No amount practice was enough to prepare the Spartans for Knights running back Mikey Vasquez, who burned La Cañada for 187 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries, including a scoring run of 65 yards in the fourth quarter to put the game away for good.
The game started off well for La Cañada. The defense forced an Arroyo punt after sacking Knights quarterback Steven Rivera on his team’s opening drive. However, the Knights recovered a Josh Hanson fumble on the ensuing punt return, allowing Arroyo to score first on an 11-yard touchdown run by Vasquez.
La Cañada immediately responded on a three-play, 65-yard scoring drive capped off by a dazzling 52-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Rocky Moore to Hanson to tie the game at 7-7.
After the Knights took a 14-7 lead on an 80-yard reverse play by Chris Rodriguez on the first play of the second quarter, the Spartans tied the game again on their next possession.
However, Arroyo finished the half scoring 10 unanswered points to take a 24-14 lead into the locker room.
Both teams failed to score in the third quarter, but La Cañada made a game of it after starting the fourth quarter with a nine-play, 65-yard drive with 7:30 left in the fourth quarter capped by a 29-yard touchdown pass from Moore to Scott Gray, cutting the Knights’ lead to 24-21.
However, Arroyo immediately responded with a dagger of its own, as Vasquez cut down the La Cañada sideline for a 65-yard scoring run to give the Knights a 31-21 lead with 5:25 remaining in the game.
That sparked the Spartans to resort to an aerial attack on its next possession, which, fittingly, resulted in a four-yard touchdown pass from Moore to Michael Arkfeld. After a missed point-after-touchdown kick attempt, La Cañada trailed Arroyo 31-27 with 2:39 remaining.
