This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Monrovia Tops Crescenta Valley, Falls in Semis At Arroyo

Wildcats fall to eventual-champion Diamond Bar in the semifinals of the San Gabriel Valley Shootout at Arroyo High in El Monte.

It was a long day and it eventually caught up to the Monrovia football team.

Playing without several keys players include All-CIF Ellis McCarthy, the Wildcats put forth a strong effort Saturday in the San Gabriel Valley Shootout at Arroyo High School in El Monte.

The Wildcats lost in the semifinals to eventual-champion Diamond Bar  36-12 after putting forth several fine performances earlier in the day.

Find out what's happening in Monroviawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“There were a lot of positives. We did a lot of things well, but in the end we got tired,” Monrovia coach Ryan Maddox said. “There are no excuses there. We saw some things we need to work on.”

After going 2-1 in pool E play, which included a 18-15 upset loss against Baldwin Park, the Wildcats found themselves against Crescenta Valley in the first round of the championship bracket.

Find out what's happening in Monroviawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

CV, which also went 2-1 in pool play, gave Monrovia a tough fight, before falling 27-18. An interception by Luke Williams from a pass from Falcon quarterback Zac Wilkerson proved to the game-changing playing as the two sides were deadlocked at 12 at the time.

“We expected to win,” said CV coach Paul Schilling, who credited Monrovia with fine play.

In the game against the Falcons, CV took the early lead as Wilkerson found tight end Max Cunning open over the middle for a touchdown.

George Frazier responded for Monrovia by finding Williams who was stopped just short of the goal line. Frazier then threw a touchdown pass to Mason Bryant.

After Monrovia stopped CV, the Wildcats took the lead by scoring on fourth down as Frazier found Luis Javier in the end zone.

Crescenta Valley bounced right back with a touchdown pass from Wilkerson to Nick Ruiz to tie it at 12.

The Falcons then held Monrovia on its next series, before Wilkerson’s interception gave Monrovia the lead.

But CV’s defense once again held Monrovia.

The Falcons then took an 18-15 lead as Wilkerson found Ruiz open on fourth down.

But Monrovia rallied late as Williams and Marquise Bias each scored touchdowns.

Monrovia defeated host Arroyo 36-24 in the quarterfinals.

The Wildcats jumped out to a 33-12 lead, before Maddox made some substitutions to get some second-string players a chance to get into the action.

Williams, Jelani Khalfani, Bryant, Bias and Anthony Craft had touchdowns. Bryant also had a pair of interceptions.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?