MONROVIA >> On a night when Monrovia figured it would need other players to step up because leading rusher Joshua Griffiths was out with an injury, the Wildcats got that and more.
Byron Bell rushed for 162 yards and three touchdowns, and DJ Young added 116 yards and scored three touchdowns during the Wildcats’ 63-27 rout of visiting San Marino in the Rio Hondo League football opener on Thursday night.
The Wildcats finished with more than 450 yards rushing. Troy Gise joined the party with a 75-yard touchdown run, and freshman quarterback Jesse Saucedo threw for 254 yards and two touchdowns.
Monrovia coach Jose Casagran shrugged when told of the gawdy offensive numbers. A week ago San Dimas ran for more than 400 yards in its 42-14 win over Monrovia, and that left a sour taste for Casagran.
“It’s impressive to me because Josh was out; he’s a heck of a running back, heck of a football player,” Casagran said. “I think I challenged the offensive line. We had our worst game of the year last week against San Dimas, particularly the offensive tackles. We really worked on it this week and it really feels rewarding when you tell kids if you work hard, good things will happen.”
Monrovia improved to 5-1 and 1-0 in league, while San Marino dropped to 3-3 and 0-1.
Bell’s speed was impressive as he scored on runs of 18, 38 and 17 yards.
“It was a long game, but we executed and did everything we were supposed to do,” said Bell, who also had an interception. “It feels good; I executed and everyone did good.”
Young, who also played quarterback early in the season when Saucedo missed a game against Don Lugo, set the tone early with a couple of first-half touchdown runs.
“We had a talk before the game with all the seniors … We had to come out here and do what we had to do,” Young said.
Casagran was impressed with both Bell and Young.
“It’s great for both of them because they struggled in some of the games this year,” Casagran said. “It’s really nice for them to buy into the offense. We want to be balanced, we want to run spread and run some Wing T because people have to prepare for both. And nights like this really solidify it.”
The Titans tried to stay in the shootout with the Wildcats but couldn’t get enough stops. Quarterback Brady Beck did all he could, throwing for 272 yards and two touchdowns. Julian Solis ran in two scores for the Titans.
One play after the Wildcats recovered a fumble by the Titans, Bell ran 18 yards for a touchdown and 7-0 lead.
Beck completed five straight passes to set up Solis’ 2-yard touchdown run to tie the score 7-7.
But it stayed tied for only 20 seconds.
Saucedo delivered a nice pass over the middle to Vince Paez, who outran defenders for a 71-yard score and 14-7 lead.
After a blocked punt, Monrovia added another score on Young’s 7-yard TD run as the quarter expired to push their lead to 21-7.
Beck led the Titans back with a 56-yard completion that set up a 5-yard TD pass to Miles Morning to bring them within seven points.
Young’s 4-yard touchdown run and Saucedo’s 39-yard TD pass to Paez stretched the Wildcats’ lead to 35-14.