Late stand seals Vaqueros’ win

LOS ANGELES — A near record breaking night of offensive firepower was the story line of the Glendale Community College football team’s last meeting with East Los Angeles College, but in escaping the Huskies’ stadium with a 33-28 win on Saturday, the Vaqueros were very much on the defensive.

East Los Angeles scored two touchdowns within a 3 minute 16 second span of the fourth quarter to cut a 20–point deficit to just five points and took possession of the ball once again at its own 20–yard line with just under two minutes left in the game. The Glendale college defense then woke up, took notice and held the Huskies in place for four downs — all pass attempts — capped by sophomore linebacker Kalii Robinson’s break up of a pass on fourth down with just over less than one minute left.

“We let them get two touchdowns and our backs were against the wall,” Robinson said. “We just had to come out and play as a team. If we didn’t, the scoreboard would have been way different and we would be 1-1.”

Instead, the Vaqueros, who got 214 yards and a touchdown in 29 carries from Jorge Chaidez and saw quarterback Stephen Miller pass for 171 yards and three touchdowns, are now 2-0 on the young season and probably a bit lucky not to get burned by a Huskies team they beat, 75-21, last season and, according to Coach John Rome, made the mistake of underestimating on Saturday.

“This is an improved ELAC team and we knew it, but it was gonna be hard to convince our players after what they had seen last year,” said Rome, whose team was coming off a big 51-29 win over West Los Angeles. “You could feel the edge in practice come off a little bit.”

“I do feel [there was letdown in the fourth quarter] and it’s natural with freshman, and we’re playing with eight, when you score and go up for them relax and say, ‘OK, now we’ve got the lead and it’s comfortable.’”

The Vaqueros’ 33-13 lead with just under 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, acquired via a two-yard touchdown run by Willie Youngblood followed by a two-point conversion pass from Steve Batista to DeVon Rosa on a fake kick, did feel pretty comfortable at the time.