Mikey Vasquez's two scores leads the Knights to the MVL throne!
(El Monte) The Arroyo Knights knocked off the South El Monte Eagles 44-0 Friday night and accomplished two goals. First to go undefeated in Mission Valley League play and win the title outright and second to end a four game losing streak to the Southmen.
When asked about his thoughts on the win and the lopsided score, Knight head coach Jim Singiser commented, “It’s great to get the win and not have to share the title. The score really doesn’t matter that much. The score just showed how well we played on both sides of the ball tonight.”
The Knights looked to impose their will early taking the opening drive 80-yards on seven plays for a touchdown. Steven Rivera found Anthony Miller in the corner of the end zone from 13-yards away. Miller made a highlight reel grab on the play leaping high and twisting to make the catch.
The scoring drive was aided as well by Mikey Vasquez who took the opening play from scrimmage 54-yards to the Eagle 46-yard line.
South El Monte tried to catch the Knights off guard and came out with a little razzle dazzle on their first play from scrimmage. Eagle quarterback A.J. Jimenez fired a lateral out to Anthony Molina on the near sideline. Molina then pitched the ball back to Jimenez on the flea flicker. Jimenez looked to fire the ball down field but was belted just as he threw the ball by a swarm of Knight defenders. The pass went straight up in the air and was intercepted by Jeff Salazar and returned to the Eagle eight yard line.
South El Monte’s defense stood their ground and held the Knights out of the end zone. Arroyo still managed to get points on the board off the turnover on a 22-yard field goal of the boot of Rogelio Sotelo.
Arroyo speedster Chris Rodriguez got the Knights on the board again with 5:16 left in the first quarter, just not on the usual method of a pass from Rivera.
The Eagles looked to set up a flanker screen but when the ball floated out to the edge, Rodriguez stepped in front of the pass and was gone 39-yards to pay dirt.
The score remained 17-0 for the remainder of the first half as Arroyo’s offense struggled and South El Monte’s defense held their ground.
Salazar’s second interception of Jimenez late in the third period set the Knights up in great field position at the Eagle 33.
Two plays later Vasquez, who scored just two minutes earlier, fought his way through the South El Monte line and raced his way into the end zone to put Arroyo up 31-0.
Vasquez finished the evening carrying the ball 20 time for 166-yards and the two scores.
Arroyo continued their dominance of the night with two fourth quarter scores on a 35-yard reception by Rodriguez from Rivera and a 16-yard run by Robert Thome.
The lone highlight of the night for the Southmen was the play of Rene Flores. The senior running back ground his way to 94-yards on 19 carries.
Asked if the victory helps to build momentum for the CIF playoffs, Coach Singiser answered, “You want to be playing well heading into the playoffs. There are no easy teams in the playoffs. That’s not to take anything away from any of the other teams in our league, but in the playoffs, every teams believes they have a shot to win the title.”
The Knights will now await the playoff pairings this Sunday at Covina High School to see just where their playoff road will lead.
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