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Amat had the game. They had it at halftime, when they where up 28-14. They had it when they went up 38-34 with 1:51 left in the game, and Los Osos out of timeouts.
"Defense didn't finish them up," Bishop coach Mark Verti said after the game.
When I was driving to my house from the game, I came up with the concept of highlighting The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of each local team from the games I cover.
So here we go ...
BISHOP AMAT
The Good: RB Marcus Wagner and offensive and defensive lines. Wagner finished the game with 197 yards and two touchdowns in 17 carries. In the first half he was battling what appeared to be dehydration and in the second half, cramps. He showed great vision and tremendous instincts. A lot of those runs, though, would not have be possible without the offensive line.
The Bad: Junior QB Nick Lenhart. He finished the game with OK numbers, 12 of 21 for 214 yards and one touchdown. But he also had an interception, a fumble and a sack on the first play of the Lancers' last drive. Lenhart won the job leading up to the opener, but he is going to have to show more poise if he's going to keep it.
The Ugly: The defense in the final two minutes of the game. With Los Osos out of time outs, Amat should have won the game. But give a lot of credit to Los Osos quarterback Richard Brehaut and the Grizzlies. Brehaut broke out of the pocket, got a great block from receiver Charles McCall, and ran 32 yards into the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown. Before the the referee could lifts his hands to signal touchdown, a Bishop Amat coach in the roof of the press box was in such disbelief that he just kept screaming to no one in particular "ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!?!?" I wanted to say, "No," but realized that it wasn't the time or the place to make jokes.
Things don't get any easier for the Lancers. Up next for Bishop Amat is defending Division II state bowl winner Orange Lutheran (also nicknamed the Lancers) at home next week.
- Jaime Cárdenas
When it came time for pregame warmups Friday evening at Corona Centennial, only Compton Dominguez took the field. Centennial Coach Matt Logan chose to keep the Huskies in the air-conditioned gymnasium for their stretching and walk-throughs instead of spending additional energy outdoors, in the triple-digit temperatures.
The decision paid off, as Centennial scored at will in the second half and cruised to a 38-17 victory.
"We thought if we hung on until halftime, or halfway through the third quarter, we'd overtake them,'' Logan said. "We live out here, but it's not usually this hot.''
Centennial fumbled on its first offensive play from scrimmage -- it's only miscue of the night -- but Logan said it wasn't for lack of preparation.
"We did everything we normally do,'' Logan said of the team's pregame routine, "just in a smaller space.''
- Dan Arritt
As a running back, he delivered more than anyone expected. No, not Darrell Scott of St. Bonaventure, but Carlo Audagnotti of Santa Margarita.
Audagnotti, a 5-9, 175-pound senior, rushed 24 times for 192 yards. He scored from 11 yards with 8:35 remaining to give Santa Margarita a 7-0 lead, and peeled off a 63-yarder to set up the second score to make it 14-0 with 3:54 remaining.
Scott, the mega-transfer from Moorpark whose presence propelled the Seraphs into the national rankings, rushed 17 times for 76 yards against a spirited defense. He had one carry for 18 yards, his only rushing gain of more than eight yards, and he did have a nice 19-yard pass reception on the game-winning drive in which he carried a number of tacklers after the catch.
Scott got the last laugh when he converted a two-point conversion with 37 seconds remaining to give St. Bonny a 15-14 win. it was the only time he was is in the end zone.
When it was over, St. Bonaventure had a victory, but Scott was on one knee trying to catch his breath. "I'm gassed," he said.
It was a shame that Audagnotti, who is more of the little-engine-that-could, didn't get to enjoy the victory; it might otherwise have been a night to remember instead of one to forget.
- Martin Henderson
Hi, my name is Austin and thanks for viewing my first “ceremonial” blog. Here at The Times, we’ll do
our best to try to keep you informed and entertained in a way that’ll give you
no choice but to respond to our postings in an aggressive, heart-felt manner.
With that out of the way, let’s play everyone’s favorite game: Reality Check: Foothill League edition.
REALITY CHECK #1: Canyon will not repeat as state
champs. Heck, the Cowboys won’t even repeat as league champs. Which brings us to…
REALITY CHECK #2: Hart will take its first league title since 2003 thanks, in part, to having guys named Delano Howell, Patrick Larimore and B.R. Holbrook.
