The Montwood Rams hosted the Spartans for in the late window at the Student Activities Complex. Two teams in a must win game. As Head Coach of Pebble Hills Mark Torres put it, “Every game is a playoff game.”
The Rams were determined to get a win to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Spartans needed this win to keep pace for the district title.
Deigo Oaxaca would have the first two receiving touchdowns just in the first half. Isaac Galvan would have over 400 passing yards and 4 touchdowns in the game. He’s just eclipsed 2,300 for the season. Montwood had a great game plan, passing the ball all over the field, Kaleb Alvarez would also have 2 receiving touchdowns, and Jeremiah Steib had over 100 receiving yards. They mixed in runs when needed, Izayuh Claudio would have over 75 rushing yards and one touchdown.
The offense moved well the entire night. There defense made some stops and seem to frustrate the Spartan offense, Jalile Bost and Marcus Torres wouldn’t be mentioned much until the second half.
Pebble Hills turned to 4 guys to run the ball the entire night, and it was the entirety of the game. Gael Ochoa would only throw the ball 7 times. Jacob Ledesma, Sam Chacon, Gael Ochoa and Zereian Quarrels lead the attack all night. It was a grinding, wearing out the defense night till the final possession. 5 touchdowns spilt all 4 runners. The most important one was the go ahead touchdown by Gael Ochoa 8 yards out with 18 seconds to go. The rushing attack couldn’t be stopped as Pebble Hills average 7.9 yards per carry on the night.
Head Coach Mark Torres mentioned in post game how Montwood came out on fire throwing the ball but his team was resilient, made a few key stops and ran the ball well, it was enough to slip by the Rams 38-35 and keep their shot at the district title alive.
Pebble Hills improves to 7-1 (5-1) with a big matchup against the Franklin Cougars next Thursday. Montwood falls into 6th place in the district 2-5 (2-3) with a matchup with Eastwood next week, another must win for both of those teams for playoff implications.
Story by Christian Molinar