Cinco Para Quintero, BG Wins at Arcadia

By Joe Torosian
(Arcadia)—Neither team was perfect, both Bell Gardens and Arcadia traded blows, to the delight of the Salter Stadium crowd, before Noah Quintero scored his fifth touchdown to give the Lancers a 42-37 victory on Friday night.
“A win is a great thing. Good, bad, ugly, whatever, we got the win. There were a lot of teachable moments,” said Bell Gardens HC Geoff Ackerman.
Quintero was the standout. The senior running back rushed the ball 22 times for 266 yards and four touchdowns. He also caught four passes, including a 25-yard connection with quarterback Jordan Cardenas that gave BG the lead, 28-24, at the end of the third quarter.
The teams exchanged punts to the start the fourth quarter. On a first down from the Lancers 47, Arcadia quarterback, Nico Hillier, went deep to wide receiver Justin Mascorro for the go ahead score. After Mascorro added the point after the Apaches were up 31-28 with 9:14 to play.
BG responded with an 11-play drive that covered 80 yards thanks, in part, to a critical pass interference call against Arcadia as well as a late hit. The offensive line did the rest, opening holes for Quintero, the ball was pushed to Arcadia 13.
An incomplete pass, a delay of game, a 1-yard loss on a run, and a holding penalty moved the ball back to the Apache 34. On a third and 31, Quintero took the ball from the inside to the outside before reaching paydirt.
Down, 37-36, Hillier brought Arcadia back going 65 yards on 7-plays, and scoring on 8-yard run with three minutes to play.
The Hillier touchdown didn’t end the game but set up its eighth and final lead change.
The Lancers, starting at their own 20, went to their offensive line. Quintero, carrying the ball behind it, raced 74-yards to the Apache six. One play later he was in the end zone and BG was back on top.
“This our strength,” said Ackerman about his offensive line. “We’re big uglies, and when they get going its a fun thing to watch.”
Again, Hillier rallied the Apaches. Completing three consecutive passes he led Arcadia to the Lancers 17 with, little over a minute to play. But a pass in the flat went wide and was ruled a lateral (fumble) by the side judge. BG’s Justin Vidal recovered and the win was secured.
***”Excited the kids won. The fight was great, the execution was very sloppy…I think offensively and defensively we need to tune some things up. Our tackling: horrific.”—Ackerman
***Arcadia QB Nico Hillier passing stats: 18 of 28 for 233 yards and three touchdowns.
***Bell Gardens QB Jordan Cardenas passing stats: 10 of 18 for 112 yards and a touchdown.
***Arcadia starting offensive line: LT: Quin Hunter. LG: Jerry Lu. C: Leo Zamora. RG: Edward Masuda. RT: Mitch Appleton.
***”I give it up to Arcadia…Great athleticism, great fight, every step of the way….They were tougher than we thought.”—Ackerman
***Bell Gardens trailed 17-6 early in the second quarter.
***Arcadia opened the scoring by tackling Quintero in the end zone, for a safety, in the first quarter.
***Trailing 10-0, Bell Gardens got on the scoreboard when Jordan Cardenas scored on a 35-yard with four minutes left in the first.
***Apache junior Craig Carrillo caught a pair of touchdown passes from Hillier in the first half.
***Keying Bell Gardens offensive line were: left tackle Gerardo Lopez, left guard Lupe Arevalos, and center Leonel Rodas.

Leave a Reply