By Duane Barker
(Montebello) The Arroyo Knights traveled south to take on the Schurr Spartans at Ken Davis Field on the campus of Schurr High School Friday night and came away with a 23-13 victory.
Omar Navarro led the way for the Knights on offense tallying 196-yards on 14 carries and a touchdown. The Spartans struggled to contain Navarro who opened the game with a 65-yard scamper.
The run put Arroyo deep in Schurr territory and four plays later, Nate Guardado punched the ball over the goal line from two yards away. Albert Lopez booted through the extra point for the early 7-0 lead.
The Spartans tied the score with time winding down in the first quarter as quarterback Jessie Preciado called his own number from two yards away. The drive was set up by a partially blocked punt by Shaun Ortega which was recovered by Schurr at the Arroyo 30.
Schurr went up 13-7 with just over two minutes to play in the first half. Preciado capped a 15-play 75-yard drive on a 3-yard run.
Coming out of the break the Knights went on an 8-play 58-yard drive and marched into the endzone with Navarro’s score on a 3-yard run. Lopez’s point after was good and Arroyo regained the lead 14-13.
Catastrophe struck for the Spartans in that third quarter. Preciado in on defense in the secondary came up in support on a Knight running play. After the whistles were blown Preciado remained down with an apparent leg injury and would not return.
Number 58 for the Spartans Samuel Mchtchian came on in relief for Preciado and his main job was to turn and hand the ball off to Isaiah Candelaria. Candelaria finished the night with 139-yards on 23 carries.
After a Knight punt pinned Schurr deep in their own territory, on second and ten Mchtchian was caught and tackled in his own endzone for the safety.
From there the Arroyo defense took over and held the Spartans scoreless for the rest of the third and the entire fourth quarter.
Offensively the Knights put the final score on the board with 5:11 remaining in the game when Guardado broke a couple of tackles at the line of scrimmage and raced 21-yards to paydirt.
The Knights return home to take on Bellflower next Friday while the Spartans will rekindle an old Mission Valley League matchup as they travel to Rosemead to take on the Panthers at the re-opening of Rod Marinelli Stadium.
Tim, for basically free, has been giving the SGV coverage since before I was in high school in 2005. He gives the kids all he has and everyone on here appreciates the coverage.
I think anyone with football IQ knows exactly what this means “After a Knight punt pinned Schurr deep in their own territory on second and ten Mchtchian was caught and tackled in his own endzone for the safety” If you think it means Arroyo punted on 2nd down go ahead and buy the book Football for Dummies or better yet just stop posting like anyone cares that a comma is missing and be happy someone covering these schools and giving them any pub.
This story reads as if it were written by poorly programmed AI whose only preparation was skimming a Wikipedia article on football. Somebody get this guy a proofreader. “ After a Knight punt pinned Schurr deep in their own territory on second and ten Mchtchian was caught and tackled in his own endzone for the safety.” Did Arroyo punt on second down? This website is amateur at best, but spend a few minutes proofreading…the kids on both sides deserve better.
From T. Peterson: You really read this to mean Arroyo punted on second down? Where does it say that? Let me explain it to you rookie. Mchtchian (who plays for Schurr) was caught and tackled (tackled means that he was brought to the ground) on second down. Second down for Schurr. Please proofread your comments before posting them. Our kids and readers deserve better. #Footballrookie
I thought Arroyo would have down year this season, considering they lack established skill players with hands,, lack quick aggressive corners that are very small and a back up QB who is young. However they have expressed me so far. Hopefully they can do well and adjust against a team that attacks there weaknesses. Good luck Arroyo will be rooting for you guys
Arroyo Vs Schurr should be in the schedule every year! Two quality programs trading blows. Arroyo has a great one two punch with Navarro and Guardardo. The passing game isn’t typical Arroyo just yet but has the makings to be. They’ll be dangerous once that comes around. Schurr Qb going down changed the game. Hopefully the kid can bounce back. As for the MVL, Arroyo looks like the team to beat… Again. South El Monte can match them with talent, might even be better at the skills but the trenches is where Arroyo can separate from them.
Ouch
You must not watch a lot of high school football. Unless you are a top program where you have tons of depth lots of QBs play safety. Look at San Dimas their QB plays LB! Just a couple years ago the Arroyo QB Camacho played QB and Safety. Please just be quite and just stop all the nonsense comments. It was a freak accident.
Ramos put his QB in at FS where he got hurt… never has he been smart but that’s just suicide! Smh