By Josh Lowden<\/p>\n
(Pasadena)- After an even first quarter, Maranatha was able to pull away in a 41-28 victory over the visiting La Puente Warriors Friday night in the first round of the CIF playoffs.<\/p>\n
Andrew Elfers had an amazing first half, throwing for 330 yards and five touchdowns.<\/p>\n
To start momentum for the Minutemen in its second possession, Elfers connected with Mark Jebbia on a 21 yard pass.\u00a0 Maranatha gained even more yards as a Warrior defender was called for Roughing the Passer. Two plays later, Elfers connects with Josh Jones on a 12 yard touchdown pass. Matt Marbach missed the extra point.<\/p>\n
On their next possession, La Puente showed their big play ability.\u00a0 On the first play from scrimmage, Joey Espinoza broke a few tackles for a 26 yard play.\u00a0 On the next play, Nicholas Barrientos took the handoff and ran it 50 yards for a score.<\/p>\n
Down by a point, Maranatha drove the ball down the field effectively, converting on third downs to march down the field.\u00a0 After finally being forced into a fourth down, the Minutemen successfully converted with a Elfers run.\u00a0 On first down, Elfers again connected with Jones on a 32 yard touchdown pass to finally end the drive.<\/p>\n
It appeared that the Warriors would come with a response.\u00a0\u00a0 On second down, quarterback Ivan Vasquez connected with Josh Paniagua on a wide receiver screen.\u00a0 Paniagua was 42 yards from scrimmage when a Maranatha defender knocked the ball out of his hands and recovered it for a Maranatha first down.<\/p>\n
Maranatha took advantage of the turnover.\u00a0 Rj Straker caught two consecutive passes for gains of two and 19.\u00a0 On the following play, Jones caught a screen pass and ran it 47 yards down the field to the La Puente 14. Jones was injured on the play and did not return to the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Without Jones, Elfers was forced to find a new target.\u00a0 On the play after Jones was injured, Elfers hit Straker for a 14 yard touchdown reception.<\/p>\n
Elfers finished with 22 completion on 31 attempts for 359 yards and six touchdowns. Jeremy Major caught two touchdowns and Mark Jebbia also contributed with a touchdown reception.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a good kid,\u201d Head Coach Joel Murphy said of Elfers.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s athletic\u2026 He kept some plays alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the Warriors, Barrientos finished with 108 yards and a touchdown.\u00a0 Brandon Rioes, Brian Avendano and Espinosa each had a touchdown.<\/p>\n
Next week, Maranatha (8-3) travels to San Dimas(7-4) for the Mid-Valley Division quarterfinals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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