Oil spill! Matadors clean up 14-13

The Matador stadium filled with a crowd cheering the team on from start to finish. Oct. 6 was a night to remember with the roaring crowd enjoying beautiful fireworks, a great show, and some delicious food. The Matadors won against the Montebello Oilers with a nerve-racking score of 14-13.

Tension rushed through everyone’s blood, as the Matadors faced a top rival. With such apprehension throughout the crowd, a show was just what would ease everyone’s rush. The pregame show consisted of performances from the Matador band, choreo, drill, cheer, color guard, and opener corazon latino. With the amazing starting performances, the crowd was left ready and wanting more, setting the stage for the game to come.

“I feel like the team is ready to go, they’re pumped and excited for homecoming and to show out kind of in front of their family and friends here,” head Coach Galan said. 

Coach Galan may have been right — the Matadors were indeed giving it their all out on the field. However, the Oilers were ready to match their energy, keeping a steady score of zero to zero throughout the whole first quarter. The Matadors persevered through the pressure as the two teams’ interactions turned more and more intense.  

“As long as our guys come out and do their job like we taught them we are very confident in what we’re gonna do tonight,” Coach Purkiss says on his confidence of how the game will go. 

It became clear that, at this point both the Matadors and the Oilers were frustrated, however, the Oilers were getting heated ready to fight back stronger than before. With about six and a half minutes left during the second quarter, tight end Daniel Lopez — with an impressive catch — scored the first touchdown of the game followed by a kick from quarterback Efren Torres.

The Matadors were now leading with a score of seven to zero causing a spark in Montebello. With fifteen seconds left in the second quarter, the Oilers evened up the score seven to seven.

With a close score of seven to seven the Matadors managed to push through; number eleven, kicker/tight end Daniel Martinez said, “Staying disciplined and listening to what our coaches have to say [is how we pushed through].”

During the third quarter, the teams traded the ball back and forth again and again — with the Matadors eventually getting a touchdown by senior running back Alex Acevedo with two minutes left carrying the score up to 14-7. Even with such hard work from the Matadors, Montebello was not ready to give up just yet. With little movement from both teams it was not until the fourth quarter Montebello was able to make a move. Number five on the Oilers, running back Julian Silva, brought the score to 14-13 with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter. 

The Oilers then went for a field goal in an attempt to even the score and failed to do so as a result of excellent defense by the Matadors. This may have brought the Oilers courage down as the rest of the game remained the same and with seconds left to end the game, Montebello made a tough call. They called it quits, giving up and allowing the time to run out. San Gabriel pulled through once again, pushing through the obstacles and taking the win.