Photos by Gwen Pointer & Carlo Montalbo

Football:

By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor

Trailing 38-34, and with approximately 10 seconds remaining on the clock and no timeouts, Danny Resendiz took the end-around handoff to his left.

After eight steps or so, the South Hills junior cut right and headed towards the east end zone at Citrus College.

Unfortunately for Resendiz, Glendora’s 6-foot-5 and 230-pound U of Washington bound senior, Decker DeGraaf, cut him off one yard shy of paydirt, and the Tartans escaped with a 38-34 victory in a Citrus 4 League shootout.

GHS had led throughout Friday’s contest until Matt Moreno’s 5-yard TD run with 3:38 to play in the third quarter gave SHHS a 27-24 lead.

The Tartans would regain the advantage (31-27), as Simon Zwick rumbled into the west end zone from seven yards out.

Not to be outdone, on a fourth-and-six scenario, and with 6:50 to play, Fabian Marez hit Jayden Arnold on a 15-yard TD, and the Huskies led, 31-27.

Glendora would answer with a drive that bled four minutes and 32 seconds off the clock, and it ended with a 14-yard TD run by Matthew Jordan.

That gave South Hills 128 seconds to cover the length of the Citrus College football field.

And in a game that Calpreps gave the Huskies a 10-percent chance of winning, SHHS was just one yard shy of a significant upset.

Looking back, South Hills had to spend a couple of timeouts earlier in the second half that would have come in handy in the game’s waning moments.

The Huskies also cost themselves at least 15 seconds when they ran up to the line of scrimmage to spike the ball and stop the clock.

But it fell out of the quarterback’s hand, and he was forced to jump on the ball to save the possession.

The following statement won’t take the pain away, but the signs are shining bright that Jacob Calderon and his staff have the Huskies headed for big things in the very near future.

Matt Moreno had TD runs of 2, 5 and 20 yards.

Well before his last carry of the game, Resendiz got SHHS to with 21-13 on this 16-yard TD run in the second quarter.

 

One thing both sides would agree upon, is the fact that the men in stripes played too large a role in both the rhythm and outcome of the game.

From Glendora’s point of view, the 19 penalties for 167 yards seemed excessive.

And South Hills had a number of calls they didn’t like, but it was the final play of the first half that turned out to be huge.

With eight seconds to play in the second quarter, GHS quarterback Eric Najarro ran to his left, got a handful of yards, and slid on his butt in the hopes of stopping the clock.

Najarro appeared to slide just as the clock hit zero, but after a short discussion, the officials put one second back on the clock.

Hunter Lemos cashed that in with a 30-yard field goal to give GHS a 24-13 lead at the break.

Najarro had an effective night for Glendora, as he completed 9-of-14 for 192 yards and three scores.

One of which, a 50-yard strike to DeGraaf got Glendora on the board at 7-0.

 

Tim Johnson had four receptions for 108 yards and that included TD catches of 35 and 6 yards.

DeGraaf finished with three catches for 74 yards.

Matt Jordan (15 carries for 112 yards & one td) and Simon Zwick (17 carries for 74 yards & one td) anchored the Tartans ground game.

Christopher Solis-Lumar broke up three passes in the GHS defensive backfield, while Caden Smith and Jacob Monroe had one each.

Moreno carried the ball 21 times for 122 yards and three scores for the Huskies.

He also caught six passes for 113 yards.

Resendiz gained 66 yards on eight carries.

Marez completed 13-of-17 for 183 yards and one score.

Arnold had a pair of receptions for 46 yards and the one TD.

Messiah Luter led the South Hills defense with eight tackles, while Jayvion Boone and Nate Fogg-Martinez had seven tackles apiece.

Boone also recovered a fumble.

It’s no secret that South Hills star Matt Moreno transferred out of GHS after playing for the Tartans baseball and football programs.

And as badly as both sides wanted to beat the other, there was a postgame moment that many didn’t see, but they should hear about.

Moreno went down on both knees to process the heartbreaking loss, and it was something that Glendora’s Caden Smith noticed.

Before running to celebrate with his teammates, Smith, on two occasions, put his left arm around Moreno, to comfort a valiant competitor.

We don’t see that enough in sports.

Up next: The Tartans host Colony next Friday with the Citrus 4 League title at stake.

The Huskies welcome Los Osos to Covina District Field in their regular season finale.

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Box Score:
SH: 0-13-14-7-(34)
G: 14-10-0-14-(38)

Scoring:
GT: Decker DeGraaf 50 pass from Eric Najarro (Hunter Lemos kick)
GT: Tim Johnson 35 pass from Eric Najarro (Hunter Lemos kick)
SH: Matt Moreno 2 run (kick failed)
GT: Tim Johnson 6 pass from Eric Najarro (Hunter Lemos kick)
SH: Danny Resendiz 16 run (Ceasar Lizaola kick)
GT: Hunter Lemos 30 FG
SH: Matt Moreno 20 run (kick failed)
SH: Matt Moreno 5 run (2-point run is good)
GT: Simon Zwick 7 run (Hunter Lemos kick)
SH: Jayden Arnold 15 pass from Fabian Marez (Ceasar Lizaola kick)
GT: Matthew Jordan 14 run (Hunter Lemos kick)

Citrus 4 League Scores:
Colony 31, Los Osos 13
Glendora 38, South Hills 34

Citrus 4 League Standings:
Colony (6-3, 2-0)
Glendora (6-3, 2-0)
Los Osos (5-4, 0-2)
South Hills (4-5, 0-2)

Friday’s Week-10 Schedule:
Colony vs Glendora at Citrus College
Los Osos vs South Hills at Covina District Field