EL MONTE — El Monte running backs Isaiah Standley and Felibe Taboada combined for 260 yards and five touchdowns in its 42-32 victory over Arroyo on Friday night.
“We love (the offensive line) without them we wouldn’t be here.” Taboada said following Friday win.
The Lions (4-4, 2-1) are now winners of two games in the Mission Valley League while Arroyo (4-4, 2-1) finally lost, snapping its three-game win streak.
Arroyo’s aggressive play-call mentality on special teams gave the Lions great field position all night as they had one drive start behind their 40-yard line.
The Knights kicked four straight onside kicks until they finally elected to kick the ball downfield following an Angel Casillas 22-yard run in the fourth quarter.
The Lions trailed once against Arroyo after the Knights scored on their opening possession that saw 17 plays and ended with Casillas running it in for a one-yard touchdown. Following a fourth and two conversion by Romeo Arevelo who moved the chains for three yards.
As the season has gone, Casillas has split time at quarterback with Dillon Senguin. The two combined for a total of 270 yards. Seguin throwing 183 of those yards on 20 pass attempts. Casillas had two passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns.
The Lions’ defense was able to force a turnover on downs on Arroyo’s next drive. The Lions needed just two plays again to take the lead but this time, Standley ran the ball downfield for 40 yards. On the next play, he finished the drive with a 10-yard run up the middle to give his team a 15-8 lead they would never give up.
“Our linebackers did well and kept us in the ball game,” El Monte coach Hector Spathias said. “Our running backs ran like they should. Felipe and Isaiah did a great job back there.”
With three minutes left in the second quarter, the Knights were primed to score a touchdown as El Monte had a bad snap. The Lions’ punter was able to get hold of the ball and made an incomplete pass giving Arroyo the chance to start their next drive on the Lions’ 23-yard line, giving them their first big test on defense of the night.
After forcing Arroyo 10 yards away from the endzone on a fourth and nine situation, Sanguine threw a nine-yard completion to Richard Inostroz. El Monte’s defense managed to stop him short and forced a turnover on downs with seven seconds left before halftime.
Inostroz was Arroyo’s leading receiver on Friday night having 12 receptions for 188 yards and one touchdown pass. His lone touchdown came after Standley had his second touchdown of the night for El Monte on a 23-yard run.
Arroyo put together a drive that was similar to their first offensive drive to begin the game and it ended with Casillas completing the ball to Insotroz on a 2-yard jump pass.
Facing a fourth down and 11 on the next offensive drive for El Monte, quarterback Alex Aleman had his first touchdown pass of the night on his second completion of the game from a 37-yard pass to Noah Munoz putting the Lions up 28-16. Aleman finished the night with 74 yards and one touchdown.
“He sets his stuff up well,” Standley said. “Whenever we have a shoot route he’ll always throw that.”
Arroyo was looking to respond to El Monte’s 37-yard touchdown and faced a third and 26 call due to a personal foul and holding call. Sanguine had his best throw of the night on a 60-yard completion to Inostroz putting the Knights in a position from desperation to a sure score. On the next play, Seguin just missed his receiver and threw his first interception of the night, killing momentum for the Knights.
“We just wanna lock in. We knew what Gabrielino showed against El Monte they’re a tough team,” Arroyo coach Pete Moye said prior to Friday night’s game. “For us I tell the kids we love to fight. For us it’s not what the scoreboard looks like. We wanna be in the fight every single week.”
Three plays later, Taboada put an exclamation point on the game with a 72-yard run for a touchdown. His longest of the night and gave El Monte a 35-16 lead. El Monte’s next score came from an 11-yard run by Taboada with four minutes left in the game.
“I saw it and concentrated and I was like ‘I have to score this. I have to score this,” Taboada said. “I had to join (Isaiah Standley) and score a big touchdown too. He couldn’t be the only one. I had to join him.”
El Monte finished the fourth quarter by scoring two more touchdowns from Casillas’ 22-yard run and a 36-yard pass to Jacob Perez.
