts at a touchdown were tipped out of the hands of his intended targets and Lenny Leyva’s 27-yard field goal attempt hooked to the right.
On the ensuing drive, Viramontes drove the Cardinals back the other way, taking advantage of two costly penalties on the Dons and setting Whittier up at the 20, where Moreno scored for the second time, with 5:07 left in the game.
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