Mirjam Swanson
LA CANADA HIGH -- In the battle of the unbeatens, the Crescenta Valley
High football team beat La Canada High, 29-8, at La Canada High in a
nonleague game Friday night.
After a disjointed effort through the first three quarters, the
Falcons (4-0) -- ranked No. 3 in CIF Southern Section Division III --
went with what they knew worked: getting the ball to do-it-all running
back Jason Hogan.
It was a swell idea indeed, as Hogan touched the ball five times in a
10-play drive that ended with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Mike Bribeaux
and extended CV's lead, 22-8, with 7:29 left.
It was the Falcons' first score since the 55-second mark of the first
quarter.
Later in the fourth, CV tacked on insurance with a 36-yard touchdown
pass to Dan Moody with 1:46 remaining.
"We were out of sync tonight in a lot of ways," Falcon Coach Alan
Eberhart said. "(The Spartans) did a great job defending us, they gave us
everything we could handle. They made us make adjustments."
While it might have taken a while, the Falcons did adjust: quarterback
Hudson Gossard finished the game 14 of 25 for 198 yards (including three
picks) and three touchdowns.
Hogan's final numbers: nine receptions for 106 yards and two
touchdowns. He also had 11 rushes for 51 yards.
"We kept our composure," Eberhart said.
The Spartans (3-1) -- ranked No. 9 in CIF Division X -- committed five
turnovers, all in the first half.
La Canada scored its only points on a bizarre series of events to end
the first half.
Chris Garnic's 22-yard field-goal attempt was blocked by Ryan
Radenbaugh, but an official inadvertently blew his whistle on the loose
ball and so the Spartans were given another chance to convert on fourth
down.
And wouldn't you know it, Rich Wheeler's squad found a way to
capitalize.
Quarterback Eric Young finally ended a nightmarish two-plus minutes
for the Falcons when he found Matt Jackson in the end zone for a
five-yard touchdown as time expired in the half. Patrick Perrigue ran in
the two-point conversion to cut the CV lead to 14-8.
That wouldn't be enough for the Spartans to complete the upset,
though.
"You don't make mistakes against a team like that, we got beaten in
the trenches," Wheeler said. "And we were in the game until the very end.
These games against CV are always closer than the score indicates."
This time that closeness was largely a residual of the herky-jerky
pace of the game. The Falcons, for their part, were called for 13
penalties, accounting for 85 yards.
"I'm glad we won, first. (But) we better eliminate the mistakes,"
Eberhart said. "We got caught up in a rivalry -- we've been caught up in
it all week. We were just so juiced up, it took a lot away from our
execution. We need to just play football."
