Hamlet Nalbandyan
The stands were packed, the crowd was in a frenzy, and the traffic in
the parking lot was just as bad as everyone said it would be for Friday
night's contest between intracity rivals Crescenta Valley and La Canada
highs.
But one thing didn't seem quite right in the nonleague contest at La
Canada. For one, the much-hyped event ended up not being much of a game
-- to watch that is.
Neither team could boast about its performance as the Falcons managed
a 29-8 victory to improve to 4-0 and hand La Canada its first loss of the
season.
Alan Eberhart's squad -- which was tested in big games this year,
after giving a heroic performance in week two to shock St. Francis, 24-14
-- committed three turnovers and had 13 penalties for 85 yards.
Had La Canada -- which committed just four turnovers in the first
three games of the season -- not committed five turnovers, all coming in
the game's first 17 minutes, and added four costly penalties for 30
yards, the final score could have been the other way around.
"La Canada did a great job and gave us everything we wanted," said
Eberhart. "We were so sky high and juiced for the game, that it took away
from our execution. It took us a half to get our composure back because
we had so much energy at the start."
The abundant energy wasn't hard to spot.
CV committed eight penalties in the first half, with seven being minor
mental mistakes like false starts and receivers lining up in the neutral
zone.
The frustration reached an all-time high on La Canada's final drive of
the first half, as CV's defense was dominating, but watched their hard
work go to waste because of careless mistakes.
The Spartans should have gone three and out, but an offsides penalty
on fourth down gave La Canada new life and a first down.
Two plays later, Eric Young connected with twin brother Ryan on a
59-yard play to put the ball on the Falcon 27-yard line.
Even with the big play, CV's defense rose to the occasion and stopped
La Canada on three consecutive plays, allowing only a two-yard gain on
first down.
The Spartans were forced to kick a field goal, and Chris Garnic booted
a 29-yarder. But a roughing the kicker penalty gave La Canada an
automatic first down, giving them another chance at a touchdown.
Like the previous two times, the Spartans couldn't do much of their
opportunities as the next three plays resulted in zero yards. Coach Rich
Wheeler brought Garnic onto the field to kick a 27-yard field goal, but
the usually sure-footed senior missed it wide right.
