(South El Monte) – In a game that was generally controlled by the opposing defenses, the visiting Alhambra Moors managed two touchdowns to defeat the South El Monte Eagles, 14-0, in their season opener Friday night at The Swamp.
Running back Damien Rosa scored from two yards out in the first quarter, and quarterback Noah Rodriguez closed out the scoring with a 48-yard “bomb” to wide receiver Daniel Catano late in the third quarter.
Rodriguez connected on just three of 10 passes for 79 yards in his debut for the Moors, but he made all of his completions count. In addition to his touchdown strike, two earlier throws to wide receiver Vito Russell set up Rosa’s short run to the end zone.
Alhambra’s offense went the entire game without a turnover, while South El Monte committed three. The Moors’ defense recovered two fumbles by the Eagles, and AHS linebacker John Ortega came up with an interception late in the game.
South El Monte’s deepest intrusion into Alhambra territory was to the Moors’ 23-yard line just before halftime. The Eagles came up empty when Gaspar Beltran missed a 40-yard field-goal attempt as time expired.
—Submitted by Ron Vrooman
Regardless of your feelings about the coach. It’s not about him it’s about the SEM program the community and the people always has been always will be. I have my doubts but I still support the Eagles! No matter what.
@Anonymous
Yes he sure did say that about his former staff. Hes already blaming his first loss on his former staff as well. How can you preach accountability to the kids if your so quick to pass the blame on what goes on in YOUR program onto everyone else. One thing about this new SEM staff they never miss a meal that’s for sure. It always struck me odd when coaches would yell at kids to work harder run faster and preach discipline when the coaches themselves are so undisciplined they cant even mix in a salad here and there. This is gonna be a comedy show all season man so sad to see. Good job Frank
Did frank really say that about his former staff??? What a joke!!! This guy is in for a rude awakening, and I’m gonna be laughing the whole time…
@Football Outsider
thanks for the info.
Way to throw ur staff under the table can’t wait till the end of this season to see what you do!
You are 100% correct…EVERYONE knows Mike was let go by Frank’s ego and the other coaches are still waiting for that “thanks for helping out but were changing things up a bit” speech that they never got. Frank has a chip on his shoulder like he’s god at that school he doesn’t know what loyalty is, he has no clue. Now all of a sudden he’s got the best staff this year…YA RIGHT!!!! MAYBE he should get the hint when not that many kids showed up to be on the team.
@ football outsider: Thanks for the additional info on Coach Mooney’s career; I wasn’t aware of his earlier stint at San Marino High.
@anonymous
Can’t you read bro? He said you’re seeing the lack of coaching from last year in this years team… lol he’s already making excuses pointing blame at the dude who made him look good. He’s trying to tell us that Mike didn’t coach the back ups last year or something he’s also telling us Mike didn’t care about the defense. In other words Mooney isn’t a good coach in the numbskulls mind. Oh by the way “FRANK” it’s EMBRACE the challenge not IN BRACE the challenge lol cmon man you’re the face of a school act accordingly or maybe that’s a reflection of the education at SEM.
Mooney’s 1st HC job was at SM where he served as Bill Maloney’s OC prior to becoming HC. In 1999, he took the TC HC job where he won 4 league titles in 7 years before heading back to SM. After a long hiatus he went to SEM as oline coach and didn’t take over as OC until sometime in the middle of his 2nd season. You can tell because SEM went from predominant wing T to I back or pro style offense. The main thing Mooney does every where he goes is win.
@ New Transfer (how ironic): Here’s a quick, nonjudgmental sketch on Mike Mooney:
Mike was a successful head coach at Temple City High School, and he eventually moved on to San Marino High, where he started to rebuild the Titans’ football program.
After encountering problems at San Marino, Mike eventually became the offensive coordinator for South El Monte High School. He was the architect of the Eagles’ explosive ground-oriented attack which paved the way to consecutive 11-2 seasons in 2016 and 2017.
