By Rich Whittington <\/p>\n\n\n\n
(El Monte) – The El Monte Lions had no answer for the Hawthorne Cougars\u2019 \u201cBig Play\u201d capabilities, as the visiting Cougars scored four touchdowns of over 45 yards, en route to a 44-37 victory over the host Lions on Friday evening at El Monte\u2019s own Lions\u2019 Stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n
El Monte opened the evenings scoring, establishing a running attack that covered eighty-six yards and consumed over half of the opening quarter. The final 15-yards were supplied by Running Back Felipe Taboada, resulting in the Lions’ first score. The PAT was added by Kicker Bryan Gomez, making the score 7-0 with 5:41 remaining in the opening quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Lions increased their lead in the second quarter, as Gomez added a 22-yard Field Goal. This made the score 10-0, with 11:06 remaining in the opening half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hawthorne got on the scoreboard on the very next play, as Kick Returner Adrian Reyes returned the ensuing kickoff 85-yards for a score. The 2-Point PAT attempt was no good, making the score 10-6 with 10:41 remaining in the period. The Cougars scored again a short time later, as Marcus Bindi found the end zone on a 10-yard jaunt. The 2-Point PAT attempt was again unsuccessful, making the score 12-10, Cougars, with 8:02 remaining until the break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
El Monte retook the lead on their next possession, as Taboada scored his second TD of the evening…a 14-yard score. A second successful Gomez PAT made the score 17-12 with 4:47 remaining on the clock. El Monte added another score in the period, when Quarterback Brandon Do scored on a 5-yard TD blast. A third Gomez PAT made the score 24-12, with: 48 remaining on the clock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hawthorne added another score before the break, when Quarterback Obie Brown connected with Zameere Medina for a 62-yard touchdown. The 2-Point PAT was successfully converted by Bindi, making the score 24-20 as the second period ended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After a scoreless third quarter, both teams got back to work. El Monte opened the scoring in the final period, as Do scored on his second 5-yard run of the evening. The PAT was blocked, making the score 30-20, with 11:56 remaining in the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Cougars countered the El Monte score, when Brown found Bindi for a 56-yard catch-and-run. Brown successfully added the 2-Point PAT, making the score 30-28 with 10:09 remaining in regulation. El Monte was again able to counter, as Taboada scored his third TD of the evening on a 1-yard blast. Another Gomez PAT made the score 37-28 with 8:52 to play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unfortunately for El Monte, the last two scores of the evening would belong to the Cougars. The first of these scores came on a 45-yard Kickoff return. The 2-Point PAT was added by Medina, making the score 37-36, El Monte, with 8:37 remaining in the contest. The second score came with :28 left on the clock, when Bindi logged his second score of the evening on a 10-yard TD rush. The 2-Point PAT was added by Brown, making the score 44-37 as the game came to an end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the win, Hawthorne improves to 6-6, and advances to the CIF Division 14 Semi-Finals, where they will play the Lynwood Knights. Kickoff for this contest is scheduled for 7:00 PM. The location will be announced later this week. El Monte ends their season with a record of 5-7, 3-2 in Mission Valley League play.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Rich Whittington (El Monte) – The El Monte Lions had no answer for the Hawthorne Cougars\u2019 \u201cBig Play\u201d capabilities, as the visiting Cougars scored four touchdowns of over 45 yards, en route to a 44-37 victory over the host Lions on Friday evening at El Monte\u2019s own Lions\u2019 Stadium.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12816,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hsfootball","category-high-school-sports"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81967","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\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=81967"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81967\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81968,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81967\/revisions\/81968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=81967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=81967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=81967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}