SOUTH EL MONTE — In the final Mission Valley League meeting between longtime rivals South El Monte and Arroyo, this is the way it was supposed to go down.
South El Monte quarterback Michael Maldonado scored on a 23-yard run with 24 seconds left to force overtime.
On the first play in OT, Maldonado hit Gabriel Canchola over the middle for a 25-yard touchdown. The Eagles’ defense proceeded to get a fourth-down stop on Arroyo’s possession and went on to celebrate a come-from-behind 35-28 victory.
South El Monte, the defending Mission Valley League champion, improved to 4-2 and 2-0 while Arroyo slipped to 1-4 and 0-2.
While it’s not the last meeting between the longtime rivals, it’s the final meeting between the two in the MVL. Over the spring, the Foothill Area voted to restructure its a