MidValleySports.Com

By Ron Vrooman

(Los Angeles) –  The visiting Alhambra Moors defeated L.A. Wilson, 40-21, on Friday night to extend their winning streak to three games and finish nonleague play with a record of 4-1.  

Bryan Leonard completed 10 of 19 passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns, and Halen Tsang carried the ball 23 times for 114 yards and a score to lead Alhambra’s offense against the Mules. 

Tsang, a senior tailback, ran one yard for the Moors’ first touchdown and also raced 54 yards to set up Leonard’s quarterback sneak which put Alhambra up, 20-7, early in the second quarter. However, Tsang mostly earned his yardage the hard way against a physical Wilson defense.

The Mules, who managed only six first downs and were outgained by the Moors, 306 total yards to 155, came up with three big plays to keep the game close into the fourth quarter. 

Late in the first quarter, Wilson running back Adrian Anaya burst 66 yards for a touchdown seconds after Leonard’s 40-yard bomb to wide receiver Steven Escobar had given Alhambra a 14-0 lead.

Then, after the Moors went ahead, 20-7, on Leonard’s sneak, Anaya took the ensuing kickoff 84 yards to narrow the gap to 20-13.  

Alhambra increased its lead to 27-13 on tailback Devin Martinez’s one-yard run midway through the second quarter, but it took the Mules only a few minutes to stage another comeback. 

Wilson quarterback Joseph Arias hit a leaping Helio Lopez with a 24-yard touchdown pass on the last play of the first half to cut the Moors’ margin to 27-19. 

Alhambra cornerback Jordan Martinez suffered a broken leg while attempting to cover Lopez, so the conversion attempt was delayed until the teams returned from the halftime break. Martinez left the Mules’ stadium in an ambulance as play resumed. 

On the extra-point try, Anaya, who was in to hold for placekicker Antonio Vidal, sprinted toward the right corner of the end zone after taking a high snap from center. He dove into the pylon with the outstretched ball for a two-point conversion that sliced Alhambra’s lead to 27-21. 

The Moors were unable to move the ball on their first two possessions in the third quarter, but that was when their defense came to the rescue. Alhambra shut out Wilson the entire second half; the farthest the Mules could get was to the Alhambra 37. 

One of the game’s most pivotal moments occurred late in the third quarter, during Wilson’s one foray into Alhambra territory. 

Facing a 4th-and-5 situation at the Moors’ 40-yard line, the Mules lined up in punt formation. However, running back Daniel Alvarez, who was ostensibly there to block, received a direct snap from center and tried to get around the left side for the first down. He was stopped two yards short by a wall of Moors, and Alhambra took over on downs.

The Moors then drove 63 yards in 12 plays, scoring on Leonard’s seven-yard TD pass to slot receiver Marco Vasquez to go ahead, 34-21, with 10:25 left in the fourth quarter.

Alhambra missed a chance to score an insurance touchdown on its next possession when Leonard fumbled a snap from center and the Mules recovered at their own eight-yard line. But the Moors’ defense stepped up again on the very next play.

Arias dropped back to pass on first down and fumbled as he was getting sacked at the one. The loose ball bounced into the Wilson end zone, where Alhambra linebacker Chris Aguilar fell on it for a touchdown to give the Moors their final margin of victory with 4:52 to play.

The win by Alhambra was its seventh straight over Wilson; Friday night’s game was the first meeting between the two teams since 2019. The loss to the Moors dropped the Mules’ season record to 2-3.

The Moors will be getting a bye week before hosting the Bell Gardens Lancers in their Almont League opener on Thursday, Oct. 2.