RANCHO COTATE 23, ALHAMBRA 14:COUGARS HANG ON IN OPENER:PEREZ'S FG HALTS ALHAMBRA COMEBACK AFTER RANCHO COTATE TAKES 20-0 LEAD AT HALFTIME

More than 24 minutes after Rancho Cotate scored its third first-half touchdown to take what seemed a commanding three-possession advantage at halftime, the Cougars breathed a sigh of relief that they had actually escaped victorious.

Cougars coach Ed Conroy could finally relax after Rodrigo Perez's 32-yard field goal with 42 seconds left ended Alhambra's streak of 14 unanswered second-half points, giving Rancho Cotate a 23-14 victory in its season opener.

"I told the kids, 'Heck, we didn't deserve to win this game,'" Conroy said. "We didn't play as well as we can but we won it. There've been times in the past where we deserve to win and didn't win it in our first game."

The Cougars (1-0) used a pair of touchdown passes from Michael Courchaine to Carlos Soto to jump ahead, 13-0, after the first quarter. The first TD pass the duo had completed a 10-play, 78-yard drive with a 22-yard lob down the right sideline.

Courchaine and Soto's second connection finished a 13-play, 57-yard march with a 7-yard lob in the corner of the end zone.

"It was a fade call and a fake veer call by us," Courchaine said. "I threw the ball up, and Carlos on the first touchdown made a great play. He went up and got the ball and on the second he just let it fall on his hands."

Rancho Cotate's final touchdown completed its longest drive of the game that spanned 90 yards in 14 plays. Jalon Luque dived in from 2 yards out to make it 20-0 going into the locker room.

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