Arroyo OC Chris MacMillan feeling the pain of the Knights first half struggle. (Photo by Joe T.)
By Joe Torosian
(El Monte)—After playing an ugly first half, the Arroyo Knights cleaned and tightened things to take a 35-6 victory over the visiting Temple City Rams on Friday night at B.L. Bergstrom Stadium.
The win was the Knights seventh in a row over their long time rivals, but it was a struggle early. Arroyo blew several scoring opportunities with dropped passes and a fumble. The miscues opened the door long enough for the Rams to stay in the contest and trail just 14-6 at halftime.
“We stopped shooting ourselves in the foot,” said Arroyo HC Jim Singiser. “You can’t do things like that. It’s a young group they figured it out. They came out at halftime and went right down the field and did what they had to do. We figured it out, but we can’t do things like that to start a game.”
Quarterback Humberto Pantoja was the spark for the Knights offense. He threw for one touchdown and ran for another in the first half before throwing for two more in the second. The final being a 96-yard strike early in the fourth quarter to Jacob Robledo.
Temple City’s lone score came when Paul Kosanovich hit Matthew Gravel on a 6-yard scoring toss near the end of the first half.
***Arroyo’s third quarter 12-yard touchdown pass from Thien Luu to Angel Reyes was an option pass.
*** “Yeah, great, nice job, you kept them in the ball game.”—Arroyo OC Chris MacMillan to his offense at the end of the first half.
***Temple City’s last win at Arroyo was on September 12, 2003 when Donny Deltiempo led the Rams to a 28-14 victory. The Knights now lead the all-time series 21-15
***Arroyo’s Humberto Pantoja completed 17 of 25 for 218 yards and 3 touchdowns.
***Temple City’s Paul Kosanovich completed 11 of 20 for 102 yards and a touchdown.
***Arroyo’s starting offensive line: LT: Fabian Lopez, LG: Rey Garcia, C: Eberardo Cabrera, RG: Luis Rios, RT: Andrew Rivas
***Temple City’s starting offensive line: LT: Daniel Rabine, LG: Justin Liang, C: (name not listed on roster), RG: Marco Palofox, RT: Jared Seery
***Temple City receiver Matthew Gravel caught 7 passes for 56 yards and a touchdown.
***Arroyo’s leading receivers were: Angel Reyes 6 catches for 45 yards and a touchdown. Antonio Alcazar 5 catches for 50
Scoring Summary:
1st. Qtr.
Arroyo—8:03: Pantoja 6-yard pass to Yezden Marquez (Jesse Ortiz kick)
Arroyo—1:55: Pantoja 6-yard run (Ortiz kick)
2nd. Qtr.
Temple City—0:14: Kosanovich 6-yard pass to Matthew Gravel (Run failed)
3rd. Qtr.
Arroyo—10:09: Pantoja 14-yard pass to Tony Rodriguez (Ortiz kick)
Arroyo—4:40: Thien Luu 12-yard pass Angel Reyes (Ortiz kick)
4th. Qtr.
Arroyo—Pantoja 96-yard pass to (Ortiz kick)
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