Football: Roosevelt, Garfield going separate ways

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Two weeks after Roosevelt defeated Garfield, 28-16, in the East L.A. Classic, the Eastern League rivals are headed their separate ways: The Roughriders are playing in the City Section’s Division II playoffs while the Bulldogs are playing in the Division I playoffs.

While Roosevelt garnered the top seeding in Division II and will be favored to win the title, Garfield received only a No. 13 seeding and will be a heavy underdog in its first-round game against fourth-seeded Taft.

Garfield Coach Lorenzo Hernandez said the decision whether to ‘play up’ in Division I ultimately rests with the coach.

‘Do you move up to satisfy the critics or do you stay down because you understand the caliber of athletes you have?’ he asked. ‘I did it because everyone thought we should be playing up.

‘It’s a hard decision as a coach because you can’t satisfy everyone. If you win the lower division, people are going to expect you to move up. [But] after how many years do you realize you don’t have a D.J. Morgan, a Trajuan Briggs, you don’t have the big guys that Carson and these guys do?’

Hernandez said he likes playing in Division I because it brings out the best in him and his players.

‘It’s just a different atmosphere, everything from knowing that you’re playing against Division I-caliber kids that are going to be moving on [to college] to coaching-wise,’ he said. ‘I appreciate the fact that you can play against the guys who go play against the Long Beach Polys and [Gardena] Serras.

‘We’ll stick around here as long as we can.’

--Ben Bolch