WEEK FIVE FOOTBALL: John Glenn’s Offense Sputters Against Alhambra in Final Non-League Game

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By Loren Kopff
@LorenKopff on X

It wasn’t quite an “anything that could go wrong, did go wrong” story when John Glenn High hosted Alhambra High last Friday for its homecoming game. But it was still the Eagles’ worst performance of the season, and it came after a bye week.

Glenn, which entered with a rare 4-0 record, had the ball for 28:53 but barely gained 100 yards on 44 offensive plays. The Eagles also lost their top receiver, senior Kellen Huckelberry, in the first quarter as the Moors posted a 33-0 victory.

Glenn has scored just six points in its past six quarters after leading Compton Early College 20-0 at halftime Sept. 11. Since then, the Eagles have been outscored 48-6. Rio Vista League play begins Friday.

“Even though we were 4-0, we really haven’t been playing our best football, at least last week,” said Glenn head coach Dwon Drummer. “Last week we did not play well. So, having a bye week; having time to…I was able to go scout out Alhambra last week in their game versus Wilson. I knew that they’re fighters; they’re a good team and they have some tough players and some great athletes. I knew it was going to be a test for us. We just weren’t ready; we weren’t prepared. We’re not there yet.

“Obviously we’ve done some good things, and we’ve made some strides in our program,” he continued. “But we’re still not there. We’re not where we need to be.”

Glenn punted on its first five possessions. Its sixth ended when time ran out in the first half. The Eagles ran 23 plays, gained 89 yards and picked up three first downs before halftime. They crossed midfield twice but never got past the Alhambra 47-yard line.

Huckelberry caught two passes for 13 yards before leaving with an injury shortly before Nathan Rabadan’s 99-yard touchdown run gave the Moors a 6-0 lead. He did not return, and his absence disrupted Glenn’s offense.

“We’re down our best athlete and obviously when you lose a large focal point of your offense, you kind of lose your spark, almost,” said Drummer. “We really don’t know [the extent of his injury]. We’ll reevaluate it on Monday, but we just don’t know because it was a multiple of things. It was his ankle, knee, hip. He came down [to the turf] awkward.”

The Moors went up 13-0 nearly midway through the second quarter when Joshua Calderon threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to Moses Llamas. Nearly four minutes later, Christopher Aguilar scored on a 20-yard run to give Alhambra a 19-0 halftime lead.

By then, the Moors had outgained the Eagles 244-89 despite running four fewer offensive plays and having the ball for less than 16 minutes.

Glenn’s defense played better in the third quarter, forcing two straight three-and-outs. But Aguilar scored on a 27-yard run with 56 seconds left in the quarter. Zach Chacon added the final touchdown on a 45-yard run with 1:34 remaining.

Rabadan, who entered as Alhambra’s second-leading rusher, gained 191 yards on 18 carries—50 more yards than he had gained in the Moors’ first four games combined. Aguilar, the team’s leading rusher entering the game with 259 yards, gained 49.

“We felt like we had a great game plan; we knew what they like to do on offense,” said Drummer. “We have to watch the film and see [the game] from a wider perspective, but we feel like we were in the right spot. We just have to make the right play. A lot of it was our guys being where they were supposed to be and then making the play. They weren’t where they were supposed to be, but ultimately, you have to make the play.”

Senior running back Matthew Vasquez gained 47 yards on 17 carries. Junior quarterback Ryder Perez completed nine of 17 passes for 59 yards. On defense, junior linebacker Damian Hernandez led Glenn with five tackles, while junior lineman Jayden Chavarin had three and a half tackles and a sack.

The Eagles begin play in the new Rio Vista League on Friday with a visit to Firebaugh High. The six-team Rio Vista is one of three football leagues in the new Suburban Valley Conference.

“I think this loss was necessary for us to get better,” said Drummer. “We needed this; we needed to take it on the chin and come back to reality that we still have work to do as a football program and team as well as individually. Some of the guys on the team have to get better. We’re not a finished product yet and today was obvious.

“Sometimes, you don’t lose, you learn, and I think we learned a lot about ourselves today and what we need to work on,” he added. “We still have to show up every day; we have to work hard every day. We can’t lean on what we’ve done in the past. Those wins were those wins and now when you’re undefeated, you have a target on your back.”