On Oct. 6, the Gabrielino High School football team will host a home game against South El Monte High School. The game will start at 7 p.m. 

   While recent games in past years against the South El Monte Eagles have been close losses, the team is confident in their upcoming match. 

    “Against South El Monte, it’s always a toss-up,” stated football coach Harold Sanin. “They seem to be a really good team but we’re very well matched this year.” 

   Today, at 7 p.m, the football team will be playing their first league game against El Monte High School, held away at El Monte. Scores are unavailable at press time. 

   “For the next two games, I feel very confident in our team because we should be fully recovered from all the COVID cases and injuries when we begin league,” said senior Joshua Cheng. “Both [South El Monte and El Monte] are teams we were very close to beating last year and I trust that our coaches will make the best decisions and my teammates will all work our hardest to prepare for and to win our games.”

   The Eagles faced Pioneer High School on Sept. 16. While the teams remained neck and neck for most of the game, the Pioneer Titans were able to overcome the Eagles with a final score of 7-14. 

  Pioneer was able to score a touchdown and kick a field goal afterwards near the end of the first quarter, setting the score to 0-7. 

   Just near the end of the second quarter, Pioneer was able to score again, earning another seven points. With just a few minutes before halftime, the Eagles were able to score a touchdown and field goal kick, setting the score to 7-14.

   “Our plays defensively were pretty good,” stated junior Matthew Aparicio. “Offensively, big plays helped us stay in the game, but smaller mistakes ultimately gave Pioneer the win.” 

   While minor injuries from both teams piled up throughout the third and fourth quarter, neither team scored any further points, setting the final score of the game at 7-14.

   Junior Elias Lara said, “I think the future games will be fine, but things could have gone better against Pioneer. We still played a good game, and some slight changes could have changed the game completely.” 

   While a home game against the Don Bosco Technical Institute was to be held on Sept. 9, the match was canceled in accordance to COVID-19 guidelines to prevent further infections.

   Gabrielino’s first home game this season was on Sept. 2 against the Herbert Hoover High School. The game ended in a loss, 28-10. 

   An away game against the San Gabriel High School was scheduled for Aug. 26 but was canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions and team injuries.

   “Most of the team is usually disappointed when a game is canceled because we’ve all worked so hard to prepare for the game, such as through practicing plays, conditioning our endurance, and perfecting techniques,” explained Cheng. “Although it is unfortunate to have a game canceled, I believe that the difficult decision to cancel a game is for the greater good of both the health of our team and our opponents.”

    The Eagles started the season strong with their first game of the season against Glendale High School on Aug. 19. The away game ended in victory for Gabrielino, 12-6. 

   “My favorite part of the season so far was definitely the end of the fourth quarter of the Glendale game when we realized we were gonna win,” Lara stated. “The feeling walking off the field with our first win was something that I’ve never felt before.”