Garfield Makes It Six in a Row

Roosevelt High’s Ralph Dominguez and Fernando Delgadillo would do all they could, and Garfield High running back Juan Marez would do his share, but Friday night at East Los Angeles College one side eventually had to give.

It turned out to be the Roughriders who lost the 61st meeting between the two teams as expected, 27-23, but in a fashion no one could have expected.

Roosevelt (2-4) hung with heavily favored Garfield (5-1), even leading, 16-7, at halftime and, 23-20, late in the third quarter.

But Garfield went ahead on a seven-yard run by Latarrin Sheppard with 18 seconds left in the third quarter and got scoring runs of 74 and 65 yards from Marez, to win for the sixth consecutive time in the East Los Angeles Classic, in front of an estimated 24,000.

It took all of Garfield’s effort because of Delgadillo--who passed for just under 250 yards and threw two touchdown passes--and Dominguez, who had 161 yards receiving, to go with a touchdown and a 36-yard field goal.

The pair looked particularly impressive in the first half, as they provided the big plays, and Garfield hurt itself with penalties and a breakdowns on defense.

The Bulldogs were also hurt by a questionable call by Garfield Coach Randy Rodriguez, who chose to fake a punt on his own 30 with just over two minutes left in the half.

Roosevelt took advantage of the mistake when Coach John Aguirre decided to use Dominguez as a decoy. With :08 left before the break, Delgadillo rolled right and the Garfield secondary shifted with him, looking to cover Dominguez, who was streaking down the sideline.

But Delgadillo stopped and threw back across the field to receiver Javier Romero, who lined up on the same side as Dominguez but then cut across the field unnoticed and hauled in a 30-yard scoring pass.

It was fitting that the Roughriders ended the half with a big play. The Roughriders’ opening drive ended in a 36-yard field goal by Dominguez, who set up the score three plays earlier by catching a 40-yard pass from Delgadillo.

Roosevelt made it 10-0 on a four-yard run by Ricardo Zepeda four minutes into the second quarter, and again Delgadillo provided the big play, passing 43 yards to Romero to put the ball at the Garfield 10.

The Bulldogs answered Zepeda’s run with a 65-yard drive comprised mostly of strong inside running from Latarrin Sheppard and Juan Marez. Sheppard carried five times for 26 yards on the drive, capped by a one-yard scoring run that put the score at 10-7.