And to a lesser extent, REALITY CHECK #3: Saugus will make the playoffs again and Valencia won’t.
Now, I’m not suggesting the Indians will do anything crazy like begin a 65-game league winning streak or something, but their ascension to the top of the league will have little to do with Canyon’s expected return to football mortality. The Stanford-bound Howell is the league’s top running back (although I have to give a shout-out to Saugus RB Ryan Zirbel, who had a stunning sophomore year over on Centurion Way) and
Holbrook is capable of orchestrating a solid passing game. Larimore, a linebacker who’s committed to UCLA, headlines a defensive contingent poised to be the stingiest in the league.
As for Canyon, let’s see: Harry Welch is gone, so is J.J. DiLuigi and Ben Longshore. So who’s left?
Plenty -- just not enough to stop the Indians.
Rookie Head Coach Chris Varner has many talented players at his fingertips, including third-year starting receivers Mark Urbina and Stephen Wirthlin. A.J. Wallerstein heads a trio of returning offensive lineman and linebackers Mike Spagnola (played defensive line last year) and Justin Stevens (transferred from Hart) will spearhead the defensive effort. Longshore’s backup Sean Gavin will be the quarterback.
“I personally think the Foothill League this year is going to be as even as it’s ever been,” said Varner, Canyon’s former J.V. coach. “I know Hart and Valencia and Saugus are all really solid teams, but we certainly have a good shot (at the league title)."
Through talking with him, it seems Varner has a pretty good feel for the league, but I just can’t see the rookie coach with seven returning starters toppling a Mike Herrington-coached Hart squad ranked No. 10 in the state by Rivals.com and CalHiSports.com.
Here’s my prediction: 1. Hart, 2. Canyon, 3. Saugus, 4. Valencia, 5. West Ranch, 6. Golden Valley
Must-See Games:
Sept. 7 – Canyon at Notre Dame, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 7 – Hart vs. Moorpark at College of the Canyons, 7 p.m.
Sept. 14 – Canyon at St. Bonaventure, 7 p.m.
Oct. 12 – Canyon vs. Hart at College of the Canyons, 7 p.m.
Oct. 19 – Saugus vs. Valencia at College of the Canyons, 7 p.m.
- Austin Knoblauch
The press box overlooking Nickoll Field at Beverly Hills is dedicated to Beverly Dordick Faigen, a former Los Angeles Unified School District teacher who died on Oct. 13, 1981 at the age of 46 after losing a six-year battle with breast cancer.
Playing for the Normans Friday night was Faigen's grandson, junior running back/linebacker Dylan Dordick.
- Lauren Peterson
If I heard this correctly, Santa Margarita's dance team performed at halftime to something called "Age of the Innocent," or something innocent, but from a quick glance at the field, it appeared they were dressed anything but.
I'm just saying ...
- Martin Henderson
Well, all right. The Gondoliers didn't keep it close. They showed they could finish off a team they should beat -- at least on this night.
Venice (1-0), ranked 17th by The Times, broke open a close game against host San Fernando by scoring 27 consecutive second-half points and breezing to a 41-14 win. San Fernando (0-1) made it interesting in the first half, trailing only 14-7, but was outplayed by Venice the rest of the way.
All summer, Venice Coach Angelo Gasca has been touting his team as a legitimate threat to win the City Section championship that so far has proved elusive. Traveling to the stifling hot San Fernando Valley for a night game (thank goodness!) wasn't just a chance to get off to a good start but also show their worthiness as a contender.
Gasca got what he wanted. It was the Tigers, not the Gondoliers, who wilted on Friday.
"We weren't looking to necessarily make a statement," Gasca said. "But we know we're a good team because the whole team was returning and it was improved.
"I read John Wooden's book ("Wooden on Leadership") this summer. And it said if you do what you're supposed to do and give it your best effort, the scoreboard will take care of itself. That's the approach we are going to take."
With a schedule that includes nonleague road stops at Oaks Christian and Santa Monica, and a key Western League battle against Hamilton, Venice is not thinking of an undefeated season.
But the Gondoliers are definitely thinking of going past the second round of the playoffs, the round they lost in last year.
This opening-game win over San Fernando reinforced such thinking.
- Mike Terry
Beverly Hills played its season opener against Long Beach Cabrillo without two starters who recently suffered concussions.
