By Ron Vrooman
(South El Monte) – The South El Monte Eagles rallied for two second-half touchdowns to beat visiting Alhambra, 13-12, in the teams’ 2022 opener last Friday night.
Sophomore quarterback Matthew Medina completed 12 of 22 passes for 222 yards and both of the Eagles’ scores. Senior wide receiver Cristopher Vasquez was on the other end of Molina’s 56 and 59-yard TD throws, and he ended up with a total of four catches for 157 yards.
Vasquez, who’s also the Eagles’ placekicker, booted what turned out to be the decisive extra point after scoring South El Monte’s first touchdown midway through the third quarter. And, while playing at cornerback on defense, Vasquez intercepted a Bryan Leonard pass in the end zone to thwart an Alhambra scoring threat early in the second quarter.
The Eagles needed everything that Medina and Vasquez gave them on a night when the Moors held them to -27 yards rushing. The Moors, who statistically outperformed the Eagles into the third quarter, came up empty on two early drives deep into South El Monte territory and also failed to convert after either of their later touchdowns.
Those missed opportunities would prove costly for Alhambra, which managed to take a 12-7 lead on a one-yard run by Cyrus Wu with 3:10 left in the game.
On the first play from scrimmage after the ensuing kickoff, Vasquez caught a deflected pass and raced to the end zone to finish a 59-yard scoring play which gave the Eagles a one-point win.
There were some silver linings for the Moors despite their nonleague loss. Leonard, a freshman playing in his first varsity game, completed 15 of 28 passes for 212 yards and a touchdown. Senior wide receiver Joshua Soto scored that TD on a 31-yard reception and made 11 catches in all for 172 yards. Wu, a senior running back, was the Moors’ leading rusher with 16 carries for 71 yards.
Alhambra will seek its first victory of the season at home against Glendale High on Thursday night, while South El Monte will travel to Baldwin Park this Friday evening.
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@FridayKnights What do think about AHS vs Temple City next week? I saw the game TC vs Keppel…yes it was Keppel, but I’ve never seen a TC team execute like last Thursday…Something is different…yes it was Mark Keppel, but They seemed to execute…No garbage plays…They Mark Keppel like they were supposed to…Kind of like AHS beat Glendale…Might be interesting.
@ Friday Knights: Medina made a nice throw on his first touchdown pass; he hit Vasquez in perfect stride. And, yes, I did mention that the ball was deflected on his second TD pass. It could’ve been intercepted.
Alhambra played a lot better against Glendale last night; the Moors committed no turnovers and capitalized on all of their scoring opportunities.
I appreciate the compliment; I always give it my best shot.
You’ll see tmr night
@anonymous
Good read you say? Well I think it was a Chuck n duck throw. Throw it up and hope your dude comes down with it.
But hey that passing game will have a chance to prove us wrong on Friday.
@fridayknight two broken pass plays the first touchdown was a good read the second one was a broken play give u that but how was the first touchdown a broken play
@Ron
About the two pass plays, I saw the film the second TD should have been a pick 6 for Alhambra. You said the Eagles are a playoff team I’m saying if they are then the MVL is pretty bad. Every DC in league is bracket or flat out double #4 because quite clearly the Eagles have nothing else. Then what?? Do really think this staff can make adjustments? Even when they were good they were too reliant on a single player. They will get annihilated on Friday then we will hear excuses about how young they are boo hoo boo hoo
And about us losing… that’s what happens when you schedule up but it’s a learning experience and it help us grow into yet another MVL title.
South El Monte finishes 4th in league this year. Losing to Us, El Monte and Mountain View
Nice article though I enjoyed the read.
@ Goldbrick: You’re welcome. To add to your final point, rushing for negative yardage usually doesn’t get it done against anybody. I’ll chalk up last Friday’s result as one that Alhambra will use to make a few needed corrections and ultimately shake off.
@ Friday Knights: You’re beside yourself, so much so that you’re putting words in my mouth. I never said anything about two long pass plays being a recipe for success when everything else that a run-oriented offense did wasn’t working.
In addition, I was clear about the fact that the Eagles rushed for -27 yards, and teams that do so rarely win. South El Monte got by with it this one time.
As for Cristoper Vasquez (#4), he not only starts at wide receiver and cornerback, but he’s also South El Monte’s placekicker and punter. Vasquez almost never leaves the field.
