By Ron Vrooman
Quarterback Alex Aleman completed 18 of 33 passes for 241 yards and three touchdowns to lead the visiting El Monte Lions to a 40-0 rout of the Alhambra Moors on Friday night.
Aleman’s leading receiver was Noah Munoz, who made eight catches for 132 yards and two first-half scores.
The Lions balanced their offensive attack with 242 yards on the ground. Running back Aaron Rivera carried 20 times for 160 yards and a touchdown, while teammate Anthony Ramirez added nine carries for 64 yards and two TD’s.
Alhambra had one last shot at getting back into the game after El Monte took a 14-0 lead on successive 65-yard drives in the first quarter. The Moors responded with a 67-yard drive to a 1st-and-goal at the Lions’ 6. However, they turned the ball over on downs three plays into the second quarter, when quarterback Bryan Leonard was sacked for a five-yard loss on 4th-and-goal.
The Lions then drove 88 yards in 14 plays to make the score 20-0, and they outdid themselves on their next possession, driving 90 yards in 13 plays to increase their lead to 26-0 just before the intermission. El Monte added a touchdown in each of the final two quarters to win going away.
One flaw in the Lions’ performance was their propensity for drawing yellow flags from the officials, as they were penalized 16 times for 156 yards. In contrast, Alhambra received 11 penalties for a total of 77 yards.
The Moors managed just 167 yards in total offense and rushed for a net total of only 55 yards. Leonard, their senior starting quarterback, completed 10 of 17 passes for 89 yards, and backup Robby Siegmeth connected on only three of 10 for 23 yards, with an interception.
El Monte ran its season record to 2-0, while Alhambra dropped to 1-1.
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It will be interesting to see how Almont League rival San Gabriel does against those Lions.
@ Anonymous: You’re welcome; any time.
Great info stat man, thank you.
@ Anonymous: Both El Monte and South El Monte throw the ball well, but El Monte is far better at running and defending against the run at this point.
To illustrate, Alhambra limited the Eagles to a little over 100 yards rushing on opening night, but gave up nearly 250 yards last week against the Lions. Also, the Moors rushed for more than 150 yards against South El Monte, but were held to only 55 yards by El Monte.
The Lions are strong up front and have a good combination of power and speed in running backs Aaron Rivera and Anthony Ramirez.
@ Low Profile: You’ve got that right; I see this year’s El Monte team as a league champion. All the other teams in the Mission Valley League will be very hard-pressed to beat the Lions.
The only things that I can see potentially derailing El Monte would be injuries to key players or amassing too many penalties—or untimely ones—against the wrong team.
I doubt that the El Monte coaches wanted their players to commit 16 penalties totaling 156 yards last week. That’s a little extreme, and a repeat of that performance could end up costing the Lions a game.
Obviously a heck of a lot better than SEM
Alhambra stat man, what are you thoughts of n El Monte?