By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
For a team that has scored at least 40 points in half its games this season, Artesia High was sluggish in the opening quarter at John Glenn High last Thursday. The Pioneers punted on their first drive of the game after running five plays for 21 yards, but a defensive stand led to their first score very late in the stanza.
From there, Artesia found its groove, especially on the defensive side, intercepting senior quarterback Raymond Acosta four times and forcing a fumble in a 40-6 rout in the 605 League opener for both teams last Thursday.
“It happens sometimes in games,” said Artesia head coach Connor Crook of the slow start. “They had a gameplan and they came out and took away some of our run plays and did a good job with that. Those guys are good coaches, too. So, we had to adjust off that, and our adjustments, thankfully and fortunately, worked.”
Glenn (1-6, 0-1) forced the Pioneers to punt from their own 38-yard line and the Eagles had their best drive of the first half, running 10 plays and getting to the Artesia 41-yard line before punting. On the drive, Glenn converted on a fourth and 1 when Acosta picked up two yards, and junior running back Jonah Mason and sophomore running back Sam Reeves had gains of 10 and 13 yards respectively.
However, sophomore Alijah Hunter’s punt went into the endzone and on Artesia’s first play of the ensuing drive, sophomore quarterback Charlie Lopez got loose for an 80-yard touchdown run to kick start the offense.
“I think it was a great start,” said Glenn head coach Elijhaa Penny. “It was everything that we planned for. We practiced that throughout the week; we knew Artesia has an explosive offense and is an explosive team. So, our gameplan was to take the ball out of [Lopez’] hands as long as we could, keep that defense on the field, get those guys tired and worn out and hopefully find some momentum off that.”
That momentum never happened as the Eagles were forced to punt again, but this time, Hunter’s punt from the Glenn 49-yard line took a bad bounce the opposite way, giving the Pioneers possession at midfield. Three plays later, Lopez connected with senior wide receiver Ahkil Sampson, making it 14-0 with 6:32 left in the half.
It would go from bad to worse for the hosts as Acosta was picked off by senior Oscar Canchola and the Pioneers parlayed that into a 5:12 drive that ended with Sampson running it in from six yards out. To add insult to injury, it was déjà vu for Acosta again-an incomplete pass followed by an interception. This time, it was sophomore safety Robert Garcia at the Glenn 19-yard line. After a personal foul penalty on the Eagles, Lopez made it 27-0 with a four-yard run with 33 seconds left in the half.
“Like I’ve been harping on all season, these guys are a young group of guys,” said Penny. “Once they learn how to finish games; finish drives, execute in a ballgame without penalties, I think we’ll be in a much better position. It was nothing they did to knock us off our game; it’s everything we did. We shot ourselves in the foot.”
The Pioneers had the ball for 10 and a half minutes in the half, ran 17 plays but racked up 217 yards with Lopez combining for 191 yards. Meanwhile, Glenn could muster only 66 yards, all on the ground before halftime.
Glenn would get the ball to begin the second half and on fourth down, Acosta was sacked by senior Julius Padilla for an 11-yard loss. On the next play, junior running back Josue Flores scored. That would be the only time Artesia (7-1, 1-0) touched the ball in the third quarter as the Eagles held the ball for the remaining 8:55 of the stanza, then avoided the shutout three plays into the fourth quarter when Acosta hooked up with senior wide receiver Jacob Ramirez for an 11-yard score. But the Pioneers needed one play again to score the game’s last touchdown, a 61-yard reception from Sampson with 9:48 left in the contest.
“The clock started ticking and they were running the ball, and they had a couple of long drives,” said Crook. “When we got the ball back, we scored quickly. It’s a good thing most of the time [but] sometimes it can be a bad thing if you’re getting six plays on offense. But we were scoring on them, and it was in our favor, of course.”
“I know I talk about how young these guys are, but another thing that’s good about them being so youthful is that they have energy; they have juice, and they don’t quit,” said Penny. “So, they’re excited to play football no matter what position they’re in, whether it’s a blowout or it’s a tight game. They’re excited to play, and it shows.”
The next three drives combined would end in interceptions. First, it was Artesia sophomore defensive back Jayden Ruiz at the Glenn 36-yard line. Two plays later, Glenn senior linebacker A.J. Enriquez, then Artesia defensive back Eduardo Ordaz in the endzone, halting a six-play, 48-yard drive.
“They’ve been playing well,” said Crook of his defense. “We’ve been making some adjustments as far as personnel goes, and just trying to find the best spots for everybody. Those guys have been doing well. We moved Robert to safety, and he had a big pick tonight; almost took it back to the house. [Senior] DeAngelo [Tucker] playing D-end coming off the edge; he applies a lot of pressure. So, some of the adjustments we’ve been making have been working and I think we looked really good tonight.”
After not completing a pass in seven attempts in the first half, Acosta had eight completions for 66 yards in the second half. Reeves, one of the upcoming stars, led the rushing attack with 37 yards on 10 carries. Junior running back Okaro Lee added 29 yards on five carries, including a 19-yard gain in the third quarter as the Eagles will host defending CIF-Southern Section Division 12 champion Cerritos High on Thursday.
Lopez completed four of six passes for 162 yards and added another 90 yards on five carries while six other ball carriers combined to rush 13 times for 41 yards. Sampson caught three passes for 153 yards as Artesia will entertain Pioneer High on Thursday.
“As coaches, we’re definitely not looking over Pioneer, and I don’t think our kids, either,” said Crook. “Our kids watched them on film, and we played well against them last year. But I think they noticed on film, too, that they got better. They did a good job of getting better this offseason and they’re going to be ready to go.”