Perhaps the Eagles’ coaching staff has made a calculation that he helps them more at wide receiver because they have a decent quarterback who can throw to him. And, with all the demands they’re already placing on Vasquez, I think he’s likely to get hurt if they made him carry the ball a lot.
Maybe it’s possible that South El Monte has a tough, explosive running back waiting in the wings. You know, someone who’s on the injured list, or a transfer who’s waiting to become eligible. How about a guy who’s almost ready to be brought up from the JV team? One can only hope.
By the way, Friday Knights, “Anonymous” had some words for you on another thread; something about your Arroyo team not doing so well, either. Welcome to the crowd, man.
@ron
Come on Ron, give it to him straight. SEM couldn’t run the football they are wing T team do you really think two broken plays is a good recipe for success? If the Eagles do have a stud why isn’t he playing running back. I think it’s lost to the staff there that they’re a wing T team which is a run heavy system lmfao. If you can’t run the football they why are you in that offense. I’m predicting Baldwin Puts 50 on them.
Gold, your Vikings might beat the Eagles this year!
Anonymous, two broken pass plays doesn’t mean you have a passing qb lol. It means the defense missed a clear pick six that fell into your lap and then Alhambra had a blown coverage.
As usual Big game Ron comes through.
I figured turnovers played a part in this game. It was the only thing that could explain it. South El Monte in recent years has been known to pound the rock and play a stout defense. Looks like they are pretty good defensively and hoping maybe the offense comes around. But a negative in the rushing column will not get it done against Arroyo or El Monte
Good luck to Alhambra as well. Thanks Ron
* 4th-and-goal
@ Goldbrick: You made some astute observations, as usual. It’s a pleasure talking with you.
Alhambra got stopped on 4rh-and-goal at the one-yard line in the first quarter and then had a pass intercepted in the South El Monte end zone early in the second. So, the Moors missed out on two potential touchdowns before finally scoring just prior to halftime to take a meager 6-0 lead. Alhambra went on to score only once more after that.
There were seven turnovers in the game; the Moors committed four of those (two interceptions and two lost fumbles). As I said in my previous response, I believe that Alhambra can score a lot of points this season if it can minimize the mistakes on offense.
The Moors outgained the Eagles from scrimmage by a margin of 294 yards to 195 yards and ended up losing the game. South El Monte rushed for -27 yards (-18 when it mattered) but managed to pull out the victory. And, the Eagles had just 80 net yards if you exclude the two long touchdown passes which accounted for all of their points.
Yes, it was a strange game, but one that I believe both teams will learn from.
Because SEM has a passing qb this year
@ Friday Knights: Although I was disappointed from an Alhambra standpoint, I don’t think either side should get too worked up about the outcome of this game. I’d be much more concerned if this had been a midseason game instead of the season opener for both teams.
Alhambra can move the ball; the Moors just have to cut down on the mistakes and then they’ll be scoring a lot more points. The defense played well except for those two breakdowns in the secondary, one of which happened on a fluke play. Subtract those two plays, and then South El Monte possibly wouldn’t have scored. I believe Alhambra will play well against the run most of the season, barring a raft of injuries.
You have to give the Eagles some credit; they made the defensive stops they needed to, and Vasquez is a star player. Without him, South El Monte doesn’t win that game. And, while I realize that the Eagles are primarily a running team, they can throw the ball when they want to or have to with a guy like Medina at quarterback.
South El Monte might be a little short at the running back position. The Eagles’ two primary runners on Friday night appeared to be finesse-type players, and they didn’t show us anyone who could pound the ball inside. If South El Monte has issues with its offensive line, those weren’t readily apparent to me.
I think your contempt for both teams is premature. I believe Alhambra will be a contender in the Almont League, and South El Monte will most likely fight it out with El Monte for second place in the Mission Valley League. Both the Moors and the Eagles should make the playoffs this year.
At Friday knights
Setting aside your obvious punch at the Eagles. That’s a good question. How does a wing t team win a game where they can’t run the football. Maybe Ron can answer the question for us. Did Alhambra turn the ball over multiple times? What happened!? It Sounds like the Eagles got their entire offensive output and points on two plays.
Bhahaha… how does a SEM, a wing T team rush for negative 27 yards ?
How bad does Alhambra have to be to lose to a supposed running team after holding them to below zero yards?
SEM, Alhambra this isn’t your year.. again! Haha