C-Town’s Pearnell Smalley, wearing extra protective head gear, was dominant against Bassett. (Photo by Steven Mercado)
A two-minute, twenty-second span in the first quarter resulted in three Covina Colts touchdowns and marked the beginning of an offensive stampede that resulted in a 49-21 victory over the Bassett Olympians at the San Dimas Sportsplex Friday night.
Covina senior running back Pearnell Smalley led the offensive barrage with 16 carries for 77 yards and three touchdowns and two catches for 76 yards and two touchdowns. His five total touchdowns on the night not only topped Bassett’s point total, but he also doubled the total amount of touchdowns he scored so far this season.
The Olympians were the first team to score, led by their rushing duo of junior running back Ricky Mejia and senior running back Jesus Navarrete. Mejia’s five carries in the first eight plays of the drive put Bassett in the red zone and three rushes from Navarrete brought his team the first touchdown of the game.
Covina senior quarterback Joe Benavidez did not waste any time answering. The first play on the ensuing drive was a 65-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Greg Hennes.
The following kickoff, Covina forced a fumble and recovered it on Bassett’s 32-yard line. Two plays later, Smalley scored on a 23-yard run. After forcing a three-and-out on defense, Smalley found the endzone on the very next play from scrimmage on a screen pass that resulted in a 65-yard touchdown.
At the end of the first quarter, the Colts led 21-7 and they kept the lead for the rest of the game.
Mejia suffered an injury with a minute-and-a-half left in the second quarter and was helped to the sideline. According to Bassett head coach Hector Spathias, Mejia’s knee “felt a bit loose,” but no further detail was given. The junior running back suffered a season-ending knee injury last year.
*** Covina’s opening drive ended in a three-and-out.
*** Bassett’s opening scoring drive initially resulted in a three-and-out, but a fake punt pass resulted in a first down and kept the drive alive.
*** Benavidez completed 12-of-14 passes for 241 yards and two touchdowns. Two of Benavidez’s first three completions were 65-yard touchdowns.
*** Covina head coach Joe Brown on the team’s overall success against Bassett: “Our kids kept at it, kept the tempo up, and we’ve got some guys that can go. Our running back, Pearnell Smalley did a great job. If we didn’t block so well, he made some people miss. When we threw the ball, we made some big plays through the air, and we didn’t turn the ball over.”
*** Navarette scored the only two offensive touchdowns for Bassett. He finished with 86 rushing yards on 14 carries and two touchdowns.
*** Mejia rushed for 41 yards on 10 carries. He caught a flat pass and ran for 23 yards before coming down with the knee injury. Mejia led Bassett in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns before Friday night.
*** Blown coverages were an issue for Bassett, especially on Covina’s first two touchdowns, according to Olympians head coach Hector Spathias. “You can’t put yourself in a hole like that. Especially against good teams like Covina … We’ve got two weeks to fix it, so we should be able to fix it.”
*** Bassett had five snaps that were off the mark or mishandled by sophomore quarterback Marcus Ruiz and the Olympians gave up three turnovers.
*** Covina’s starting offensive line: senior LT Carlos Pichardo, senior LG Dylan Valencia, senior C Jeffrey Mcdonough, senior RG Ricky Williams and senior RT Ruben Retana.
*** Bassett’s starting offensive line: junior LT Arturo Vazquez, senior LG Juan Garcia, senior C Mario Zamora, senior RG Ismael Yepez and senior RT Daniel Cabrera.
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