By Alex A. Gonzalez
Glendora — With the ball placed at the 16-yard line and less than three seconds left in regulation, the Temple City Rams’ defense shut down any attempt for a game-tying touchdown as they stuffed Azusa quarterback Juan Tapia Jr. from reaching the end zone, sealing the 20-14 win on a chilly Friday night at Citrus College.
Jadon Griffin accounted for all of the Rams’ touchdowns, two receiving and an interception returned for a touchdown, as he led Temple City to a perfect 5-0 preseason, the first time since 2001.
“It feels good, commented Griffin on staying undefeated. “I mean, we’ve had a lot of injuries and a lot of setbacks, but we are still trying our best, and we are still trying to ball out for the ones who can’t make it.”
The Rams jumped out to a 20-0 lead in the first half of their Week 4 contest. Their defense also forced three turnovers and turned the ball over on downs on five of the Aztecs’ six possessions in the first half.
On the opening drive, Temple City’s offense was given no pressure as they marched down the field for the game’s first touchdown. After Diego Rowe’s back-to-back rushing attempts that set his team up on the Azusa 36-yard line, quarterback Jake Leones dropped back and launched his pass to Griffin, who took it into the end zone.
Then, on the Aztecs’ second passing play of their ensuing series, Griffin read the play like a book and picked off Tapia Jr., who then returned it for the score with 5:47 left in the opening quarter.
After both offenses struggled to move the ball and traded field position for the next 10 minutes of game time, Temple City added its third score of the night. The Leones and Griffin combination hooked up for the second time with 6:50 remaining in the first half.
Azusa was able to respond following the touchdown when Tapia Jr. found Aramis De La Torre alone by the sideline. He then took it 53 yards to pay dirt, putting the score at 20-7 midway through the second quarter.
But then, just before the half, Ram quarterback Jake Leones had to leave the game and was taken to the emergency room as a precaution after he took a hit to the back of the head just before the first half ended.
Backup quarterback Josh Jones took over for Leones for the second half.
With Jones taking snaps, Temple City’s offense struggled, producing little offense for the remaining 24 minutes of play.
With the absence, that gave way for Azusa, who scored their second touchdown when Tapia Jr. executed a quarterback sneak into the end zone with 9:37 left to play.
However, after the Rams’ slew of miscommunications, Azusa had one more opportunity to take the lead with 2:13 remaining.
With no timeouts, Tapia Jr. ran the two-minute offense perfectly, connecting with Xzavier Rodriguez, De La Torre, and Noah Zamora to set his team up in Temple City territory. But the Rams’ front four created pressure for the Senior quarterback, forcing him to try to win the game with his legs.
That came to no avail as the Rams’ defense shut down Azusa for the win.
“I’m proud of them. They dealt with adversity, and we talked about it at halftime,” said Saxon postgame. “This is what life is. Life is going to come at you, there’s going to be tough times there’s going to be adversity, and all that matters is how you respond. They responded like champions tonight.
With the win, the Rams enter their bye week before they open Rio Hondo League play against La Canada on October 4th. Azusa, too, heads into their bye week before they start the Montview league campaign when they travel to Wilson on October 3rd.
Typically there are no wild cards on d14 because there are so many crummy leagues with automatic qualifiers I.e. Montview , Miramonte , MVL, don’t forget Almont
Will 5-4 with 4 straight losses in league get a division 14 playoff bid? I dont know.
But at least TC is trying to do something to reverse their free fall.
Good win. Unfortunately with that level
Of play the winning is over as league hits after bye …..we said it was cupcake schedule preseason and now 5-0 as expected .