By MVS Staff
(San Gabriel) – The San Gabriel Matadors slowed Alhambra’s passing attack to a relative crawl, but the visiting Moors simply found other ways to earn a 33-6 victory Friday night at San Gabriel.
San Gabriel quarterback Max Castillo got the Matadors off to a 6-0 lead in the first quarter when he threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Deven Hernandez.
But, the Moors ended up intercepting Castillo five times, and three of those plays resulted in touchdowns for Alhambra. With the Moors leading, 21-6, late in the third quarter, the Matadors threatened to get back into the game with a drive down to the Alhambra 6. Then, on 4th-and-3, Castillo threw a pass into the end zone that was picked off by inside linebacker Matthew Donko, who raced 103 yards for a touchdown to put the Moors ahead, 27-6.
Running back Jose Ortiz scored on a one-yard plunge early in the fourth quarter for Alhambra’s final points. That TD came after outside linebacker Damien Rosa’s second interception of the night gave the Moors the ball at the San Gabriel 12-yard line.
Ortiz led Alhambra in rushing with 10 carries for 50 yards and two scores. The Moors ran for a total of 159 yards while holding the Matadors to only 23 yards on the ground.
The bulk of San Gabriel’s offense came from Castillo, who completed 17 of 40 passes for 169 yards. Alhambra quarterback Noah Rodriguez connected on eight of 18 passes for 108 yards, with one interception.
The Moors’ Vito Russell made a key contribution on special teams, returning a punt 57 yards for a touchdown which extended Alhambra’s lead to 14-6 shortly before halftime.
The victory kept the Moors undefeated in the Almont League and improved their overall record to 8-0. San Gabriel dropped to 1-2 in league and 3-5 overall.
*Information provided by Ron Vrooman
@ SG11: San Gabriel has already lost to Bell Gardens; the Matadors’ remaining opponents are Schurr and Montebello.
The Matadors played tenaciously against us, and our guys had to work hard for the win. I wish San Gabriel the best of luck the rest of the season.
I was not at the game but it sounded close and if it was and San Gabriel’s is good they may defeat Schurr and well then it would have to be a win over either BG or Montebello which one might slip but who knows we will have to see, I like Alhambra mixing things up and Schurr program being down