By Tim Peterson
(El Monte) – After losing last week to South El Monte and with Arroyo looming on the horizon the El Monte hopes for a Mission Valley League title looked dim. But the Lions turned the lights back on and the hopes were renewed as they ran over the Knights 42-32 Friday night at B.L. Bergstrom Stadium.
El Monte piled up 330 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. Felipe Taboada ran for 128 yards and three touchdowns on 12 carries and Isaiah Standley had nine carries for 125 yards and two scores. Two of Taboada’s touchdowns came in the fourth quarter including a 72-yard run as the Lions were able to keep Arroyo at bay.
“Yes they’re a one-two punch. Both those kids have been working hard all year,” said El Monte head coach Hector Spathias. “They’ve had some bumps and bruises but they’re fully recovered now.”
The Lions struck through the air as well. After Alonso Hernandez Jr. hauled in a 27-yard touchdown pass from Alex Aleman with just 15 seconds left in the third quarter El Monte took a 28-16 lead into the fourth quarter.
But the Lions needed that and more as Arroyo made a push in the fourth. Toboada busted off his 72-yard touchdown run with 7:27 left in the fourth quarter to make it 35-16. But Arroyo responded with a 22-yard TD dash by Angel Casillas to cap a 55-yard drive.
Taboada scored again on a nine-yard run to finish a 55-yard drive with 4:09 left to push the lead to 42-24. But again Arroyo responded as Jacob Perez caught a 36-yard touchdown pass from Casillas for the final score of the night with 2:40 left.
The Lions were able to close it out from there.
The two teams traded scores in the first quarter. Casillas crossed the goal line on a one-yard run for the Knights and Toboada hit the end zone one a nine-yard jaunt and it was 8-8 as both teams scored on two-point conversions. Casillas ran it in for Arroyo and Brandon Do for the Lions.
Then Standley went to work for El Monte. In the second quarter he ran for 62 yards on two plays. A 44-yard run down to the Arroyo 18 set up an 18-yard touchdown run on the next play. El Monte was up 15-8 at the half.
Standley found paydirt again early in the third on a 23-yard run to make it 22-8.
Richard Inostroz, who had a huge night for Arroyo, caught a two-yard TD pass from Casillas and a run by Casillas on the conversion made it 22-16. Then Aleman connected with Hernandez for 27 yards to set up the fourth quarter.
Arroyo used a two-quarterback system as Casillas and Dillion Seguin shared time. Inostroz was their favorite target as he hauled in 14 passes for 237 yards and a score. Arroyo had 319 yards passing overall and Casillas also ran for 27 yards and two touchdowns.
Arroyo was stopped on fourth down four times including on the two-yard line with just two seconds left in the first half.
The win was huge for El Monte as they improved to 4-4 overall (6-2 on the field) and 2-1 in the MVL. The Lions will face Rosemead next week.
Arroyo is also 4-4 and 2-1 in league. The Knights will face Mt. View next week and still has South El Monte looming on November 1.
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I understand your sentiment .
But do you realize how weak and demoralized MV is ? They lost to Bassett! They have -70 PR . If Arroyo doesn’t go running clock , they have problems .
No, Moyé likes to call him self HC, OC, DC, ST all at the same time. won’t even give anything to the 4 assistants to call. Then he screams at them because he doesn’t take the blame well. MV over arroyo tonight, Moyé implodes and loses it.
Do they have a special teams coordinator?
Low Profile
3 and out 1minute
17 play drive. 10 minutes 40 seconds complete control of the game 8-0 momentum
onside kick EM ball at 48
3 plays 20 seconds 8-8 MO is gone Hence makes one sick. end 1Q
After seeing this game, I would have a few questions about Arroyo and their game planning/prep. Clearly, the Lions have some nice pieces offensively-both RBs run hard, and both QBs can run and throw. They definitely need to get #5 more involved on offense-not sure Arroyo had anyone that could cover him. El Monte tackled pretty well for the most part-keeping Arroyo’s running game in check for most of the night. Does Arroyo ever practice tackling? They looked like traffic cones at times when EM got into the open field. Lions were definitely much more physical up front. Arroyo’s last 2 scores were a QB scramble on a broken play, and a long pass up the sideline where EM did not see the WR lined up out by the Arroyo sideline. Discipline is clearly an issue at Arroyo. Penalties negated a couple long plays offensively, they had a costly personal foul penalty, and 2 of their players were clearly close to trading blows on the sideline! El Monte’s game plan on both sides was pretty simple-run the football and take away Arroyo’s running game. Knights did make some plays in the passing game, and #3 had an unbelievable game for Arroyo. What was Arroyo’s game plan? Too many mistakes, penalties and not great clock management just before the half. The onside kick on every kickoff is getting old-how many times can you continue to give the opponent the football at midfield without them making you pay? 2 delay of game penalties-when was the last time Arroyo had 2 of those penalties in a season under the previous staffs? The Lions are still a relatively young team with a lot of underclassmen, and are definitely on the rise. The lack of discipline at Arroyo is going to be the death of one of the most storied and tradition-rich programs in the SGV! How about in the JV game on Thursday-Arroyo up 55-0 and throwing a TD PASS in the 4th quarter-do they have no clue about winning with class? Just sad to see an Arroyo program led by a staff that has no clue what it takes to BUILD something and sustain it over a very long period of time!
I’m not sure of your point here :
The 17 play drive is very impressive .
The multiple onside kicks questionable
The big plays allowed on defense problematic
The nauseous feeling is …..:
@AllFallDown. Total clown comment and sentiment. What have you got against social studies? That sentiment seems to align with general Q(anon)uackery that says that US history shouldn’t be taught in schools. Take your moronic anti-education takes elsewhere.
Only the 5th time the Lions beat the Knights in the last 30 years or so. Sanchez beat them twice. C beat them twice. Spat once.
This has to be the worst Arroyo team in the last 40 or 50 years right? McKinnon or Singiser never had a team this bad.
Is this the year Mt View beats Arroyo?? When was the last time it happened? 1980?
There’s no way SEM loses to Arroyo. Crown them already.
The Knights under Argo and the California Condors under Zamora looked shaky, but who could imagine the distance they’ve fallen under their current coaches? Today’s high school teams get what they’re paying for, and that’s far from being enough. Meanwhile, those who teach history, government and social studies at these schools get generous salaries and benefits. Misplaced priorities all around.
Tim
Let’s add a little more to “The two teams traded scores in the first quarter”.
Arroyo onside kick recovered by EM. 3 and out 1 minute
Arroyo 17 play drive used 10 minutes 40 seconds one yard run by Casillas
onside kick recovered by EM at midfield 20 seconds left in 1st quarter
2 plays and EM tied the score
Time of procession EM maybe 1 minute 20 seconds
Arroyo 10 minutes 40 seconds
Yeah, tied 8-8 end of 1st Q . EM fans happy as can be. Arroyo faithful have that feeling you have about 30 seconds before you hurl you lunch