Roman Rojas with a big night for El Rancho.
By Duane Barker
(Pico Rivera) The El Rancho Dons piled up 497 yards on the ground Friday night and ran to a 45-28 win over the visiting Bell Garden Lancers. Roman Rojas, Richie Amaya and Fernando Silva combined for 381 yards and all six touchdowns.
The Dons got on the board first with 7:44 left in the first quarter. An 11-play 73 yard drive was capped by a two yard plunge Rojas for his first of three scores. Joseph Reyes booted the extra point for the 7-0 lead.
The Ranch took a 13-0 lead just a few minutes later on another two yard run by Rojas but the two point conversion failed. The score was set up by a questionable lateral call by the officials. Lancer quarterback Agustin Velasquez fired a pass to the flat that was missed by his receiver. No whistle was blown and a Don defender scooped up the ball. To the dismay of the Bell Gardens coaching staff, the officials stuck with their call.
Rojas finished the night gaining 162 yards on 18 carries with three touchdown
Gabriel Campos led all rushers in the loss to El Rancho.
The controversial call sparked some life into the Lancer offense on their next possession and they proceeded to march 58 yards on seven plays. Velasquez called his own number from 10 yards away. Albert Gomez added the extra point to cut the Don lead to six.
Mid way through the second period, the Lancers got their first lead of the night 14-13. Frank Gonzalez barreled his way across the goal line on a six yard run to complete a seven play 75 yard drive.
El Rancho stormed right back to take a 21-14 lead needing only five plays to cover 55 yards with Amaya getting his first score on a one yard run. The Dons went for two and were successful with Silva taking in in.
An interception of El Rancho quarterback Arthur Sanchez by Bell Gardens’ Manuel Rios set the Lancers up deep in Don territory. Three plays later Velasquez got his second touchdown on the night on an 11-yard run. Gomez added the point after to knot the game at 21.
Coming out of the locker rooms for the second half the teams traded possessions until lightning struck with 8:35 left in the third quarter. Silva energized the crowd taking a hand off and bolting 74-yards to paydirt. Reyes added the extra point and the Dons were back on top 28-21.
Not wanting to be upstaged by their hosts, Bell Gardens provided a little bit of electricity themselves when Gabriel Campos got loose and out raced the El Rancho defense 81-yards to glory. Another Gomez extra point and things were all square at 28.
Campos was one of the few bright spots on the night for the Lancers. The junior running back gained 198 yards on 10 carries with the lone score.
The rest of the night belonged to the Dons who added two more touchdowns, one by Rojas and Amaya’s second of the contest, and a 20 yard field goal by Reyes.
With the win the Dons improve to 1-1 on the season while the Lancers drop to 0-2.
@Fan, damn somebody from the Ranch must have peed in your cup. Why so bitter? Let the season pan out before being so critical. Every single team in HS that suits up works their tail off. Coaches put in hours of work in to prep for Friday nights. Respect the game and the people. Hope someone treats you right to soften your saltiness.
@Fan what is so different than any year? ER has never claimed to have size and speed but they fight and find ways to win. You think in the years ER won league that they were faster and bigger than everyone else? Please do your research on the Ranch. Maybe we will throw or just pound the rock like the old days. Ask Northview how the Dons O-line was against their front 7. Does Pomona have more speed than ER? Of course they do….most teams will. Matter of fact they were faster than ER last year and had to fight to win in OT. The season is early and the Del Rio is balanced. La Serna has the advantage because they’re the champs and have defeated some sounds programs thus far. In the last 4 years there have been 3 champs. La Serna, Santa Fe, oh and those slow-undersized boys from Pico!
How is it every time some old fart comes on these boards he croaks about how football was much tougher when he played in the leather helmet days. We are faster,stronger,meaner,better coached then any of you old timers of 20 years ago. Send us your film. You can see ours on multiple sites every day.
sucks my post keep getting deleted…. they dont make the cut i guess
kids today are diff than back then, can we instil that toughness in them ,,, yes. but it starts at home and you have to be willing to put the extra work… most want fast results less work
The Ranch is joke,tiny dbs a qb that can’t throw the game against Pomona will be the same result as Northview! 0-5 in league. Who in league do they think they can beat with that lack of size and speed
Well said JBs. People just don’t want to believe that kids are soft now a days. I played for Bill Mayoral and he was one tough SOB.
@Fan
Why so salty?
ER’s O-Line is beast. Most of them are seniors, #77 & #56 dominated the right side. Sucks to know those seniors won’t be coming back, heard #56 is a sophomore. Looking forward to see what he can do in the upcoming years.
Lol… we will see won’t we.
Hey Don fans let me know how many league games you win,I will give that answer 0 because Pioneer not in league anymore your 1 guarantee win
@JBs lol wrong guy first of all i dont coach youth and yes i am the parent of one of the giant TE that wasnt me who wrote that so please come to me like a man if you have anything to say about my son he knows why he is were he is. Ill accept you apology in person im not hard to find but most likely you wont. Plus i believe in the coaching staff things will get better this season
On point!
@BG alumnus 88. Here, here! On point sir
@1988 Buddy you have the wrong guy im not the one calling out the staff that a differnt dude and no im not upset my kid doesnt get much playing time i know why and he knows why i talk to him about it. So next time come talk to me about this face to face apparently you know who i am. But most likely you wont so i wo t hold my breath.
last i checked, BG was winning games before Beltran and co. showed up… seems they made BG football a losing culture as opposed to a powerhouse as advertised. i thought Beltran was a guru.
