Editor’s Note: I apologize ahead of time for not having stats and the names of all scorers. I didn’t get much help, but I can guarantee to the 210 Prep Sports readers that game stories will be more complete as the season moves forward.
Football:
When Mike Maggiore walked off the field on Friday night, there were a number of frustrating factors that allowed Crescenta Valley to leave West Covina with a dramatic 31-28 victory.
The three-time CIF-SS championship coach saw his Bulldogs fall behind early, 14-0, in the first quarter.
But WCHS fought their way back and trailed 28-27 with 1:01 to go, as Angel Murillo took a screen pass from freshman Chris Perez near midfield, and the Bulldogs sophomore didn’t stop sprinting until he found himself in the back of the south end zone.
It looked like it was a foregone conclusion that the Bulldogs would tie the game at 28-28 after the extra-point attempt was made.
But this crew of officials seemed primed and ready to leave their mark on Friday’s game, and they called West Covina for a celebration penalty.
Thankfully for the Bulldogs, Donovan Romero clutched up and made the 35-yard extra point.
Just prior to the Murillo touchdown, Crescenta Valley’s Andranik Saryan caught a short screen pass on a 4th-and-3 play, and he scored to give CV a 28-21 lead.
And after some exuberance in the north end zone, the refs called CV for celebrating as well, and it did not sit well on the east sideline.
So, Murillo scores, Romero boots the extra point and the West Covina defense just needs to keep Crescenta Valley out of field goal range and the game would go into overtime.
And it would have been fair to say the Bulldogs would entered the OT period with the momentum.
To their credit, though, CV picked up a number of first downs, were aided by a couple of what WCHS might have seen as favorable calls on the drive, and that allowed Miles Vallejo to seal the win, with a walk-off 40-yard field goal to send the Falcons home happy and with their first win of 2022.
Crescenta Valley deserves a ton of credit for not only making plays late, but also for the aggressive play calling on the final drive.
There are many coaches that would have played it conservatively and took their chances in OT.
As far as West Covina goes, the Bulldogs will lick their wounds, and the three-time champ and his staff will not only come up with a remedy for some of last night’s costly mistakes.
But just as important, they’ll have their boys more prepared each week as Maggiore has done over his Hall of Fame caliber career.
Up next: WCHS will host South Hills next Saturday at 7.
The Huskies (2-1) fell to Northview, 44-14, on Friday.
Records: Crescenta Valley (1-1); West Covina (1-2)
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