Football tackles their last game of the season

By Cassidy Liu

Sports Editor

  On Oct. 19, the Gabrielino High School varsity football team took on El Monte High School in their last home game of the season at the Eagles Stadium. After a long night of constant struggles, GHS suffered a loss against EMHS, 7-52.

  “We were particularly excited for this game because it is our last game, and El Monte was one of our toughest matchups. We played with nothing to lose,” stated senior Kevin Yan.

  Before the game, the stands were full of anticipating students and parents as it was known that EMHS is ranked first in the Mission Valley League. Right from the start, the Lions brought about a difficult challenge as they were extremely aggressive on offense and scored within the first few minutes of the game. The Eagles were overwhelmed leaving the team at a 0-20 deficit at the end of the first quarter.

  “Despite the score, [the crowd] still had a lot of energy and [hoped] that the team [would] be able to pull off a miracle,” senior Crystal Lok stated. “The players still maintained their team spirit, which really encouraged us to keep cheering.”

  During second quarter, the Eagles fought tirelessly against the Lions, but the miscommunication between the players when the kicker was unable to punt the ball correctly multiple times led to easy touchdowns for the Lions. EMHS widened the gap between the score, ending second quarter with a huge lead, 45-0.

  “We just made too many mistakes this games,” stated senior Jacob Baldonado. “There were some people not doing their jobs on the defensive side of the ball.”

  After the half-time show, the crowd was refreshed and chanted along with the cheer team to encourage the boys. The Eagles were able to successfully find a solution tackling the aggressiveness from the other team; however, at the end of the quarter, the Lions were still leading, 0-52.

  The fourth quarter proved to be more rewarding. A few minutes into the last quarter, quarterback Steven Gomez, senior, threw the ball to senior Mark Diaz, and Diaz made a clever dash for the Eagles first touchdown.

  Revitalized, the Eagles played with a new level of energy and ended the last quarter holding the Lions to their score. The team finished the game proudly despite suffering a loss, 7-52.

  “The boys were not intimidated by El Monte; the other team simply played well,” explained Coach Harold Sanin. “It took some time for [the players] to get warmed up.”

  The varsity boys now have a 1-4 record, putting them in fifth in the Mission Valley League.