By Duane Barker
(El Monte) The Arroyo Knights hosted the San Marino Titans in the first round of the CIF Division 12 football playoffs and avenged the one-point loss of earlier this season with a dominating 28-0 win at BL Bergstrom Stadium Friday night.
On one of the first cool evenings of the football season, a less than stellar crowd (especially on the San Marino side) saw the Knights completely stifel the Titan offense allowing 141 yards of total offense.
On the other side of the ball, Arroyo managed to score in all facets of the game. On offense, defense and special teams.
Offensively the Knights took it to San Marino on their first drive of the night. Nate Guardado got the call and scored from 10-yards out. Albert Lopez’ extra point was blocked leaving Arroyo with a 6-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
The 6-0 lead remained where it was until 7:00 left to play in the first half. Victor Prado bulled his way across the goal line from one yard away. Lopez hit the extra point this time to push Arroyo’s advantage to 13-0.
As time was winding down in the first half, a Knight drive stalled at the San Marino 18. Lopez was called upon for a 35-yard field goal attempt and he obliged as he split the uprights.
What were Titans doing on offense while Arroyo was marching up and down the field? Not a whole lot. The San Marino offense had trouble moving the ball and only mustered one first down in the entire half.
The second half started out much like the first for the Titans. Four plays and a punt left Arroyo with good field position.
The Knights couldn’t take full advantage, settling for another Lopez field goal when their six play drive stalled at the San Marino five.
Up 19-0 the defense decided to get in on the scoreboard, recording a safety as a bad snap sailed over the head of Titan quarterback Brady Beck. Beck tried to escape but it was to no avail and was caught in the endzone.
Now it was the special teams turn. On the ensuing kickoff following the safety, Gabriel fielded the kick at his own 30, broke a couple tackles and was off to the races to paydirt. With Lopez extra point the Knight’s had a comfortable 28-0 lead.
Arroyo did have one last chance to add to their lead in the second half but Lopez’ field goal attempt sailed wide right.
The rest of the night belonged to the Knight defense shutting out the Titans the rest of the way allowing Arroyo to get some of their second teamers a chance to get on the field.
Up next for Arroyo is a short trip east to take on the Los Altos Conquerors in the second round of the CIF playoffs.
@Anonymous what a loser you must be to keep dwelling on past teams and comparing. Yes this 2022 Arroyo team might be not be big or fast but so what they are taking care of business so far. Stop already AL Bundy j.r. just go back to living in mommas basement.
Nope. MVL is atrocious. The only good team is Arroyo. It has not been the same league for quite some time.
Even when Arroyo and EM won CIF they still wouldn’t beat the early 2000 teams. The 01/02 semi finals and 08/09 finals Rosemead teams were better. The 04/05 semi finals Arroyo team was better. Any of the Rivera Arroyo teams were better (not 08). The 05/06 semi finals SEM team was better. It’s apples to oranges. The MVL ain’t what it used to be.
The stats are irrelevant. The MVL is not Kaiser. Of course they dominated since league started. They’ll always be the class of the MVL. Teams with good coaches get better as the seasons goes on. They are better without a doubt but playing inferior teams always helps you look good.
Isra not their fault their league isn’t good. They go out there and do what they need to do. When the MVL won 2 CIF titles in 4 years it was the same league.
Not sure I would call the MVL atrocious, but it obviously was not as strong as it has been in some previous years. El Monte with a new staff was significantly better than last season, as was Gabrielino. Gabrielino should have been the number 3 team from the MVL had they held on to a 21-0 lead over South in the 3rd game. Arroyo definitely relied on their defense until the offense found it’s footing-allowing just 6 points in the past 8 games-to an El Monte team that just scored 55 (and lost) in their 1st round game. They start a junior and 2 sophs on OL, and QB is a first year starter, so early on was a struggle offensively. Their staff has done an incredible job of bringing that team along and have them peaking at the right time. Best of Luck this week against Los Altos!
Arroyo gave up 49 points in zero week game 27 points since
7 shutouts
Keep throwing the shade We don’t care. We just show and play
That switch was the atrocious mission valley league. They rose up as the best of the worst.
At some point, the Arroyo kids flipped a switch and are now playing with a tenacity that’s a sight to behold. The defensive was so good, it could have won the game by itself, with just the safety. Best of luck in the Los Altos game.