Football:
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor
The 2022 Maranatha victory tour finally got derailed on Friday night, but Rand Holdren’s Minutemen did not go down without a fight.
San Gabriel defeated visiting MHS, 52-42, in the semifinal round of the CIF-SS Division 13 playoffs.
Maranatha went 1-7 in 2021, and had a remarkable reversal of fortune in 2022, finishing the season at 11-1-1.
The Matadors literally scored a TD every time they had the ball on Friday night, with the exception of the final drive.
SGHS coach Kevin Encinas showed class and had his quarterback, Jacob Muniz, kneel to run the clock out around the MHS 5-yard line.
Robert Lucero rushed for nearly 350 yards to lead the Matadors ground game.
Lucero had TD runs of 9, 9 and 50 yards.
The Matadors success rushing the ball, and their effective use of the game clock allowed Maranatha zero room for error.
One of the incredible stats of the game was that despite there being 44 combined points, the first half ended in less than an hour.
For Maranatha, senior quarterback Michael Martin played his last game for the Minutemen.
But man, that kid is tough, intelligent and a total gamer.
Martin showed off his scrambling ability, arm strength and deceiving speed.
And none shined more than a 28-yard TD pass to Sam Funches, where Martin was forced to scramble right, and then came back so far towards the MHS sideline that he had basically done a backward ‘C’ before flipping it to Funches in the end zone.
He would hook up with Funches one more time on a 10-yard TD pass, and Martin tossed a 22-yard TD to Niko Vergara.
Fittingly, Martin’s 2-yard TD run in the fourth was Maranatha’s last TD of 2022, and he got a great block from his sophomore running back, Miles O’Malley.
O’Malley had coaches and fans on both sides impressed with his speed and agility.
O’Malley had TD runs of 2 and 7 yards.
Aside from the return of Miles O’Malley and a healthy Carter Shupper next year, MHS fans should be very happy with the growth of freshman Bradley Loiacono, who played with his heart on his sleeve, and made some tough catches throughout.
Good luck to Coach Encinas and San Gabriel as they battle Bishop Montgomery for the D-13 title next week.
At the bottom of this story are interviews with Coach Holdren (MHS), Coach Encinas (SG), Martin and some highlight plays.
Congrats, Maranatha, on nothing short of an historic season.
Box Score:
MHS: 7-7-14-14-(42)
SG: 16-14-8-14-(52)
Scoring:
SG: Robert Lucero 9 run (Lucero 2-point run)
M: Miles O’Malley 2 run (Owen Meleka kick)
SG: Preston Ortega 7 run (Ortega run)
SG: Robert Lucero 9 run (Lucero run)
M: Sam Funches 28 pass from Michael Martin (Owen Meleka kick)
SG: Jacob Muniz 1 run (run failed)
M: Miles O’Malley 7 run (run failed)
SG: Jacob Muniz 1 run (Lucero run)
M: Niko Vergara 22 pass from Michael Martin (O’Malley run)
SG: Jacob Muniz 1 run (
M: Sam Funches 10 pass from Michael Martin (O’Malley run)
SG: Robert Lucero 50 TD (run failed)
M: Michael Martin 2 run (pass failed)
Records: Maranatha (11-1-1); San Gabriel (10-3)
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