MidValleySports.Com

By Alex Gonzalez

Monrovia — The Monrovia Wildcats continued their quest for an undefeated season Friday night after defeating the Pasadena Poly Panthers 42-13 at Monrovia High School, their first meeting in Rio Hondo league play.

Noah Rodriguez threw two passing touchdowns while Issac Hernandez, Marcel Jones, and Carlos Hernandez added rushing scores in front of their Homecoming crowd.

“We came out and played our game today. Our defense got a couple of stops,’ said Rodriguez after the game. “We also have a run game that a lot of people don’t know about.”

The Wildcats opened the game with little resistance from the Panthers on their first possession.
It only took 48 seconds for M-Town to score the game’s first touchdown after Jones walked into the end zone.

Poly was able to respond with a score of their own within the opening minute of the second quarter. On second and long, Collin Mathews connected with Robby Sims, who slipped behind the M-Town defense, who then outran the Wildcats for the touchdown.

The Panthers then took the lead on their next possession when Mathews found Jason Mayo, who ran behind his line off the screenplay from 59 yards out. But with a missed extra point, Poly held a 13-7 advantage with 9:40 left in the second quarter.

Monrovia then was able to answer back by scoring on their next three possessions. Rodriguez hooked up with Noah Ellison giving the Wildcats a 14-13 advantage. Then Jones and Issac Hernandez reached the endzone before the halftime whistle.

Following the break, Poly struggled to add more points to their total, partly because the offense struggled to score, and Panthers players on offense started to get injured.

Monrovia put Poly out of reach when Rodriguez found Brian Salazar late in the third quarter. Then in the fourth quarter, Carlos Hernandez scampered his way to pay dirt from 51 yards out, sealing the 42-13 win for Monrovia.

With the wind, the Wildcats look to remain unbeaten next week when they travel to San Marino. Poly will look to rebound next Friday when they travel to South Pasadena.