Golden West football edges Glendale in season opener

During Saturday’s nonconference game against Glendale Community College, the Golden West College football team turned to an unlikely hero, its fourth-string quarterback.

Pressed into action due to injuries, Joe Pyle responded. He did more than enough down the stretch as Golden West edged Glendale, 17-10, in the season opener for both teams at Golden West.

Golden West’s starting quarterback, sophomore Beau Kalbacher, appeared to break his left (non-throwing) arm after being pressured by a trio of Glendale defenders on the first play of the second quarter. Second-string quarterback John Buksa came in for the next two series, but he suffered an ACL injury, Rustlers coach Nick Mitchell said.

Mitchell said that the Rustlers’ third-string quarterback, Adam Carr, decided before the game that he was going to grayshirt.

“Unbelievable, right?” Mitchell said. “It’s funny how things work … we’ll probably have to switch that. Right now, we only have one quarterback.”

Pyle, who entered in the second quarter, completed seven of 10 passes for 52 yards and a touchdown. He also scampered for 35 yards on four carries.

“I thought he did a pretty good job,” Mitchell said. “We tried to have him hand the ball off a bunch, but he can run. He’ll bring a little dual-threat right there. He’ll bring an element different from what Beau does … Joe is a good player. The guy came in and led us on a winning drive right there.”

Glendale, led by former Newport Harbor and St. Francis quarterback Michael Bonds, had a 7-3 halftime advantage. Bonds, a freshman who completed 16 of 24 passes for 83 yards, was pressed late in the first half on third-and-goal, but he connected with Felipe Meza (14 carries for 55 yards) in the right flat on a five-yard touchdown pass.

Glendale kept the four-point lead at halftime after Leon Flintroy blocked a Golden West field-goal attempt on the final play of the first half.

Golden West took the lead on its second drive of the second half, after a 27-yard punt return from Marquel Johnson brought the ball all the way to the Glendale 11-yard line. Two plays later, Pyle found Brailon Moulton on a seven-yard slant for the touchdown and the kick by Saul Rodriguez gave the hosts a 10-7 lead.

Glendale responded with a 55-yard kickoff runback by Meza, turning it into points as Michael Selsor booted a 20-yard field goal that tied the score, 10-10, at the end of the third quarter.

But Golden West’s Amata Tavai, who finished with 100 yards rushing on 21 carries, answered with a physical 21-yard touchdown run up the middle. He broke several tackles along the way to give the Rustlers a 17-10 advantage early in the fourth.

“Tavai ran hard and started wearing down the defense at the end,” Mitchell said. “He’s a kid who I think gets stronger as the game goes on. We’ll keep feeding him.”

The lead would hold up.

Bonds led Glendale on a long drive that got all the way to the Golden West 24-yard line on a nice sideline catch by Dominic Wilson, but the visitors would eventually turn it over on downs.

Glendale got the ball back on its 20 with less than a minute to go, but failed to advance. The game ended on a quarterback sack by Golden West’s Helaman Sagapolu.

Glendale coach John Rome said he was mostly happy with his team’s play, highlighting Bonds, Wilson, freshman linebacker Teddy Gallagher and returning sophomore linebacker Rashad Ysaguirre. The Vaqueros had a more lopsided loss to Golden West in last year’s season opener, suffering a 33-0 defeat.

“I’m pleased that we can play a team from the National Division as good as Golden West and really be in it all the way until the very end of the game,” Rome said. “I’m frustrated because of the loss, but I’m very pleased with our effort.”

Golden West plays at Riverside on Saturday at 6 p.m., while Glendale plays at home against Southwestern, also at 6 p.m.

[email protected]

Twitter: @mjszabo