After parting company with South El Monte head coach Frank Gallardo, Mike accepted the offensive coordinator position with the Arcadia Apaches prior to the start of this season.
I dont know who mike mooney is. what has he done?
@fridayknights, FACTS…
@ Friday Knights: The Almont League shall rise again; I just can’t say whether that will happen this year. It should be a really interesting season, though…
@i played for
Keep it positive? Weren’t you the one doing “research” lol aka digging up dirt. Get outta here. You’re only an eagle if the insecure headcoach isn’t threatened by you. Yes he screwed over Mike Mooney and his other coaches. None of those coaches will ever say anything publicly but they don’t have too. The positivity is gone from that program lol.
This just perfect lololololololool @swamp eagle aka Gallardo lol
That comment alone shows your incompetence. Did you forget that predictable OC won 26 of 30 games? Did you forget the only loses we’re to a state champion a CIF champion and a CIF finalist never lost to a 4th place at best team in the lowly Almont league lol
Maybe you forgot but #2 killed you guys and that had nothing to do with the OC it had to do with an incompetant DC! Mike isn’t without criticism vs Santa Maria but that defensive game plan was terrible. But again that statement typifies the ungrateful classless individual. Lmfao
Keep it positive here guys. Remember we’re all on the same team here. SEM has a motto “Once an Eagle, Always an Eagle. It’s one loss. We should see signs of improvement against Covina Nogales and Bellflower. Maybe I was wrong about 8 wins. But definitely still believe we’re a playoff team. Go Eagles!
What was unpredictable was getting shut out by a team rebuilding and starting a freshman QB. who saw that coming? so I guess Gallardo is more unpredictable after all… haha I take my previous comment back lmfao
@Swamp Eagle
LOL…. Not loyal??? One of the former Coaches is married to the Mayor of the city for crying out loud, three others were Alumni So I doubt loyalty is in doubt. trust me they’ll be there longer after Gallardo is gone. As for predictable?? ok…. hows this for predictability, it was predictable the Eagles were gonna be physical, its was predictable they were gonna run around over or through you, it was predictable they were gonna win! which they did 26 times over 30 games. hows that for predictability? hmmmmm
Well anonymous is clueless.
@swamp eagle/Coach gallardo, you come off sounding mighty defensive. I know your tiny brain is trying to figure out how I know it’s you, but I do. Fact is you blew it, you had a good thing going and you let your ego get the best of you. You wanted all the credit, well here it is. You’ll get all the credit this year, dont try and pass the buck now….
@ Friday Knights: I can see how back-to-back 11-2 seasons can spoil the faithful followers just a tad!
Tired of the Mooney and other coaches talk… When your not loyal to the program and you are about making yourself look good. U get shown the door. Its that simple. When kids are told don’t worry about the other side of the ball. Your seeing results of the lack of coaching from last year. If u were at the playoff games last year you would see the change and predictable play calling Especially the semi game.
SEM fans aren’t spoiled! We’re proud! We love our football. And yes it might take some getting used to, to go from a back to back semifinals to hoping to get in the playoffs. But I reached out to someone who is still very close to the SEM program (teacher and former player) but he tells me that Gallardo not only fired Mike Mooney via text message, But he also never told the other coaches that aren’t back anything. Not a you’re fired, not a thank you for your service just nothing! If that’s true this guys is worse that than what I’ve read on these blogs. I mean who does that? Starting to change my mind guys!
Ron, you’re probably the most positive guy on this blog. But I do believe you when you say it wasn’t the worst game ever lol but the Eagles fans were a little spoiled the last two years so I understand the frustrations. SEM has talent the one question is can that revamped coaching staff put it all together. If they can’t you know SEM fans they’ll come on this blog and shut it down lol especially if Arcadia has the kind of season everyone is predicting with Mooney being there now.
@ One wipe: I’ve done high school football stats for 30 years (first at Bell High in L.A. Unified and then Alhambra), and Friday night’s game was far from the worst that I’ve ever watched at either place.
