Pee Wee

East Los Angeles Bulldogs 25 – La Cañada Gladiators 16

On Sunday, Nov. 11 at Covina District Field in Covina, the La Cañada Gladiators Pee Wee football team met the defending champion East Los Angeles Bulldogs in the semi-finals of the San Gabriel Valley Junior All-American Football playoff tournament. The teams had met previously in the second week of the season with the Bulldogs winning a close game, and on Sunday East LA again prevailed by a score of 25-16.

East LA received the opening kickoff and returned Brooklyn Pasten’s kickoff 62 yards to the La Cañada 34-yard line. The Bulldogs took eight plays to drive to the Gladiator 5-yard line and scored on the following play. After a successful conversion the Bulldogs were up 8-0 with 6:32 remaining in the first quarter.

La Cañada’s offense responded with an impressive first drive of their own, moving 52 yards in nine plays, keyed by the strength of quarterback David Mysza’s arm, halfback Corey Cheung’s running, and solid blocking by the Gladiator offensive line. Mysza’s 8-yard completion to wide receiver Shade Schaefer set up the Gladiators with a first and goal from the Bulldog five-yard line. East LA then dug in and prevented La Cañada from scoring, taking over on downs after a failed Gladiator fourth and goal from the 4-yard line.

Disappointed but undaunted, La Cañada’s defense then stiffened and held the Bulldogs to a three and out, forcing them to punt from their own 10-yard line. Teddy Amorosi returned the East LA punt to the 25-yard line setting up Mysza and the Gladiators with excellent field position.

La Cañada took 10 plays, but eventually scored on a 17-yard strike from Mysza to Brooklyn Pasten in the back corner of the end zone. Kicker Jaiden Espadas kicked the 2-point conversion and La Cañada pulled even at 8-8 four minutes into the second quarter. La Cañada’s offense, as it had done all season long, combined a dangerous passing attack with occasional runs behind the solid offensive line play of center Luke Cullen, guards Brandon Bloch, Thomas Sorensen, David O’Connor, David Galaviz and Jayden Siques, and tackles Brian Boyer and Noah Zarate. The line again provided solid protection for Mysza, limiting the fierce East LA pass rush to one sack on the day.

East LA pulled ahead 16-8 on their next possession when a simple bubble screen turned into a 56-yard catch and run for a touchdown after East LA’s receiver broke several tackles. The La Cañada defense played tough most of the game, led by inside linebackers Pasten and Jacob Lopez, and outside linebackers Nevada Miller and Scottie Smith. The defensive secondary of safety Amorosi and cornerbacks Cheung, Jake Arellano, Schaefer, Nicholas Battany, Matteo Gallegos, and Michael Okland held East LA’s passing attack to four completions on the day. Defensive linemen Sebastian Pascuzzo, Dominick Cozza, Frank Higginbotham, Boyer, Espadas, O’Connor and Mysza applied steady pressure on East LA’s quarterback throughout the game.

La Cañada’s next possession ended on the first play when East LA forced a fumble and took over on La Cañada’s 10-yard line. The Gladiator defense held and kept the Bulldogs out of the end zone, forcing them to kick a field goal to limit the East LA lead to 19-8.

The Gladiators started out the second half down 11 points, but brimming with optimism. Unfortunately, La Cañada again fumbled the ball on their first possession. The La Cañada defense held and linebacker Lopez recovered a blocked punt on the East LA 22-yard line to set up the Gladiators with excellent field position. La Cañada’s offense failed to move the ball; however, and turned the ball over on downs after four plays. East LA then put together a 15-play drive driving 79 yards to the La Cañada 7-yard line, but the Gladiator defense forced a fumble, which was recovered by Miller.

La Cañada’s offense again failed to move the ball and both teams traded possession entering the final quarter. After a second East LA fumble, La Cañada took over on East LA’s 39-yard line and then put together its best drive of the day. Key plays included a 9-yard draw play by Cheung, and a 26-yard throw over the middle from Mysza to Miller. The drive was capped off by a 5-yard touchdown run by Cheung, and 2-pt conversion from Espadas to pull the Gladiators within a field goal at 19-16.

Unfortunately, whatever hope the Gladiators had faded away when East LA’s quarterback broke a run up the middle for a 42-yard touchdown with 4:34 left in the game to put the game out of reach at 25-16. The Gladiators tried two more times to narrow the gap, getting as close as the East LA 3-yard line, but La Cañada was unable to score on five plays from inside the 10-yard line and the game ended 25-16.

La Cañada was eliminated from the playoffs and finished the season with a record of 6-4.