October 13, 2007 | 8:27
pm
Things didn’t go exactly as planned for Chaminade QB Ryan Griffin on Friday night against his former pigskin mates over at Loyola, but at least he was right with his prediction that facing the Cubs would be a little weird.
“In the beginning it was kind of a trip, but once you start playing, it’s just another team,” said Griffin, whose Eagles fell, 17-7 to Loyola. “It was definitely a game I really wanted to win...we just couldn’t pull it off.”
October 13, 2007 | 7:47
pm
Even though I knew the Santa Barbara-Buena game was one of the best matchups of Week 6, I never would have guessed it'd take four overtimes to settle.
Thanks to a 29-yard field goal by Vincent Alvarez (aka Mr. Clutch) in quadruple overtime, the Dons not only picked up their fifth win of the season with a 23-20 victory, but also opened Channel League play with a win -- something the boys on the so-called California Riviera haven't done since 2001, the year of their last league championship.
Now I'm not going to say anything crazy like SB is going to give St. Bonaventure (next week's opponent) a run at the league title or anything, but this team is pretty darn good. They'll definitely challenge for a playoff spot and second place behind those Seraph titans isn't out of the question.
October 13, 2007 | 7:00
pm
Emotions ran high in the San Gabriel Valley League opener between Dominguez and Gahr on Friday night, especially once Maurice Simmons, the Dons' standout senior linebacker, broke his left leg early in the game.
"It added to the intensity," Dominguez quarterback Robert Bragg said. "It was real intense at the beginning of the game. There was a lot of talking going on before the game, and when that happened, it just made us play harder. It added another spark."
October 13, 2007 | 6:26
pm
The season opener for North Hollywood on Aug. 31 ended with the Huskies on the wrong end of a 36-0 beatdown by Marshall. In addition, eight players went out of the game with assorted injuries.
If Coach Andrew Kasek was thinking the season could be shot with nine games left, who could blame him.
"At one point of the Marshall game we had three 10th graders on the offensive line," Kasek recalled.
October 13, 2007 | 5:30
pm
This story is one of the most bizarre I've stumbled across in a while. I've heard of a last-minute change of venues, but at halftime? Another reason why these increasingly elaborate homecoming halftime shows should be moved to another time and place.
What a good deal for the folks who watched Corona Centennial defeat Valley View, though. They saw 1 1/2 games for the price of one.
I'd love to hear more about the challenges of moving from one site to another in the middle of a football game, but it's a Saturday and Moreno Valley and Vista del Lago are closed. After digging through my questionairres from the last five years and searching our database of coaching contacts, I've also discovered that locating phone numbers for Moreno Valley Coach Ted Watkins and Vista del Lago Coach Ken Hedlund is about as easy as finding Ted Turner and Kenny Rogers.
- Dan Arritt
October 13, 2007 | 5:00
pm
As far as West Torrance is concerned, the best thing that could be said about a 21-21 tie with Mira Costa on Friday has already been said.
"At least we didn't lose," senior running back Brian Baucham noted. "It was a good awakening for us. I think we'll be better from here on, because now we know we're not invincible."
The Warriors (5-0-1, 0-0-1) found out the hard way when Mira Costa (2-3-1, 0-0-1) rallied from a 21-7 second-quarter deficit to tie the game on a short scoring run by Adrien Dotson in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, and then West Torrance kicker Tyler Krumpe missed slightly left on a potential game-winning 43-yard field goal in the final seconds. Replay the game via this Daily Breeze account.
October 13, 2007 | 4:32
pm
For some reason my wireless card or service was out of whack until almost 3 p.m., so I apologize to my legions of fans who were just dying to read my final thoughts on last night's parochial duel between Crespi and Alemany.
As you probably know by now, Crespi triumphed, 28-21, but I have to say I was a little boggled about what I saw last night as I was making my long, uphill, water-logged trek back to my car (it's OK to feel sorry for me).
And the passage of 17 hours or so hasn't stopped my Celt confusion. I still can't get over the incredible performance they put up against St. Bonaventure two weeks ago and the Week 0 victory over Birmingham. However, following their heartbreaking loss to Canyon last week, the Celts came out surprisingly dull against the Warriors. I don't know why this would happen to a team talented enough to knock off some of Southern California's best.
October 13, 2007 | 3:00
pm
Most wins are nice. But wins against a longtime rival are special.
It's too bad Carson did not get its dramatic 35-31 victory against Narbonne last season, either in the regular season or playoffs, rather than the first league game; the Colts would have more time to savor the flavor. But that is rarely possible in the Marine League, and definitely not this season.
"This put us in the driver's seat for, oh, about seven days," Carson Coach Michael Christensen said.
"It was good to get into a physical mode of play. Because it's going to be like this week in and week out."
October 13, 2007 | 2:00
pm
It's not a stretch to envision three former Norco offensive linemen starting for Arizona State a couple years from now.
Garth Gerhart and Adam Tello (yes, that's their real hair) are currently redshirt freshmen for the Sun Devils, and Norco senior right tackle Kyle Johnson is taking an official recruiting trip to Arizona State this weekend.
"I've got Garth showing me around," said Johnson, a 6-foot-7, 290-pound behemoth. "I'd like to go there and be with them, we were really close when we were here."
October 13, 2007 | 1:22
pm
There comes a period in the career of every high school standout that they deliver a breakout performance. For Etiwanda sophomore quarterback Angel Santiago, that time was Friday night.
He totaled approximately 420 yards of offense in a 29-26 upset victory against Los Osos in a Baseline League opener. He also threw a pie in the face of anyone who predicted Los Osos (4-2, 0-1) would run away with the league title, including myself.
Etiwanda Coach Stephen Bryce was still adding up the official offensive numbers from the game tape Saturday morning, but through the first half, Santiago had close to 140 yards rushing and 100 yards passing.
"It was the difference on offense," Bryce said.
