Paraclete storms back to beat Temple City 27-6

Spirits defense corners Rams until their offense finds its rhythm

Temple City, CA - When you read the papers heading into almost any sports match up, writers will give you tons of statistical facts, game breakers, trends, etc. But one thing you can never measure is one man’s – or a team of men in this case – will to survive.

It was no secret that the Temple City Rams were heavy underdogs coming into Saturday’s battle against Paraclete. Instead of reading into the hoopla that precluded the contest, the Rams came out and took the fight to the Spirits.

And though Temple City went up 6-0 early on – only to give up 27 unanswered points – they fought to the end and didn’t let Paraclete walk away with an easy win.

After trading their first two series, Temple City got the ball back when they stopped Paraclete short on a fourth down try. The Rams took over on their own 37-yard line and worked the ball up the field. Morgan Hatch would get the team to the Spirits 14-yard line, when he hit Joey Stewart for a big 26-yard pass. After a couple of Max Ruckle runs were stopped short, kicker Drew Tinsley came in and booted a 25-yard field goal to put the Rams up 3-0.

Being the month of December and all, Paraclete’s offense got into the Christmas spirit a little too early. On their first play from scrimmage, Dante Donato fumbled the ball right back to Temple City.

Even with the momentum from the turnover, not much was working as the Rams as they were forced three and out. But as five plays later from punting it back to the Spirits, Temple City intercepted quarterback Robbie Thompson at the Rams own 37-yard line.

With new life, the Rams looked to get the ball rolling. But after being penalized for a false start and with Stewart unable to stretch out a Hatch pass, Temple City was forced to punt again.

On their next series, Brandon Buteyn started the Spirits off with a big run. However on the following play, Kyle Swanson fumbled the hand off which bounced right back to the Rams on Paraclete’s 34-yard line.

This time, Temple City looked to cash in on their third gift of the half. They went for the end zone on the second play of the drive, but the Spirits were flagged for pass interference. However, the Rams almost gave back the yardage when they were whistled for two consecutive procedure penalties. On the next two plays, Hatch tried to hit his receivers but both passes fell short. Looking at fourth and long, Temple City called on Tinsley again. The junior nailed the 42-yard attempt with ease to put the Rams up 6-0.

Out of sync and frustrated, Paraclete’s offense took possession once again. After chipping the ball up the field for moderate gains, Thompson finally exploded 55 yards to put the Spirits ahead 7-6.

Temple City showed no backing down, as Gianni Bruno-Lopez caught a Hatch pass and lateraled it off to Stewart for the 62-yard gain. Though the Spirits defense hunkered down and forced Tinsley to test his luck once more. His 32-yard attempt looked good for a millisecond, but the ball was partially deflected by a Paraclete defender forcing it wide.

With just over a minute left in the half, the Spirits would move the ball down the field. With a couple ticks left, Kyle Steffes’ 62-yard field goal attempt came up way short.

Paraclete opened the second half with the ball in great position after  Buteyn returned the kickoff to the 43-yard line. From there, the Spirits drive went 13 plays for almost seven minutes long. The drive was capped off by a Thompson 3-yard run, which gave Paraclete the 14-6 advantage.

On their very first play from scrimmage in the second half, the Rams tried to go deep. But as the Hatch fired a pass down the sideline, Andrew DeLaRosa shaded over and picked it off.

With an illegal block penalty on DeLaRosa’s return, the Spirits offense started off on their 39-yard line. On the second play, Thompson hit Lavonte Barnett for a 22-yard strike to get things going. Then, Buteyn and Justin Vargas would add another 22 yards on the ground. After losses on the following two plays, Paraclete was looking at second and goal from the 10-yard line. Thompson would go back to Barnett on a quick pass, as the sophomore scored to make it 21-6.

Temple City would get the ball back and put together a substantial drive into the fourth quarter. However, as the Hatch looked to the end zone for a score from the 31-yard line, Paraclete’s Matt Cordova picked him off for the touchback.

The Spirits offense would come back out with 9:37 remaining in the contest. They proceeded to bully their way down the field, getting multiple first downs to eat away at the clock. The Rams would finally stop them at their 26-yard line, setting Steffes up for a 43-yard field goal attempt. The kick would have the distance, but the ball sailed wide.

As time expired on the Temple City’s last hurrah, Hatch would hit Ruckle for a two-yard pass. Though as Ruckle went to lateral it to Stewart, Paraclete’s Branden Owen stole it out of the air, returning it 22 yards to give the Spirits a 27-6 win.

Even with the miscues, PHS still managed to rack up 377 yards in total offense. Buteyn led the Spirits in rushing with 149 yards on 23 carries. Thompson threw for 73 yards, one touchdown, and one interception on 7 of 8 passing. The senior quarterback also added 66 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries. Barnett led all receivers with 32 yards and one touchdown on two receptions.

The Rams were held to a total of 172 total yards in offense. Ruckle finished with 61 yards on 17 carries. Hatch threw for 106 yards and two interceptions on 5 of 14 passing. Stewart was credited with 104 of those yards on three catches.

With the win, the Olympic League title holders take their 10-3 record into the Mid-Valley Division Championship Game. They’ll host the Panthers from Rosemead High School (11-2) next Saturday, Dec. 13. The start time and location of the game will be announced shortly.