As the top seed in the CIF L.A. City Division II Playoffs, the Arleta Mustangs were locked in a tight battle through three quarters before pulling away in the fourth in their First Round 58-34 victory over Jordan. Returning to their home field on a drizzly Friday afternoon, Arleta continued their championship pursuit against the Dr. Maya Angelou Community Phoenix in the CIF D2 Quarterfinals. The game remained close in the first half before the Mustangs took a lead before halftime which they refused to relinquish. Arleta junior running back Jose Rosas had a monster day in the ground game, carrying the ball 21 times for 258 yards and three scores in the 39-28 victory. 

The Mustangs defense set the tone on the opening drive with a turnover when senior defensive end Pablo Gurrola made a strip-sack fumble recovery. Unfortunately for Arleta, they couldn’t capitalize on the turnover as the Phoenix defense forced a three-and-out. DMAC senior running back Branden Morales ripped off a 41-yard run to set up a two-yard score from him to put them ahead 7-0. 

Arleta decided to put the ball in the hands of Rosas on their subsequent drive as he made a key 31-yard reception from junior quarterback Austin Ramos. He continued to move the chains running the football, bringing the physicality on an 11-yard touchdown run where he ran over the defender. Rosas pushed back from the first half trash talk from the two-way linebacker Morales postgame, “I’m not gonna lie, #23 brought the demon out of me. He was talking [expletive]. I had to respond.” 

The game remained at a 7-7 tie heading into the second quarter where the Mustangs defense earned a fourth down stop, turning the Phoenix over on downs. Rosas showed off his arm on the next Arleta drive on a reverse hand off by throwing a 20-yard pass to senior wideout Christopher Ubaldo to set up the Mustangs in goal territory. Arleta Head Coach Bill Coan discussed his enthusiasm about the call postgame, “When I called it, I turned to the other coaches and said, ‘Hey! We’re gonna have some fun now.’” The two-way player Gurrola concluded the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run to put Arleta ahead 13-7 after the missed extra point try. 

The Phoenix offense took advantage of an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty from Arleta on their following possession. On a drive that took up over six minutes of the clock, Morales punched in his second touchdown of the day to give DMAC a 14-13 advantage. With only 1:06 left before halftime, the Arleta offense once again put their trust in Rosas who delivered on a major 40-yard reception with a 15-yard personal foul penalty added on. Backed into goal-line territory, DMAC made three consecutive defensive stops before Gurrola crossed the plane with a 1-yard touchdown score with 5 seconds left to give Arleta a 20-14 halftime lead. 

Arleta relinqushed possession of the ball to begin the second half when Ramos threw an interception to DMAC junior Nicholas Quinatanilla on the second play of the opening drive. The Phoenix offense moved the ball into red-zone territory before Arleta regained the football by earning their second fourth down stop of the contest. Ramos once again used Rosas in the passing game on their next possession by throwing him a 28-yard dart for a first down. 

Rosas later provided the explosiveness on the drive with a 30-yard touchdown run to put the Mustangs ahead 26-14 after a failed two-point conversion attempt. The subsequent drive from DMAC was stalled by a sack from Arleta senior defensive end Xavier Benitez as the Mustangs defense forced a punt. 

Arleta continued to air it out as their next drive took the game into the fourth quarter, where Ramos tossed a 27-yard touchdown bomb to senior Erik Favela to take a 33-14 lead. Multiple penalties from the Mustangs gave the Phoenix favorable field position on their next drive which concluded in a 1-yard Morales touchdown for his third of the afternoon to make the score 33-22. 

On the second play of their next possession, Rosas added one final exclamation point for Arleta with a powerful 78-yard run for his third rushing touchdown to match his rival Morales. 

DMAC earned one final touchdown in the fourth quarter on a trick play reverse handoff touchdown pass from Quinatanilla to junior wideout Ricardo Placentia to make the score 39-28 after the failed two-point try. 

Arleta will move on to face South Gate this upcoming Friday night at 7:00 pm in the CIF L.A. City Division II Semifinals. Favela addressed the importance of maintaining their collective hunger postgame, “Let’s not be satisfied until we got that ring on our hand!.” Rojas added, “We’ve been working hard since January, man. Let’s go!”