Hamlet Nalbandyan
Friday night was one of those cases where the score didn't
indicate just how close the game really was.
Because really, the 32-7 final between the Glendale and Muir high
football teams wasn't that close at all.
Muir, of course, was the winner in the Pacific League duel at
Moyse Field, just like the Mustangs have been every year since 1991
against the Nitros.
But one can't knock Loi Phan's squad for effort. Glendale (3-5,
0-3 in league) gave it its all -- despite playing with a quarterback
who was making his first varsity start -- but there was simply
nothing the Nitros could do.
"We were just mismatched everywhere," Phan said. "I knew this was
going to be a rough one, especially offensively.
"It's hard asking a guy who's never played quarterback to learn a
whole offense in less than a week."
The guy Phan was referring to was Christian Sandoval. Normally a
wide receiver, the senior had to step into the signal-calling duties
Friday after regular starter Joe Hanna walked away from the game of
football after suffering his third concussion in as many years.
After a rocky start, Sandoval settled down a bit and capped his
night with a 47-yard touchdown pass to Vladimir Paniouchkine.
But that was the only blemish of the night for the high-powered
Mustangs (2-6, 2-1).
Led by quarterback Richard Irvin and a slew of wide outs, the
Mustangs did just about anything they wanted offensively, totaling
503 yards of offense.
Irvin threw for 456 yards and four touchdowns, and also ran one
in. Of course, he had enough chances to rack up the yardage, throwing
47 times, including well into the fourth quarter, where the Mustangs
had all of their starters in. Irvin's favorite target was Ryan
Graves. The senior finished with nine catches for 174 yards and four
touchdowns.
Glendale's lone bright spot offensively was Phi Le. The junior
finished with 211 all-purpose yards and had a 68-yard touchdown run
called back because of a penalty.
