EL MONTE – Segerstrom’s best football season came to a lopsided conclusion Friday, losing to Arroyo of El Monte, 70-21, in a CIF-SS Division 12 semifinal Friday night on the Knights’ field.
“We just couldn’t tackle today,” Jaguars coach Joe Tagaloa said. “The missed tackles cost us big plays. We had a bad night.”
Segerstrom (11-2) lost four possessions, one fumble and two on onside kicks, in the first half, which ended with the Knights (12-1) leading 49-14.
“We weren’t able to get our offense on the field,” Tagaloa said. “We had a couple of good drives that we weren’t able to complete.”
Segerstrom’s first turnover, on its opening offensive play, led to Arroyo driving 23 yards on six plays with the help of a roughing the passer penalty for a 7-0 lead.
Arroyo’s next possession was a major momentum changer.
The Jaguars sacked Arroyo quarterback Ernesto Camacho to put the Knights into a third-and-17 at their 7-yard line.
Segerstrom had Camacho scrambling and he found Devin Knight with a medium-range pass on the sideline. Knight turned it into a 93-yard touchdown reception for a 14-0 lead.
Julian Vaglienty ran for a 70-yard touchdown on the Jaguars’ second play following the ensuing kickoff to cut Arroyo’s lead to 14-7.
The Knights responded with a 70-yard touchdown strike on four plays. Camacho, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound sophomore, completed passes for 17 yards to Daniel Martinez and 12 to Rey Cotero. Daniel Mendoza broke loose for a 41-yard touchdown run to advance’s Arroyo’s lead to 21-7.
Arroyo recovered the ensuing kickoff, which cleared the Jaguars’ front line and landed in an open area, then bounced back toward the Knights. It gave them a first down at their 30-yard line.
Camacho scrambled 30 yards on second-and-20 for a touchdown and put Arroyo up 28-7.
Vaglienty, a 205-pound senior fullback, had an 8-yard touchdown run late in the first half and a 1-yard scoring run in the third period. He gained 153 yards on 15 carries.
Camacho completed 18 of 32 passes for 385 yards and seven touchdowns.
“We’re the first team in school history to win 11 games and it’s a great accomplishment,” Tagaloa said. “I’m very proud of what we accomplished.”
