Keeping up the momentum from their first win of the season, Arcadia High School’s (AHS) Varsity Football team won against Nordhoff High School (NHS) during their first game on Sept. 8, winning 49-8. 

Going into the game, junior Keyon Mills who plays quarterback and free safety stated, “The plan was to not let last week’s win blind us from doing our job against Nordoff.” 

During the first 12 seconds of the first quarter, a player from NHS got hurt. After receiving medical help and getting escorted off the field, NHS replaced the player and the game continued. After this minor delay, Arcadia returned even stronger and scored their first of many touchdowns of the night in the first five minutes of the game. During the duration of the first quarter, junior Keyonn Chatman who plays running back and strong safety ran four yards to get AHS’ second touchdown of the night with one minute and 28 seconds remaining of the first quarter of the game, making the score 14-0. 

For their third touchdown of the evening, AHS needed to advance the ball by 11 yards to get a first down. By doing so, they got a touchdown two plays later due to a fumble in the endzone.  Before the end of the first half of the game, junior Derek Rowan playing strong safety and wide receiver intercepted the ball, but got a call back for an unsportsmanlike penalty. By the end of the first half of the game, the Apaches were winning 21-0. 

When asked why the referee took away points from Arcadia, Mills stated, “The referee took away the points because of a defensive penalty on [Arcadia].” 

Within the first minute and a half of the third quarter, AHS scored with a passing touchdown. Halfway through the third quarter, the Apaches strategically got more points with a passing touchdown to senior Mikal Reed, wide receiver and cornerback, finishing the third quarter with a score of 34-0.

During the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, AHS again got another touchdown, making the score 42-0. However, during this quarter, Nordhoff returned this with their own touchdown, making the final score 49-8. 

Throughout the game, it was evident that the team was much stronger than last year. 

When asked what contributed to this, Mills stated, “We worked hard all offseason to improve the things on the team that needed improvement. I believe our team was so successful last night because we all did our job and we came together as one unit.” 

Congratulations to the football team on this amazing feat and let’s continue this winning streak! Go Apaches!

Photos courtesy of AUSD DCI interns Stephanie Jing and Myriam Kabani