MidValleySports.Com

By Ron Vrooman  

The Anaheim Colonists prevailed over both a tenacious Alhambra defense and poor field conditions to beat the visiting Moors, 13-6, in a CIF Division 14 quarterfinal game Friday night. 

The victory improved the Colonists’ record to 7-5 and sent them on to a semifinal matchup with the Pioneer Titans, while Alhambra ended its season at 6-6. 

Glover Stadium’s grass field had already been saturated by rain beforehand, and it turned into a quagmire as a moderate-to-heavy drizzle fell during most of the game. The outcome hinged on which team could better handle a wet football and a waterlogged playing surface.

Anaheim won that battle, committing only two turnovers while the Moors committed five. Alhambra fumbled the ball away four times, with the Colonists capitalizing on two of those fumbles – and a couple of big plays – for their touchdowns.

The Moors started quickly, as their defense stopped Anaheim on its first possession and special-teams star Nero Navarro returned Ricardo Vela’s punt 49 yards for a touchdown. However, the score remained 6-0 when the Moors’ mishandling of a wet ball resulted in an unsuccessful extra-point try. 

Navarro’s TD turned out to be Alhambra’s only tally. The Moors got to the Anaheim 31 in the second quarter but never made it close to that point the rest of the game.

Alhambra had the ball near midfield late in the first quarter when Bryan Leonard fumbled a snap from center and the Colonists recovered at the Moors’ 46. 

On 3rd-and-10 for the Colonists, quarterback Jacob Campos faked a handoff and raced 45 yards to the Alhambra one-yard line. On the next play, which began the second quarter, Campos dove into the end zone to tie the score. Vela then kicked the extra point to give Anaheim a 7-6 lead.

Disaster struck the Moors again early in the third quarter when another loose ball was recovered by the Colonists at the 50-yard line. Two plays later, running back Isaac Anaya scored on a 51-yard burst to put Anaheim ahead 13-6. The extra-point attempt by the Colonists was no good. 

Neither team could score from there and the Colonists tried to run time off the clock on their final possession late in the fourth quarter. The way they did it gave the Moors one last shot at a come-from-behind victory.

Campos deliberately lost yardage on two consecutive running plays to set up a 3rd-and-18 at the Alhambra 40. He then ran on another keeper but inexplicably remained on his feet and got stripped of the ball after he was met by Alhambra defenders. 

All of a sudden, the Moors had possession at their own 45 with less than a minute remaining and no timeouts left. However, they were unable to move the ball, and on fourth down, a short pass by Leonard fell incomplete as time expired.

The Colonists gained 150 yards from scrimmage to only 54 net yards for the Moors.

Campos and Anaya accounted for nearly all of Anaheim’s yardage; Campos netted 52 yards on 17 carries, and Anaya carried the ball 14 times for 82 yards. The Colonists passed for only 14 yards.

Tailback Halen Tsang was responsible for most of Alhambra ‘s meager offense, rushing 18 times for 56 yards. Leonard completed just five of 13 passes for 38 yards, with one interception.