SOUTHEAST GLENDALE — It was nothing complicated.
It wasn’t really anything different.
From Glendale High’s first offensive play until they sprinted to reclaim the Victory Bell, the Nitros did one thing — run.
“That was the gameplan,” said first-year Glendale Coach Rafik Thorossian.
It seemed only fitting that Thorossian, a former Glendale running back, would get his first coaching win in the style that it came.
The Nitros offense, spearheaded by senior running backs Zane Archer and Malcolm Roberson, rushed for 245 yards en route to reclaiming the Victory Bell with an emphatic 35-7 win against Hoover.
“The plan was to run the ball,” reaffirmed Roberson, who ran for 20 yards on Glendale’s first offensive play on his way to a game-high 145 yards rushing and a score.
All five of the Nitros’ scores came via the run.
Forty-three of their 46 offensive plays were runs.
It was redundant, methodical and effective.
“Almost every game we’ve been able to run the ball,” said Archer, who had three touchdowns and 94 yards in 16 carries, “so it was just another game for us.”
Not quite.
It was the annual “Battle for the Victory Bell,” of course, and as the Nitros ran the bell to midfield after the game, it was also the first time in a long time Glendale was able to celebrate a victory.
The win snapped a 19-game winless streak for the Nitros.
But for a squad absent of victory for so long, it seemed very early on that their running game would no doubt carry them to one.
Roberson said he knew after his first carry of the game that the running game would be a success.
“The O-line was really opening up holes,” he said.
Five consecutive runs opened the game for Glendale, as it marched 42 yards for a 7-0 lead, coming on Roberson’s three-yard run.
That was it, the Nitros were off and running. Running to a 21-0 halftime lead and a win that was never truly in doubt.
Said Archer: “We knew we were gonna be able to run.”
GRANT GORDON is the sports editor. He can be reached at (818) 637-3225 or grant.gordon@latimes.com.
