Kicker Arian Abghani kicked a 27-yard field goal with 1:24 remaining and defensive lineman Sam Campbell threw Spartans quarterback Rocky Moore down for the Falcons’ seventh sack of the game to end La Cañada’s final drive with 22 seconds left.
“A win’s always a win,” said Cota, who was six-of-12 passing for 168 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 40 yards and two scores in 11 carries. “We came out way too overconfident. We came out flat and they came to play.”
While the Falcons were shaky from the start against the Spartans (1-1), they still scored on three consecutive possessions at one point to take a 21-7 first-half lead. A Cota sneak for a score was followed by a beautiful 75-yard hookup with Dai Dai McFadden for a second score. McFadden then hauled in a 35-yard scoring pass to make it 21-7, as he caught four balls for 149 yards.
But then, the wheels really began to fall of for the Falcons, as the Spartans scored 21 straight points.
Their first score came on a fourth-and-11 play. It was a 31-yard scoring pass from Moore, who had five total touchdowns. The scoring play was the only gain of more than three yards on the 50-yard drive other than one of many 15-yard penalties against CV.
A Cota pick set the Spartans up inside the five-yard line for the next score just before the half.
A fourth-and-seven play saw Moore hook up with Josh Hansen for a 27-yard touchdown to tie the game. Hansen had 153 yards receiving on eight catches.
Besides covering Hansen, though, the Falcons defense played tough, holding the Spartans to negative-15 yards rushing and Moore to 209 yards passing. But it all came on just 14 completions, as big plays killed the Falcons.
“We didn’t play to our full potential for the majority of the game,” Cota said. “I’m just happy we showed we could come back when we were down.”
Down, 28-21, after a McFadden fumble gave the Spartans the ball in the red zone, Pessy, who had fumbled the previous drive to set up another score, returned the ensuing kickoff 44 yards and two plays later ran in a 33-yard touchdown to tie it.
But then, a third-down quick-kick by CV was blocked and another short field set up a go-ahead Spartans score.
Once more, the Falcons replied.
Cota completed a crucial third-and-long pass play and Pessy broke off a 46-yard run to key the game-tying drive. It culminated with a one-yard sneak from Cota.
“We were as far from being our best as we could be and we still won the game,” Zarrillo said. “That’s the mark of a good team.”
