![\"Los](\"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/DSC_0059-1024x697.jpg\" "\\"DSC_0059\\"")
Los Tres Bad Dudes: M-Town's Derrick Johnson (#6), Josh Lowden, & Dujawn Jones (#5).<\/p><\/div>\n
(Palmdale)- The offense did what was needed, but the Monrovia defense did much of the heavy lifting in shutting down defending Mid-Valley Division champion Paraclete, 14-3, Friday night.<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n “We were fired up,\u201d said Wildcat head coach Ryan Maddox. \u201cWe were a little over pumped up. We had to calm down and get into the rhythm of the game…Our guys did a great job up front. Our defense stopped them.”<\/span><\/p>\n After a scoreless first quarter, the Spirits forced a Nick Bueno fumble at midfield and converted it into a 28-yard field goal by Kyle Steffes.<\/span><\/p>\n In the final minutes of the first half, after a 33-yard run by De\u2019Shawn Ramirez was negated by a hold, Monrovia found itself in a third and 16 dilemma. Rolling to his right Bueno threw on the run to a fully extended Ellis McCarthy for 17-yards and a first down.<\/span><\/p>\n Bueno made another connection to Luke Williams to continue the drive. Williams pinballed off defenders, had his face mask grabbed, and M-Town owned a first down at the Paraclete 25. <\/span><\/p>\n The drive stalled at the Spirits 16. Faced with a fourth and one and time dwindling in the second quarter Maddox put the ball in the hands of Bueno. The ensuing quarterback sneak didn\u2019t net a yard, but did acquire the three blades of grass necessary for the first down.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t think there\u2019s anybody like him in the valley,\u201d said Maddox of Bueno.<\/span><\/p>\n With 48 ticks left on the clock Bueno pitched right to Ramirez, who cannoned through the defense 13-yards and a 7-3 Wildcat lead at the break.<\/span><\/p>\n After spot duty in the first half Josh Lowden, recovering from a separated shoulder, went full time at middle linebacker in the third. Along with Derrick Johnson, John Adams Grant Haggard, Harley Hulin, and McCarthy they stoned the Spirits offense.<\/span><\/p>\n Bueno took his team on another march after Paraclete was forced to punt at the start of the third. A late hit advanced the ball to Spirits 15. From inside the pocket Bueno fired a bullet at Williams on a slant. The receiver turned upfield to paydirt and the Wildcats led 14-3.<\/span><\/p>\n McCarthy added a fumble recovery, Dujawn Jones a pick, Kizz Prusia, Johnson, and Lowden the hits and the curtain fell on the defending champs.<\/span><\/p>\n The most critical moment for M-Town in the second half came near the end of the third when three consecutive flags (two late hits, and a pass interference) moved the ball 45-yards to the Wildcats 17.<\/span><\/p>\n With eight tenths of a second remaining in the quarter Maddox took a timeout, called his team around him, and barked orders about playing smart.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThey were excited and passionate,\u201d said Maddox. \u201cWe want that, but we want them to use their heads too.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Monrovia stopped the drive and when the hold on the field goal attempt was fumbled McCarthy was there to recover.<\/span><\/p>\n The victory improved M-Town to 12-0 on the season, and advanced them to the semifinals in back to back years for the first time since 1998 and 1999. In two years at the helm, it\u2019s also Maddox second trip to the semis.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHopefully its not about that,\u201d said Maddox. \u201cIt\u2019s about getting your team playing the best football it can.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n (Palmdale)- The offense did what was needed, but the Monrovia defense did much of the heavy lifting in shutting down defending Mid-Valley Division champion Paraclete, 14-3, Friday night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-high-school-sports"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4500"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4505,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4500\/revisions\/4505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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