Junior outside linebacker Mike Kerman was injured when he tackled a teammate while blocking on a punt return in practice on Tuesday, and senior center Nick Urteaga is still recovering from a concussion suffered in a workout two weeks ago.
Cabrillo senior receiver Maurice Stamps, who set up the Jaguars' touchdown in their 6-2 victory over Beverly Hills when he caught a 42-yard pass from Roman Lewis with 3:12 to play in the third quarter, left the game with a left-shoulder injury with 9:16 remaining after he made a 12-yard catch near the Normans' sideline.
Both coaches hope to have their players back in time for next week's games.
- Lauren Peterson
Long Beach Cabrillo Coach Marcus Turner's son, a 6-foot senior receiver and defensive back of the same name who intercepted a pass by Beverly Hills quarterback Dex Lucci in the fourth quarter, will play football at Stanford next season, his father said.
- Lauren Peterson
It was only a season opener, but Long Beach Cabrillo's 6-2 nonleague victory over Beverly Hills on the Normans' home field had the feel of a championship game for the Jaguars' third-year coach, Marcus Turner.
That is, all wet.
The Jaguars' victory celebration included the players dumping the contents of a large jug of Gatorade onto their coach. And they chased him halfway across the field to do it.
Turner, who played cornerback at UCLA, first soaked up all the Gatorade, then did the same with the atmosphere, thoroughly enjoying his players' happiness after snapping a 13-game losing streak that dated back to Oct. 28, 2005 and included a winless 2006 season.
"It was different. We haven't gotten to do that very often," Turner said. "It was hard to go through, and I hurt for them, but we have some fighters, and look at them. They're just so happy."
- Lauren Peterson
So much for predictions.
Corona Centennial wore down Dominguez in the second half, the heat, the no-huddle offense and Ryan Bass were too much to handle and the Huskies won, 38-17.
Bass scored on a two-yard run midway through the fourth quarter and quarterback Matt Scott added a 36-yard touchdown run a couple minutes later, the Huskies fourth touchdown of the second half.
I had some doubts about Centennial, especially since the Huskies returned an entirely new offensive line, but I think they will give Mater Dei a good game in a few weeks.
It was also nice to see Centennial Coach Matt Logan get off to a strong start after such a tragic summer.
Inland Empire, I think we have a contender.
- Dan Arritt
Dominguez began the second half on the right foot, returning the kickoff for a touchdown, but Centennial is beginning to assume control, scoring on consecutive drives to take a 23-14 lead entering the fourth quarter.
Marcel Posey had the big play on the first scoring drive, hauling in a 23-yard pass from Matt Scott on third and long with Scott scoring on the next play, a seven-yard run.
Ryan Bass then broke off his longest play thus far, a 61-yard touchdown run. He drew an unsportsmanlike penalty for excessive celebration, causing the Huskies to miss the point-after and drawing the ire from a couple assistant coaches, who complained loudly about his selfishness.
Dominguez just kicked a 42-yard field goal to cut the lead to 23-17. What's gotten into these teams?
- Dan Arritt
Corona Centennial, whose field-goal kickers usually get on the field about as often as the ticket-takers, pulled out all the stops and took a 10-7 haltime lead on a 37-yard field as time expired.
The Huskies got into field-goal position after Dominguez threw an ill-advised pass on third down and it was intercepted with about 10 seconds remaining. The Dons were also intercepted on their previous drive to end a scoring opportunity.
Throwing the ball has never been Dominguez's strength, so I suggest building a bon fire with those pages from the play book.
Ryan Bass had a 48-yard run in the first half and is nearing 100 yards already. It must be 95 degrees outside and it's close to 9 p.m. Is fall here yet?
- Dan Arritt
Out in the Valley, the Valley so hot, sit in the sunshine, feel your brain rot...
How hot was it in the San Fernando Valley Friday? Hot enough that the Venice-San Fernando JV game was delayed until 5:45 p.m., when the on-field temperature dropped below 100-plus degrees. And those teams only played a half game so the varsity contest could begin reasonably on time (7:15 p.m.)
Hot enough that Venice senior back Curtis McNeal, after scoring a 12-yard touchdown to give 17th ranked Venice a 14-0 lead, sat out most of the second quarter with his pads off and appearing to be suffering from dehydration. While teammates kept telling McNeal, "We need you," McNeal would respond, "Second half, man."
