Maranatha Takes Down La Salle  

Maranatha's Andrew Morales goes 30-yards to glory and is ready to testify. (Photo by Gary Lee)

Maranatha’s Andrew Morales goes 30-yards to glory and is ready to testify. (Photo by Gary Lee)

(Pasadena)- The Maranatha Minutemen used a third quarter blocked punt from Nate Elffers to spark a 17 point rally and held on for a 33-30 victory over the La Salle Lancers on Friday night at home.

La Salle led 14-13 at halftime but an injury delayed the game on a fourth and one with just over eight minutes to play in the third quarter. When play resumed Elffers broke through the line and blocked Johnny Clarizo’s punt. The Minutemen turned the advantage into a 23-yard field goal by Grant Schober and a 16-14 lead.

Maranatha expanded the lead on its next series when Andrew Morales scored on an inside handoff straight out out of a Wing-T playbook. The senior ran 30-yards to paydirt to increase the margin to 23-14.

Caleb Devine opened the lead up even more with a 63-yard touchdown run to open the fourth quarter.

Down and nearly out, La Salle rallied. Ammon Milliner scored on a 40-yard touchdown run that was followed by a two-point conversion (Will Pyburn to Tyler Rix). The Minutemen quickly went three and out on their next possession. The Lancers got the ball in Maranatha territory but Dmitri Mata picked off a Pyburn pass to kill the drive and set up a scoring opportunity.

The Minutemen capitalized with another Schober field goal (his fourth) to make it a 33-22 lead.

Pyburn drove his team down field a final time and hit Robbie Hillier with an 8-yard scoring pass. They converted a the point conversion to close the gap to three, but the onside kick attempt failed and Maranatha secured the win.

The Minutefans loving life at 4-0 (Photo by Joe T.)

The Minutefans loving life at 4-0 (Photo by Joe T.)

*** “It was a fun night, a fun night. You’re kind of on edge and wondering if we can hang with these guys…no matter,” said Minutemen HC Steve Bogan. “Put some blitzes in where you force the kids to get physical and force them to play downhill and they did and played a phenomenal game.”

***Maranatha’s Schober booted field goals of 31, 33, 23, and 35 yards.

***La Salle scored first when Isiah Spencer turned a short Pyburn pass into a 76-yard touchdown.

***Devine scored on a 52-yard pass from Eli Snyder to give his team a 13-7 lead with 6:08 to play in the second quarter. Devine finished with 134 yards rushing, 47 receiving, and ten tackles.

***Milliner scored his first touchdown with 1:02 to play in the first half on a 19-yard run. Milliner finished with 134 yards rushing.

***Maranatha started on the offensive line: LT: Joshua Johnson, LG: Marcus Moses, C: Jordan Yriarte, RG: Khalil Elams, RT: Andrew Ojeda.

***La Salle Started on the offensive line: LT: Colby Garcia, LG: Victor Saavedra, C: Esteban Sanchez, RG: Sammy Martinez, RT: Emari McClellan.

***Maranatha’s Mata had five passes defensed to go with his interception.

***”It’s a bunch of kids working hard,” said Bogan. “It’s one of those moments in life you just want to soak it in and enjoy it because you just won a big game against a great opponent. It’s a good night.”

***The victory improves Maranatha to 4-0 and drops La Salle to 2-2. The Minutemen take on Mark Keppel next week while the Lancers will host Duarte.

 

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