Defense Seals First Win for Robles as Head Coach in Season Opener

by Cerwin D Haynes

Coming into tonight's season opener against Grossmont College, East LA College Football had many questions surrounding how the team would look on the field under new interim head coach Arnie Robles. His predecessor and mentor, Bobby Godinez, did leave him with some returning talent that would help shape this season's squad. 

One said talent is sophomore DB Timmy Fleischood, and on Saturday he sparked the Huskies in pulling away from a close contest. His 20-yard interception return for a touchdown gave ELAC a 20-7 early in the fourth quarter, and his second pick-6 late in the fourth sealed a 34-7 season opening win against the Griffins in front of the Pack's home crowd. 

ELAC scored the first two touchdowns in the first quarter:

• The first score was set up thanks to short field position due to a 22-yard punt return by sophomore WR Chris Hicks, a couple of run plays and a horsecollar penalty on Grossmont. With 2-and-12 at the Grossmont 22, freshman QB Daunte Bell tossed a pass to sophomore WR Camarion Thorton, who had gotten a step behind the Griffins' DB coverage. Thorton made the catch and raced untouched to the end zone. 
• The second TD was setup by a late defensive stand, a blocked field goal attempt that gave the home Green the ball at their 21-yard line. Bell dropped back and found another receiver that got behind the defense, this time Hicks. The Duncanville HS (Dallas, TX) product caught the ball near midfield and - like Thorton - also took off untouched to paydirt.

Grossmont would answer in the second quarter: ELAC's defense forced a punt by the visitors near the end of the first quarter, but Hicks got stripped of the ball during his punt return at the Huskies' 36. Keanu Pettiford forced the fumble and recoved the ball, settng up Grossmont at the ELAC 37. Four plays later, Griffins' QB Matt Barton found one of his receivers behind the Huskies DBs, WR Karlos Jimenez. A 25-yard catch-and-run got the visitors on the board, and the extra point made it a 14-7 game, a lead the Huskies would take into halftime.

The second half saw both defenses, particularly Grossmont's, step up the intensity. While Grossmont's defense seemed bent on giving their offense as many chances as possible to tie the game, the Huskies were happy to let their defense win it. And that they did, emphatically.

At the very start of the fourth quarter, Grossmont got the ball at their own 18. Evan Rearick, now at QB for the Griffins, passed on first down, but the Huskies defense pressured the QB into a quick throw. Fleischood was in position to snag the pass out of the air at the 20, and returned it all the way to the end zone for the first of his two pick-6's. The Pack had a 20-7 lead with 14:50 to go (extra point was no good).

After a series of punts, Grossmont got the ball at their 42 with 4:35 left. Rearick dropped back to pass on first down but got buried by freshman DE Brodae Sutherland for a loss of 15. After an incomplete pass on second down, Rearick again faced pressure on 3rd-and-25. Instead of a sack, the defense forced him to make an errant throw with the ball easily landing into the hands of sophomore LB Zachary Camarena, who returned the interception 27 yards to the Grossmont 18. Freshman RB Tanner would ultimately punch the ball in from six yards out give the home Green a 27-7 lead with 1:37 left.

The game was a wrap at that point, but a certain Husky wanted to be 100% sure that his coach would get his first collegiate victory. On the ensuing possession, Grossmont advanced the ball to the ELAC 40; on 2nd-and-10 from the 40, Rearick dropped back in the gun and flung the ball to his left, presuming looking for WR Jimenez. Instead, he found Fleischood, snagging the pass and sprinting the other way with no one to impede his path the endzone.

HUSKIE BITS

• ELAC QB Daunte Bell finished 14-24 for 164 yards with 2 TDs and one interception.
• Hicks led ELAC with 177 all-purpose yards. He lined up as a running back, wide receiver, kickoff and punt returner.
• The Huskies had well over 100 yards in penalties in the first half as both teams ironed out their first-game emotions. But the Huskies calmed down with the yellow flags in the second half, focusing on not giving Grossmont too many free yards in a tight ballgame.
• The Pack held the Griffins to 177 yards of offense. Barton and Rearick combined to go 12-36 for 137 yards and one TD against five interceptions.

UP NEXT:

ELAC makes the long trek up to Santa Maria next Saturday to take on the always-dangerous Allan Hancock College Bulldogs. Kickoff at 2pm PST.