The home side of the field moaned with the fear that this TD might be a preview of what was to come the rest of the game. Cabrillo finished third in the tough Los Padres League with a 7-3 record and is a team capable of scoring multiple TDs.
However, Spartans' coach Rich Wheeler, as he has done so many times already this season, regrouped his players and sent them out on the field to play.
The Conquistadors never scored again.
La Cañada dug in and fought the Cabrillo offense to a standstill while it slowly built up its lead. When the final whistle blew, the Spartans had scored a surprising 25-7 win over the Conquistadors and advanced to the second round of play against North Torrance tomorrow (Friday) at 7:30 p.m. at home.
North Torrance will be another tough one for La Cañada. The Saxons knocked out Don Bosco Tech, 28-20, last Friday night at home to improve to 10-1 for the season.
The Spartans upped their record to 6-5, they have won their last four games in a row and four out of the last five.
Wheeler is getting his players pumped up for the games despite personal complications, his wife and father were hurt in an automobile accident on the 210 Freeway two weeks ago.
A very pleased Wheeler said after the game that the Spartans are winning games because they are finally beginning to understand what the coaching staff is teaching them and they are also learning from their mistakes.
"Adversity is good. True champions are the ones who can take adversity and make something good out of it," Wheeler said.
No matter how well the Spartans played, Wheeler realized how good an opponent Cabrillo is, including running back Sargeant who gained 175 yards against La Cañada to go over 1,000 for the season.