Both defenses actually played reasonably well, considering that it was the season opener. And, special teams—particularly Raul Cortez’s punting—played a key part in Alhambra’s victory.
In my opinion, both teams’ offenses really need the most work.
South El Monte rushed for 155 of its 190 total yards, reflecting the Eagles’ emphasis on the run and the probability that their passing game isn’t where they’d like it to be.
By the way, there were 10 pass completions during the game. AHS quarterback Noah Rodriguez was 4-for-11 for 80 yards, while the South El Monte QB was 6-for-14 and had at least two passes dropped.
The loss of quarterback A.J. Carreon, who transferred back to Monrovia during the summer, was undoubtedly a setback for the Eagles.
But, I believe South El Monte still has the potential to secure a playoff spot with a third-place finish in the Mission Valley League. The Eagles were hurt by turnovers and penalties during Friday night’s game, so those are two obvious problems they’ll be working to correct.
It’s a little premature to declare that the season is already over for both Alhambra and South El Monte. And, I think it’s a fairly safe bet that each of these teams will win more than two games this year.
There’s a reason why we start the high school football season with nonleague games; the idea is for everybody to improve as much as possible before those league openers!
@Thompson
you’re starting to ask the right questions buddy…WHY? why did Gallardo feel the need to break up a pretty decent staff? it was a major mistake and it may end up costing him dearly.
with all the drama surrounding SEM over the summer kids transferring out, infighting between coaches and players and players vs players also coaches vs coaches it just silly but that’s what happens when you replace professionals with Jr All American coaches. there is levels to this and you cant replace Mike Mooney with a guy whos never coached a high school game before. So who loses…the kids, the program. Covina is next up, itd be nice to get some respect back, you don’t have to win Eagles but you gotta show some grit show some fight. a blowout would be a disaster!
game was controlled by defense? laughable! Ron you are putting a very positive spin on this game. this game was marred by offensive ineptitude. 6 passes were completed by both teams… combined! yards gained on the ground were largely the result of missed tackles and poor alignments. this was in fact one of the poorest games ever played. Both teams will be lucky to win more than a couple games. Anyone who knows SEM football knows there’s decent talent there right now. absolutely no excuse to be shut out especially to Alhambra. back to the drawing board.
Thank you, this guy don’t listen.
I played for…
Simon P….
I called this a long time, as soon as Gallardo cut ties with Mooney and some other assistants. THis would be the outcome. So Covina will throttle them by 40. I think Nogales beats them and bellflower beats them that’s 0-4 til they’re rescued by Mountain View Marshall and Gabrielino. Can you spell MISTAKE! Gallardo will never have another winning season again! It’s not that easy when you don’t have a good OC aye! It’s not that easy when you can’t just turn and hand the ball off and a stud a makes a play right! Gallardo will learn the hard way. He’s going back to his 0-10 days at Whittier lol eagles get three wins this year and worse next year.
@ I played for… : The Eagles actually had 190 total yards, to 172 yards for the Moors. South El Monte running back Isaiah Medina (#15) carried the ball 19 times for 87 yards, but the two fumbles hurt, and Alhambra’s defense made stops when they were needed the most.
Obviously they’re that bad like I told you.
@ anon: No; Julien Garcia graduated last spring. Noah Rodriguez is now our starting quarterback.
Hats off to Alhambra gritty on defense and good enough on offense. This was the worst performance I’ve ever seen by an Eagle team. The total offense must have 100 yards….TOTAL! Silly false starts crucial turnovers this team never got going on offense. It all starts up front and the unit which I thought would be a strength got dominated. Is Alhambra that good up front or is SEM that bad? How do we respond? Coaches? What do you have up your sleeve to rebound from this atrocity?
@ron
Did your guys QB from last season return?I watched him against Montebello last year and he was pretty physical when he ran the ball..he was the hammer not the nail
@ Anonymous: There are things we need to work on, but it was great to start the season with a win. Our defense and special teams did particularly well.
We’ll just play each game, one at a time.
It may be the year Alhambra will be back