By the end of the first half, San Fernando had cut the Venice lead in half, to 14-7, thanks to a 30-yard touchdown pass from Rashaad Reynolds to Michael Solis. And San Fernando Coach Tom Hernandez had to be thinking other Venice players would feel the heat in the second half, just the way McNeal did in the first.
- Mike Terry
Crespi quarterback Kevin Prince, who has scholarship offers from UCLA and Washington, suffered a knee injury in the first quarter against Birmingham at Pierce College. Crespi opened with a 14-0 lead.
- Eric Sondheimer
Corona Centennial fumbled the ball away on the opening play from scrimmage, but Dominguez could not capitalize from the Huskies' 20-yard line.
Ryan Bass finally got the ball moving with a 17-yard gain off a screen pass, and his 13-yard run put the ball at the Dons' one. With one of his lineman still bent over after vomiting, quarterback Matt Scott scored after a fake handoff for a 7-0 lead after the first quarter.
Tough, physical game so far. Centennial is quicker on defense than I expected. The Dons were forced to use two timeouts in the game's first three minutes, but just scored a minute into the second quarter to tie the score, 7-7.
- Dan Arritt
Crespi's Lonell Jones returned the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown against Birmingham at Pierce College, and, I'm afraid, the rout appears on.
- Eric Sondheimer
Donna Logan, the 41-year-old wife of Corona Centennial Coach Matt Logan, died in July of breast cancer and a banner memorializing her is hanging beneath the scoreboard. AD Dennis Pratt said a moment of silence is planned before the game.
- Dan Arritt
Corona Centennial is scheduled to have artificial turf and a rubber track installed in its stadium over the winter, and school officials were looking forward to showing it off against visiting Santa Ana Mater Dei in Week 5 next season.
But the Huskies, who play the first game of the two-game series at Santa Ana Stadium later this month, may not get a chance because they are scheduled to move into an eight-team league next season and the fifth week will be occupied by a league opponent.
Centennial AD Dennis Pratt said he doesn't believe the Monarchs will rearrange their schedule to fit the Huskies into one of their open dates next season.
Maybe if you throw in a few FastTrak monitors, they will come.
- Dan Arritt
Compton Dominguez co-Coach Keith Donerson felt out of place standing outside the visitor's locker room before his team's game tonight against Corona Centennial.
Donerson said the Dons have never played a Week 0 game before. Because traffic was light, he also didn't care for the fact that the team arrived at the field about an hour before it usually does.
"I like to get here about 45 minutes before a game," he said.
Donerson said the heat, which read 105 degrees on an outdoor sign at about 5 p.m., matched with the thick humidity and Centennial's no-huddle offense, should test the Dons' conditioning. He said his junior varsity didn't fare so well in the heat and humidity on Thursday.
- Dan Arritt
Scorching temperatures caused several Los Angeles City Section schools to cancel freshman-sophomore football games Friday.
- Eric Sondheimer
I hope my prediction for tonight's final score is closer than my drive-time estimation from O.C. I made it in one hour!
I think the heat is keeping a lot of folks off the road this afternoon, and believe me, it's HOT enough to feel your skin burn.
Cramping is usually a problem early in the season anyway, but I expect hydration will play a big role tonight. I hope the guys took precautions.
-Dan Arritt
If Fred Robledo is the new guy, then I'm Da Real new guy.
I'll be covering preps in the San Gabriel Valley region this year and you can consider this place the cool bachelor pad -- equipped with flat screen, PS3 and mini bar-- that you want to hang out in when you are not at home (The SGVT website).
Right now I'm getting ready to go to La Puente for Bishop Amat's game against defending Baseline league champs Los Osos. Bishop Amat, as you may know, lost a lot of players from last year's team (on offense alone two guys expected to battle for the starting QB job, an athletic running back and a playmaking wide receiver). Coach Mark Verti's kids are coming off a 5-5 season, so it will be interesting to see how they start out.
One thing the Lancers have going for them is that their DB coach was playing in the NFL at this time last year. How many schools can say that? Former Lancers and USC star Daylon McCutcheon is the team's defensive back's coach heading into the season. The SGVT caught up with him earlier in August.
OK, guys, its almost kickoff time and I gotta run. Check back later and I'll have something on tonight's game. And, if you are really hardcore, check back again tomorrow when I'll recap some of tonight's games from the area.
-Jaime Cárdenas
Webcasts have become part of the high school football scene, and vootage.com is the place to see games galore.
