By Rich Whittington
(San Gabriel ) – The Schurr Spartans completed their quest for an undefeated Almont League Title Friday evening, as the Spartans defeated the host San Gabriel Matadors, 39-0, in front of a “Senior Night” assembly, consisting of parents, students, and alumni.
The Spartans continued their dominance of the Almont League in a rather unique fashion, scoring five touchdowns and two safeties. While touchdowns are a common occurrence in football, safeties are rare, and seeing two in a single game is virtually unheard of.
Schurr’s first points of the contest were the result of an errant snap by San Gabriel.
Quarterback Jacob Muniz was unable to handle control the ball, resulting in the first safety of the evening. This made the score 2-0, Spartans, with 9:52 remaining in the first quarter of play. Schurr would score their first touchdown of the evening just a few minutes later, when Isaiah Candelaria scored on a 3-yard blast. The PAT was successful, making the score 9-0, Schurr, as the first period came to a close.
The Spartans continued the scoring into the second, adding a pair of passing touchdowns from Jesse Preciado Matthew Salazar. The first score covered 42 yards. The second was just a yard shorter at 41. The PAT attempts were successful, making the score 23-0 at halftime.
The Spartans scoring continued into the second half, when RB Candelaria scored his second TD of the evening…another 3-yard run. Another successful PAT was added, making the score 30-0, with 9:06 remaining in the 3third quarter. The Spartans added the second safety of the evening, making the score 32-0 at the end of three.
Schurr scored its final points with 58 seconds remaining. Preciado found Salazar for a 10-yard scoring connection…their third scores of the evening. The PAT was successful, making the final score 39-0.
Schurr finishes the regular season as Almont League Champions, 5-0 in league play, and will advance into the CIF playoffs. San Gabriel, Bell Gardens, and Alhambra all finished their league seasons tied at 3-2. By virtue of an afternoon coin flip, Alhambra finished second in Almont League play, and will advance into the CIF playoffs as well.
San Gabriel finishes their Almont League campaign in third, and will also represent their league in CIF. Opponents, locations, and kickoff times are to be determined.
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Schurr is one and done. They will be exposed offensively and defensively. It’s gonna be a long night for the D coordinator especially walking up and down those stairs. He’s on the hefty side. Season is now over for Schurr
Thank you, Rich, for letting us know that Alhambra made the playoffs! We heard it from you first.
One moral to this story is that it pays not to give up. The Moors could’ve folded after starting out 1-4 and then playing poorly in the first half of the league opener against Mark Keppel.
Here are a few other things that have become clear: The Schurr Spartans have developed into a good team, San Gabriel has its best team in a decade (despite two shutout losses in league play), and Alhambra has improved during the course of the season.
I believe this is the first time since 2011 that two football teams from the Alhambra district have made the playoffs in the same season. (In 2011, San Gabriel won the Almont League and Alhambra finished second.)