Muir football’s Arturo Ayers celebrates his birthday with game-winning touchdown over St. Francis

PASADENA – Muir’s Arturo Ayers got a big surprise for his birthday. It wasn’t a party but a gift that he was able to share with his entire team in the form of an unexpected and unusual touchdown that gave the Mustangs the lead on the way to a 28-18 win over St. Francis on Friday night in nonleague action.

The win is Muir’s first of the season while St. Francis (0-4) will have to wait another week to try to win its first game.

Ayers came in on offense early in the fourth quarter as Muir trailed 18-13. The Mustangs (1-2) had the ball first-and-10 at the St. Francis 24. Quarterback Keyon Mills dropped back and threw the ball to the right sideline to Damian Aleman except Aleman couldn’t handle the ball. He bobbled it into the air. That’s when Ayers came from behind and immediately caught the ball and sprinted untouched to the end zone for the go-ahead score. David Cannon then ran in the two-point conversion to put Muir on top 21-18.

“That touchdown catch—it was my awareness,” Ayers said. “I let myself just be in a great spot to help my team win.”

‘Ayers’ teammates later sang “Happy Birthday” to him on the field after the game as they celebrated the win.

“I wouldn’t have done it without my coaches and teammates,” Ayers continued. “Without them we can’t win this game.”

Muir coach Lance Mitchell credited the players and coaching staff for the win.

“The results are the results,” Mitchell said. “It’s trusting the process and doing what’s right when nobody is watching or when we don’t get the results. Last week (a 38-21 loss to Charter Oak), we prepared our butts off and they just came out and beat us. They were the better team but how do we show back up and do what’s right during the week and beat a team like (St. Francis)? That’s what I’m most proud of.”

Muir got a spark from the return of Mills from a thumb injury. He got hurt in Muir’s first game, a 27-7 loss to Bonita, and missed the Charter Oak game last week. Mills completed 13 of 17 passes for 156 yards. He also had an interception on defense in the fourth quarter. That came as Muir led 21-18 with 9:00 left in the game.

St. Francis was driving and had the ball at the Muir 35 facing a fourth-and-15. Quarterback John Sanders threw over the middle where Mills intercepted the pass and returned it 49 yards to the Golden Knights 32. Two plays later, Alijah Parker took a hand off and darted through the middle for a 34-yard touchdown run that put the Mustangs up 10 at 28-18.

“(Mills) is a stud,” Mitchell said. “He’s an athlete and a gamer.”

Mills’ most impressive pass came in the third quarter as Muir trailed 18-7. It was set up after Eion Mejia recovered a fumble on a botched reverse handoff that gave Muir the ball at the St. Francis 41. On the next play, Mills dropped back and threw a deep ball down the left side where Derek Rowan jumped up and made a spectacular catch for a 39-yard completion. Cannon scored on a 2-yard touchdown run a play later to close the gap to 18-13 with 4:08 left in the quarter.

Muir’s Zion McDonald gave Muir a 7-0 lead in the second quarter thanks to a 50-yard punt return.

The Mustangs’ front seven gave St. Francis’ young offensive line trouble in the second half, pressuring Sanders and sacking him twice.

St. Francis did take an18-7 lead thanks to the return of Sanders who suffered a leg injury in the first game of the season. He finished completing 24 of 45 passes for 275 yards and two touchdown passes and an interception. His first touchdown toss came with just 23 seconds left before half when he found Deveon Blaylock over the middle for a 36-yard score. A two-point conversion run by Isaac Fajardo put the Golden Knights up 11-7.

St. Francis was also plagued by penalties, committing 10. Seven of those were in the first half.

Coach Dean Herrington said his team needs to get better in a hurry.

“I thought John Sanders was fabulous the way he threw the ball under pressure,” Herrington said. “But all around it was not a good game for us. We have Loyola next week and then a week off and then league. We just have to get better.”

Muir will open Pacific League play next week against Burbank.