Set to run on the vootage.com website this weekend are:
- Crespi vs. Birmingham
- Venice vs. San Fernando
- Golden Valley vs. Littlerock
- Santa Ana Calvary Chapel vs. Magnolia
- St. Bonaventure vs. Santa Margarita
- Dominguez vs. Corona Centennial
- Servite vs. St. Paul
-Eric Sondheimer
Renaldo Woolridge, a 6-foot-8 senior basketball standout
from Harvard-Westlake, looked comfortable and at ease wearing a USC
T-shirt as he was escorted around the Trojans' campus by assistant coach Bob
Cantu on Thursday.
He was making an unofficial recruiting visit, bringing along his
mother and younger sister for the tour.
It's hard to predict what college choice Woolridge will make, but the Trojans are the lone
home-town school in the running for the talented player, who's going
to be a terrific scorer in college.
He plans to take official visits to Georgetown, Tennessee, Marquette and Illinois.
-Eric Sondheimer
UCLA and Washington are going to have to wait a little while longer for a final college choice from Crespi quarterback Kevin Prince.
Both schools have made firm offers to Prince for 2010, if he should decide to go on a Mormon mission.
Prince said he still hasn't made a decision of whether to take the two-year mission, but that's the direction he's leaning.
UCLA would appear to have the edge, considering Prince's father graduated from the school. But the longer he takes to decide provides Washington with hope.
Prince made dramatic improvement over the summer and projects as a very competent QB prospect because of his mobility, intelligence and increasing arm strength. He would be a great pickup for either school, even in 2010.
-Eric Sondheimer
So San Clemente goes to Maui to play its season opener last night. Not only do the Tritons get the tropical scenery, they also get a win, 38-15, over Baldwin. How sweet is that? Nothing like a 95-yard kickoff return, courtesy Jade Micalef, to start he season on the right foot.
San Clemente wasn't ranked in The Times' preseason top 25 this week, but they got one of my votes. To be considered for mention among "Others" -- one of those teams that didn't get into the rankings but did receive votes -- a team needed to receive votes from at least two of the nine voting staff members.
I don't know if beating a team on the island will do it for the Tritons, but if they beat No. 14 Edison next week, it will sure get a lot of people's attention.
-Martin Henderson
It's early in the afternoon on the Friday before Labor Day and I'm looking at a three-hour drive to travel about 30 miles from Orange County to Corona Centennial, which is hosting Compton Dominguez tonight. When I was handed the Inland Empire region as my coverage area for this school year, I figured there'd be days like this.
But this game might be worth the wear on the brake pads.
Centennial running back Ryan Bass has nearly 4,500 yards and 70 touchdowns over the last two seasons, but he hasn't run into a defense quite like the one he'll see tonight.
Dominguez is led by linebacking brothers Maurice and Marquis Simmons, who know how to ruin a running back's day. Both have already committed to USC, and this will be a good chance to display their skills against a top ballcarrier.
My guess is Dominguez scores twice on defense and manages to keep the ball away from Centennial long enough to post a 27-14 victory.
-Dan Arritt
Beginning this fall, The Times' high school sports coverage will head off in yet another new direction: The Blog-o-sphere!
I am one of many assistant sports editors here at The Times, and I'm in charge of our high school (or "prep") sports coverage. As many of you who follow our prep coverage know, it's impossible to guess as to how it will evolve year to year. ("The only constant is change.")
This time around, we're going Back to the Future, back to regionalized coverage, but done through blogs. Six prep reporters have each been assigned a geographical region of the Southland from which to report via blogs, with an emphasis on the major schools and the major sports each season.
Don't worry, Eric Sondheimer's column will appear every Wednesday and Friday in the paper, and we will have a page devoted to high school sports in the paper every Wednesday of the football season.
You'll hear more from me about our plans in my next post, but for now, when you turn to latimes.com/highschool or latimes.com/preps -- hey, here's a thought: Why not bookmark these pages? Make them your home page! -- click on the blog for fresh takes on the Southland's high school sports scene.
-Bob Rohwer
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Orange County:
Valley/North: Austin Knoblauch, Sean Ceglinsky
Inland Empire: Dan Arritt
San Gabriel Valley:
L.A. County (downtown to the Westside, South Bay and Long Beach): Anthony Stitt
High School Recruiting: Eric Sondheimer