Football: Villa Park is team to watch on and off the field

Villa Park has eight offensive starters with grade-point averages of 4.0 or better, Coach Dusan Ancich said. Take that, private schools.

And the Spartans can play, too. They went 4-0 on Friday in the morning session of the Claremont tournament, including a victory over highly regarded Covina Charter Oak.

Quarterback Blair Boyce, who has a 4.6 GPA and has been starting since his sophomore year, led Villa Park. He took a trip recently to the East Coast and visited Harvard, Cornell, Brown, MIT and Dartmouth.

As for having so many smart players in the huddle, Boyce said, "It makes it a lot easier to be on the same page."

And Ancich said, "They're a lot smarter than the coaching staff."

Linebacker Andrew Yoon tops the GPAs at 4.8. Performing well Friday were receiver-defensive back Thomas Harper and defensive back Jacob Scavuzzo. Villa Park went 9-4 last season.

-- Eric Sondheimer