By Jeffrey Ochavillo

What had looked like to be a peaceful afternoon outing at the Hal’s Shiroma football field instead turned into a muddy mess for the Matua football game between the Angels and Falcons. The Matua division Angels were not intimidated at all as they got past the Falcons in all game long, thus taking home the win with a score of 26-0.

From the start of the game, both teams could not get into offensive rhythm going, literally looking as if they were stuck in the mud. The game was silenced as the ball possession was rallied back-and-forth until Angel’s Makoa Bamba caught the a big pass from quarterback Calvin Aguon, while jumping over a diving Falcon defender, racing his way towards the five-yard line for a total of 15 yards.

Going for it on 4th down, Aguon finally got the ball to an open teammate with a handoff play that gave Bamba the few yards needed after nearly being pushed out of bounds to get the first touchdown of the game. After completing the PAT field goal the score was 8-0.

The Falcons could not get their passing game flowing as every opportunity they had to advance the ball, all lead to turnovers causing them to resort to punting on three-and-outs.

Angels’ Tyler Pangelinan side steps Falcon’s Daeven Aguon for a big gain on the ground. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

Coming out of halftime with a score of 14-0, the Angels came out stronger getting more defensive stops and collecting more yards offensively giving them the big lead in the 2nd half. Midway through the third quarter, the Angel’s handed off the ball to running back Lawrence Castro as he dashed through the defense waltzed towards the end zone, thus making the score 20-0 with the incomplete field goal.

The Falcons had a chance of their own to get on the scoreboard, but Falcons’ quarterback Johnny Aldon almost caused a turnover by dropping the snap in the red zone. On the next try, he finally gave a good pass to teammate Noah Mantanona, who had almost reached the first down until he was taken down by three Angel defenders. The following pass resulted in an exchange of possession off an interception, losing the opportunity to score.

After the Falcons gave the punt, the ball slipped past many hands of the Angels’ special team until Collin Murphy anticipated the next bounce and took off with the ball. He rushed towards the sideline passing 15 yards until pulled down by an Eagles defender.

The run led to the final touchdown of the game as the Angels ran a bootleg play with Aguon taking the handoff while juking off a Falcon’s defender to his way into the end zone.

Following the mercy rule, with one team having more than 20 points and the other with none, the game would be called to an immediate end. However, with just a few minutes left, the officials allowed the team to play on with the remaining minutes of the game.

Angels’ Javier Lujan bulldozes his way to a first down. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

Bamba was asked about his collections of yardage he could not say much because all he wanted was to just play. Every questioned asked came out with a humble answer of “playing hard and just to keep playing.”

The Angels’ Javier Duenas was asked about the plays and touchdowns he made and he replied, “if it wasn’t for the defense of the team, I would not have had the separation needed in order for me to get the points. Also, our defense was also a key factor today because that was how we got back all of the possessions.”

The Angels soared high and found light passed today’s condition and took the final score of 26-0 over the tough and young Falcons. With that Duenas finished saying, “Even though it was a good win, both teams played well today and I believe both of us will keep improving. Rain or shine, we just have to keep playing.”

Other Scores

Angels Manha 28-6

More scores coming soon…