It’s not about the Xs and Os it’s about the Juan and Jose’s! Both teams have good coaching staffs and both put in the time and have a history of winning so everyone (parents) out there ready to blame Beltran now or Medrano later take a deep breath, walk down the hall and take a look at your son! Take a look at how you are raising him. Ask yourself, am I setting my son up for success or failure? What’s your sons breaking point? What’s your sons pain tolerance? The coaches are with these young men for 2 to 3 hours a day, you are with them for 21 to 23 hours a day. Who should we blame? Coach Newell and Coach Shelko couldn’t make chicken salad out of chicken @!*?.
One thing I gotta say that this game didn’t disappoint. Whenever El Rancho and Bell Gardens play it is always a battle to the end. Lots of pride at both schools. El Rancho has some things to fix and BG will be fine. BG has a shot at the league title and El Rancho has to be running on all cylinders by the time they get to league if they want to compete in the Del Rio
Ok Lancer fan I’ll give you a chance to watch the film especially the play you speak of the long TD run. I just watched the play right now and here’s the recap. First off when you look at the film… your entire D-line was trying to shift and your backers were trying to switch and not set. #73 pancaked your DLinemen 77 pulls and destroys your backer (who should be making the tackle). 65 drives your end back 4 yards. The RB #6 takes one cut and runs through that hole and races 65 yard s for the score. So watch the film first before you start your rant about blocking. Find out why your kids are not set and ready to go.
BG Parent, Alumnus, Youth Supporter, I was at the game last night and witnessed the two giant Tight Ends play defense and do absolutely nothing. Two plays one of them, the defensive linemen was flat backed a couple of yards downfield. As for what these kids did as youth players does not matter, are you saying these kids peaked early? I agree they need to throw the ball more, but if you were at the game you know as well as I do this all doesn’t fall on the coaches. Coaches can’t block, catch and tackle for them. No one cares about 6 years ago and what this group of kids did as Junior Midgets, move on pops! Your son probably isn’t playing because he is not very good….I’m guessing he may be one of those tight ends your talking about.
FBFan, Coach Beltran doesn’t coach the defense no more, looked to me that another coach calls the defense. Both programs look nothing like the “old” BG or ER. Not sure how many coaches on ER staff has rings (I believe 0) but I believe there are 5 or 6 at BG from 2 or 3 different programs (Schurr and La Serna).
BG,
Referees were bad but that won’t make up the differential in points. Refs are a part of the game whether they are good or bad.
My observations for what it’s worth, I have watched BG football over the past 13 years and it’s a matter of numbers. 35 to 40 players is tough to compete against teams that have 50 to 55 players. Also, its not about how you start it’s how you finish, BG last year started slow and made the playoffs and ER started fast and faded not making the playoffs. It’s a marathon not a sprint.
Finally, today’s kids are not like the kids of the 1980s and 1990s. If you played for Coach Newell you understand what I am saying, these kids could not handle that mentality. If you are a parent of a current BG player and you played for Coach Newell you definitely know what I’m saying. Ask yourself, is your child mentally and physically tough? From what I saw Friday night #34, #7, and that little linemen #52 are about the only guys.
What game were you watching? I watched the film and it wasn’t even close. There was no illegal blocking. Those were just your DL and Linebackers on their back. We have a strong O-Line and wore them down in the second half. Let’s be real if ER would have just ran the ball we would have scored each time we had possession, but coach was working to have a balanced attack and that led to 2 costly INT’s that BG was able to turn into points. But I will say BG never quit. They just couldn’t handle our O-Line. Good luck in the Almont. Looks like that League is wide open.
Sorry coach Beltran doesnt run the defense but i think he should take it back. 7 in the box when they are running all day the QB isnt that accurate have him beat you
Sorry but last night game was very influenced by the refs and you know that. Lots of blockung in the back not called a holding not callednon that long TD run. And worst of all that so called lateral from shotgun how is that even possilbe. The boys played hard and with heart on both teams. To bad the fefs had to be calling the game in thay way.
Too funny
We wuz robbed!! Terrible call caused a 14 point switch and ruined our momentum. Refs favored ER all night long. Refs let them block illegally on offense and defense and held on about every play. . Beltran out coached ER all night long. Lancers will be fine. Just watch. Real score 42-31 BG.
This game intrigued me the last few years because Medrano and Beltran each seemed to downgrade their coaching decisions by leaving prominent programs. I remember ER fans asking for Beltran and BG fans gloating about getting him. Since then, El Rancho has scored 154 points in the last 3 meetings between the 2 schools. Beltran coaches the defense and Medrano coaches the offense. Make what you will of that.
Getting a little worried here. We were and still are excited about having Margarito Beltran as our head coach.
We knew he was going to rebuild a program and that it would take him at least 3 years to make it happen. We made progress from year one to year two.
Well this is year three and it is supposed to be our year! Our kids have been playing together through BG Youth and at BGHS.
With an 0-2 start, we are scratching our heads as to why our kids aren’t gel-ing like they should. Seeing our kids playing together for over 6 years, there is something wrong this year.
Also, our offense and defense look to predictable! Make some adjustments coaches! That misdirection only works a couple of times per game! QB needs to throw more. Pass to your two giant tight ends!
I better stop. I’m not the coach.
Yes I know, arm chair quarterback.
Back to coaching the youth.
Let’s do this!
The refs were bad really bad. But Er knew it was in a fight tonight the game lived up to the black and blue name
Good job Dons, we need to start capitalizing on red zone chances, today and last week combined 6 or 7 TD gone to waste. Defensively need to start tackling better. Pomona is going to have some of that Northview athleticism so better be ready for the Thursday night contest.