Hamlet Nalbandyan
MOYSE FIELD -- The traditional Gatorade drenching of a head coach
usually doesn't come in the first round of the playoffs, but in the case
of the Crescenta Valley High football team Friday night, it was OK to
celebrate a bit prematurely.
The Falcons won their first playoff game since 1992 and handed their
coach, Alan Eberhart, his first ever postseason victory with a 23-0
whitewash of visiting Leuzinger High at Moyse Field in a CIF Southern
Section Division III first-round contest.
The last CV victory in the postseason came against Hart High, 13-7, in
the quarterfinals. Ironically, the Falcons will face the Indians in the
quarterfinals Friday after Hart beat Chaminade in the first round, 45-3.
The time and place of that game has yet to be determined.
"I'm just happy for the kids," Eberhart said. "I don't care about the
past. I just wanted to get this one for the team and not worry about
anything else."
Like expected, the Falcons (10-1) -- the tri-Pacific League champions
-- were out-sized at the line of scrimmage.
But that didn't make much of a difference as Leuzinger (6-5) could get
little done. The Olympians -- the second-place team from the Bay League
-- ran a double-wing offense, similar to the one CV ran prior to 1999,
and that was the reason why the Falcons had so much success defensively.
It seemed like whatever Leuzinger ran, CV was all over it, as it had
12 tackles for negative yards. Leuzinger averaged just 3.3 yards per
carry.
"We used to run this offense, and we did our homework like crazy,"
Eberhart said. "{Defensive Coordinator} Bill Irace called a great game.
We changed everything defensively to match up, and our kids were up for
the challenge."
The Falcon special teams also rose to the occasion. Kicker Brent
Clissold had three field goals and CV had two blocked punts, with Ryan
Radenbaugh and Bobby Mena making the big plays. CV also tackled Leuzinger
punter Eddie Hernandez twice for negative yardage, both times setting up
Falcon scores.
Jason Hogan ran for 112 yards in 19 carries, including a 50-yard
touchdown run in the second quarter. CV had 17 points in the second to
essentially put the game away.
