Glendale matched its highest point total of the year, beating Los Angeles Valley College 34-10, Saturday night at home.
Sophomore quarterback Michael McDonald led the way for the Vaqs, throwing for a season high 278 yards including an 18-yard strike to sophomore wide receiver Christopher Marshall. McDonald also had a four-yard touchdown run.
“I tried to make a couple plays make something out of nothing and it hurt us a little bit in the first half so I just got to play smart football,” McDonald said.
McDonald was helped in the ground game by sophomore running back Shaun Kermah. Kermah carried the ball for 60 yards on 12 carries with two touchdowns. The Vaqs also were able to rely on solid performances from running backs Donald Oliver with 34 yards and Brandon Torres who had 30 yards.
Defensive end Grant Valentine continued his strong sophomore campaign with 10 total tackles including a quarterback sack.
Sophomore James Antaplyan also gave a solid effort, tallying eight total tackles and an interception.
The defense suffered a blow after losing starting safety John Young in the first quarter to a dislocated hip.
However, sophomore Raymond McDonough intercepted two passes in the second half.
“[Forcing turnovers] is game play every night,” said McDonough. “We force at least a turnover or two every game. We are probably one of the best teams at causing turnovers.”
L.A. Valley’s game plan was to attack the Vaqs on the ground by running the ball most of the game.
“It was just a matter of us not giving them a lot of opportunities offensively,” said head coach John Cicuto. “Their running backs are awesome and we game up some yards in between the 20s but we bucked down on third and fourth down and we had some huge goal line stops and turnovers.”
The kicking game also came through with solid performances from freshman Christopher Chapman, superb punting from freshman Steve Shultz and two first-half field goals from sophomore Esteban Moreno, and a total of 10 points.
The first half ended with Glendale leading 13-3 after LA Valley mishandled a snap during a field goal attempt.
The Vaqs were able to build on first half momentum by taking their first second half drive 65 yards for Kermah’s first score. “The second half was the time for us to set the tone,” said Cicuto.
The Vaqs also showed much more discipline than L.A. Valley. Late hits and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, including a cheap shot by a defender late in the game, were enough
to rattle visiting Valley. “Our guys did a good job of not retaliating,” said Cicuto. L.A. Valley was penalized 12 times for 147 yards.
The Vaqs have their final regular season home game Saturday at 7 p.m. at Satoris Field against Ventura College.It will be homecoming and the GCC sophomores will be honored before the game.
