It was tough but Monrovia finally broke away from Los Altos. (Photo by Steven Mercado)
By Steven Mercado
(Monrovia)- With just over a minute left in the football game, the Monrovia Wildcats were down 25-20 to the Los Altos Conquerors at Wildcat Stadium on Friday, Sept. 26. Junior quarterback Asaph Zamora led Monrovia down the field from its own 10-yard line to the red zone and capped off the drive with a 20-yard touchdown pass to junior running back Lawrence Spicer. There were 6.4 seconds left on the clock and this touchdown proved to be the game-winner as Monrovia emerged victorious, 27-25.
“We had too many meltdowns on special teams. It came through in the end for us,” said Monrovia HC Chris Stevens. “We’re deep. That’s one of our strengths. We’re deep at all our skilled positions. It’s great to have guys that are ready to step in and do those things for us and Spicer did a great job tonight. I’m proud of him.”
The Wildcats battled from behind for the majority of the contest, only leading for seven minutes of game time. Los Altos scored their first two touchdowns of the game through their ground game, which conquered Monrovia’s defense early. 41 of Los Altos’ 44 total offensive plays were running plays and it proved successful against the ‘Cats for the majority of the game.
Sophomore running back Tyler Nevens led the Conquerors’ run-heavy offense with 109 yards and two touchdowns off 19 carries. He scored the first touchdown of the game 14 seconds into the second quarter and senior running back Matthew Hayashi pounded his way into the endzone with a two-yard goal-line run for the second touchdown of the game.
Monrovia faced a 12-0 deficit with 5:06 to play in the first half, but closed the half with a 38-yard touchdown run from Spicer and a two-minute drill headed by Zamora that ended with an 11-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Octavius Spencer. They went into the locker room with a 13-12 lead.
“Coming together. Believing in each other. We didn’t do it last week and we did it this week. It took us just about down to the end and obviously, they got athletes that we don’t and we now know we can compete with that,” said Los Altos HC Dale Ziola. “We’re running with speed like that with Charter Oak and the rest of our league has got some fast dudes. We can hang. We should be able to take that from this game and know that we got a shot every Friday night.”
Nevens capped off the Conquerors first drive of the second half with a 12-yard touchdown run and immediately followed with a pass into the endzone for the two-point conversion to give Los Altos a 20-13 lead. Monrovia answered with an eight-play, 80-yard drive that was capped off with a two-yard touchdown run by senior wide receiver Jordan Nathan.
This Friday-night thriller brings Monrovia to a 4-1 record and Los Altos to 2-3. The Wildcats will begin conference play on Oct. 10 as they host San Marino and the Conquerors will begin conference play on the same night as they host the Chino Cowboys.
*** Spicer started at running back in place of junior RB Kameron Johnson, who was out with an injury. He also filled the strong safety spot that Johnson normally plays, which allowed Spicer to be in position for the interception on the last play of the game.
*** Spicer finished with 96 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. Before Friday, he averaged only 15.5 rushing yards per game. Spicer’s only catch on the night was the game-winning 20-yard pass from Zamora.
*** Los Altos senior starting RB Gabriel Perez pitched in with 41 yards off 15 carries. Hayashi finished with five carries for 25 yards and a touchdown.
*** Zamora was sacked seven times. He was sacked three times in the final four minutes and 30 seconds of the game.
*** Los Altos blocked two Monrovia punts: one after the Wildcats’ first drive of the game and the other resulting in a safety to give the Conquerors a 25-20 lead with 5:41 left in the game.
*** Zamora completed 12-21 passes for 183 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Each of his two touchdown passes came with less than two minutes left in each half.
*** Monrovia head coach Chris Stevens on how they were able to pull out the win: “Grit and determination. We’re down, but we’re never out. Our guys kept fighting and I think it comes down to how we kept believing in each other. We knew we made some tremendous mistakes, which wasn’t sound football, but in the end, when they had to rally, they rallied and that’s a tribute to those guys right there.”
*** Los Altos head coach Dale Ziola on what ways the Conquerors can grow from the loss:
*** Spicer on his reaction to catching the game-winning touchdown pass: “My first feeling was to check to make sure I got the touchdown. I thanked God after that and then I was just happy because I know our team should have won, I know that means a lot to our team, and we’re a family. That’s what our coach teaches us everyday — that we’re a family.”
*** Monrovia’s starting offensive line: LT – #66 Jason Daly (senior), LG – #72 Thomas Ruble (sophomore), C – #55 Christian Walton (senior), RG – #56 Ty’sean Brown (junior) and RT – #74 Cesar Gutierrez (sophomore).
*** Los Altos’ starting offensive line: LT – #65 Lester Paz (junior), LG – #56 Oscar Villa (sophomore), C – #72 Eric Castillo (senior), RG – #77 David Tolmachoff (senior), RT – #75 George Steward (senior).
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