MidValleySports.Com

By Alex A. Gonzalez

San Gabriel – Judah Douglas returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown and added a receiving score Friday night for the Temple City Rams as they defeated the Eagles 50-6 at Gabrielino High School in their Week One season opener.

“It feels good. It shows the kids that hard work pays off,” said Rams HC Riley Saxon. “It’s only going to get more challenging, and we just have to be ready for that challenge.”

The Rams wasted no time to put points on the board, as it only took 11 seconds for Douglas to receive the opening kickoff and take it back to the house for a score.

“I just felt like we start the game off with a lot of momentum, so we can get the game going, which we did,” said Douglas postgame. “I was just thinking like I got to take it to the crib.”

However, minimal movement happened following the opening touchdown. Temple City and Gabrielino struggled to find an offensive rhythm throughout the first 10 minutes of play. It also didn’t help how both squads committed untimely penalties that would set them behind the chains.

It had initially looked like the Rams would take their 7-0 lead into the second quarter, but with less than two minutes remaining, on a fourth and short down, quarterback Jake Jones connected with JT Griffin for the 3-yard touchdown pass, giving his team a 13-0 advantage after the missed point after attempt.

Temple City’s defense then recovered Austin Ko’s fumble on Gabrielino’s ensuing possession, and on the very next play, Michael Paiz took the handoff and bulldozed his way into the end zone for the score.

In less than 30 seconds, the Rams back-to-back touchdowns tallied 20-0 with 1:23 left to play in the first quarter of action.

The momentum continued in the second quarter as Jones threw his second touchdown pass of the half when he found a wide-open Greg Hidalgo, who then took it to the house for the 55-yard pitch and catch.

The Eagles were able to cut into the deficit midway through the second period after Aaron Phan carried the ball across the goal line. Still, they could not convert the point after kick, keeping the score at 27-6 heading into the break.

With Gabrielino set to receive possession to start the second half, running back Isiah Caballero and wideout Tyler Bernardo attempted to swing momentum in favor of the home team, but the Rams defense forced the offense to turn the ball over on downs, positioning their offense in plus territory.

“We talked about it at halftime. I told them kickoff, you go stop them, defense, get us the ball back, and offense, go score. And we followed the game plan perfectly,” Saxson said on halftime adjustments.

After Jones hooked up with Hidalgo for a 14-yard gain and Piaz carried the ball for another 32 yards one play later, Jones found Griffin for the second time of the night, giving the Rams a 34-6 lead with 9:17 left in the third quarter.

Following another failed attempt on a fourth down play by the Eagles, Jones threw his fourth touchdown pass of the night to Douglas from 40 yards out.

“That’s my dog right there,” commented Douglas about Jones. “We just have that great chemistry and worked every day, and it paid off.”

As they were set to punt, things went from bad to worse for Gabrielino. After gaining zero yards on their possession, the snap sailed over the punter’s reach and out of the back of the end zone, giving the Rams a safety as the third period ended.

The Rams added a late rushing touchdown thanks to backup tailback Sam Bird, as the fourth quarter had a running clock, making the final score 50-6.

With the win, the Rams make it back-to-back season openers where they scored more than 50 points in a game while only allowing six points total in both games.

They will travel to Alhambra next Friday night in hopes of a 2-0 start and ending a losing streak against the Moors, whom they haven’t defeated since the 2014 season.

For Gabrielino, they will try to even their record at 1-1 next week when they travel to Glendale to take on the Hoover Tornados.