High School Football CIF Finals scores from around the area:
Friday November 29
DIV 5
Palos Verdes 23 La Serna 7
DIV 7
Rio Hondo Prep 43 Warren 16
DIV 11
Portola 31 El Rancho 14
Saturday November 30
DIV 6
Murrieta Mesa 17 Glendora 7
DIV 13
Pasadena 21 Gahr 17
DIV 14
Pioneer 13 San Gabriel 6
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Robert Martinez? Mazzotta coached at all those schools? I had no idea. But La Habra turned from very below average into very good to great within three years ! Then was a CIF power for several years
Frank Mazotta was the Dad at Cerritos College and Casey Mazotta was the son I believe that coached La Habra and nownis the HC at Mt. Sac. As for Lobendanh, he got the wrong end of the stick at Magnolia and Bellflower with administration ( A assistant principal not wanting him ) at Magnolia and with the principal at Bellflower holding a grudge against him when he was the HC at Lakewood and the principal was the principal at Mayfair when Lobendanh beat them in their annual rivalry game between the 2. Bellflower was a young team this season, they graduated 21 seniors from the season before and only had I believe 4 returners with any Varsity playing time, plus they were put in the upper division of their league because they won the Lower division last year. I think he would be the right coach for Glenn where he had successfully led them to a league championship and 2 playoff appearances. Usually coaches from what I’ve seen that get hired at Glenn stay for 2 years and leave because they do not know how to handle the situation at Glenn with the student population but Lobendanh was able to when he was there.
Ron Vrooman, AHS stat man
December 2, 2024 – 4:26 pm | Permalink if a teacher is let go during budget cuts, the tenured teachers with most years are the ones who stay and the teachers with lesser years get laid off. And as far as ‘hiring a better teacher’ goes it is very,very difficult to let go , even under par teachers, when they have tenure. The teachers unions take care of this
Just An Ol’ Has Been I have no problem with you friend
Didn’t CIF agree to four neutral sites for the State Championship games just two years ago?
@ Rise-O-Roni: Much of the problem with the teaching of history and other subjects is the fact that public education has been under attack for decades. There are politically powerful and wealthy individuals and groups who want to cut public school funding, promote charter schools, and/or enact voucher programs.
As if all of that isn’t enough, many of the same people are interfering with instructional programs across the country, as they attempt to impose particular viewpoints regardless of the actual facts or opposing views. In my opinion, what you’re advocating would be nothing more than the completion of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Dude wtf are you talking about? No one called the ER coach one of the best in history, No one is comparing Adrian Medrano to any of the other coaches you mention, the difference in most of the coaches you mention in higher divisions is they get the cream of the crop athletes from their cities, they go out and pull kids from other schools and coach all star teams. Adrian Medrano does none of that he gets mainly Pico Rivera kids, many with no experience and he squeezes every ounce of talent from them, that’s what a real coach is and does, give Adrian Medrano the talent these other coaches get and he would run circles around them. In 2019 El Rancho had a 5’3 QB throw for 3000+ yards and 30+ TD’s you think any of these other coaches you mention would ever have to resort to playing a 5’3 QB? Adrian Medrano doesn’t have 1 season of excellence, he’s taken the program to 1 CIF Final, 1 Semi Final, 2 Quarterfinals and made the playoffs in 6/8 seasons, he also has 25+ players named All-CIF and All Area. None of the coaches you’ve mentioned do it with the backyard kids. Your posts are full of stupidity, frankly take your meds and log off.
Sports Man:
Respect (tip of the hat gesture).
Sincerely had no idea what happened in those two games other than the scores which was posted here and why I commented on this blog. If you read my complete post, I stated that I was hoping for some celebrating in the Pico Rivera and Whittier areas.
I refuse to pay for the paper these days and this blog page is free. Social Security and my pension only go so far.
Correction and i completely agree with you while some believe ER’s Coach is one of the ‘at the top level coaches historically”! I am impressed he directed The Ranch to the cif finals, but earning the honor of one of greatest ever is way out there. Only my personal suggestion, and I have zero claims of thinking I know more than any of these bloggers on this focus . There are so many head football coaches who had much greater accomplishments than ‘the one season of excellence’ in the cif division playoffs ER competed in. Even locally many more bigger accomplishments by many. Does ER’s coach belong with similar status , lets say, as La Mirada’s Coach Muschetti’s State Championship a few years back? LM won at least a couple league championships versus some better teams like Mayfair than teams ER played in the playoffs. BUT yes i wish i coached a football team , in ER’s division, to the cif finals. No doubt! And La Serna has been a heck of a club winning state championship in a much, much better division , yet some bloggers hate them, even with disrespect for LS right ? Apples and oranges maybe in only my opinion. La Habra was excellent for several years after hiring (forgot name) the Cerritos head coach’s son. And he took over a perennial 2 and 8 consistent program. I am very happy for ER having a great season, but La Habra had many players during their great seasons who earned quality D! and D2 scholarships. Porter, Barteloni caught around 50 receptions as a freshman at Washington state. I only will list those two, but with research many more could be listed. What about Downey football? have they been much more successful ? Yes, Yes I do realize that winning statistics does not only decide quality. Mater Dei ex coach retired couple years ago and won more games and league and Cif championship , I suggest , than 95% of the coaches mentioned here. Yet his replacement? Hasn’t he won cif D1 championship his first two seasons? Maybe. And proving ‘the incredible ,possibly unmatched talent , this school has
Yep, fire a history teacher. They say if you don’t learn from history, you’re doomed to repeat it. Well, this country is repeating all manner of stupid stuff. Therefore, the people charged with teaching history aren’t doing their jobs…fire ’em.
The district will get them where they need to go. Don’t worry about it. But don’t be a moron like the other guy and talk about declining it. Idiot.
@ Rise-O-Roni: Fire a history teacher? What a great solution.
The only legitimate reasons for firing or laying off a history teacher would be: 1) budget cuts; 2) misconduct on the part of that teacher; and/or 3) to hire a better history teacher.
Not enough people in this country are knowledgeable about our history or human history in general, and many certainly don’t know the truth about some key events. History should be better taught, not ignored or devalued.
Rise-O-Roni I suggest Juarez very well could be a history teacher hahha! Hey they , in the playoffs, have been beating teams placed in the same level as they are, even though this system of ‘grading and placing in levels, may be insecure as not enough observation and time to conclude yet. I have observed when Coach Juarez was given a little bit of talent , he had the team playing to potential. He was a very creative OC with ability to do some good things centered around only two or three quality athletes
The team they play from City section is very weak . The bottom of City Section is bad
Riser’s attitude that a D14 plaque is good enough shows us all why Pioneer has long been an athletic doormat. It’s called low expectations, something worse than Covid, which afflicts the unincorporated Whittier area school. Truth is, almost nobody stands in awe of a D14 win, so his team really needs to win this state tourney to get the program some serious respect. Start a GoFundMe, or fire a history teacher, but by God, get the team up north to win some credibility.
Correction,
Using Arcadia demographics and Rio Hondo Prep as an example to compare Pico Rivera and El Rancho is the same as using Mater Dei and Santa Ana as a comparison. Totally flawed logic.
But to your point, you’re right.
It would make sense to compare it to Arcadia HS which football program has struggled due to demographic shifts.
Just An Ol’ Has Been ? you knew what happened , as you say there was no write up on those games yet. Write up on which source of info? I had no problem educating myself on who won and who lost in the finals. If I incorrectly interpreted your sentence , well then I did. But it sure looked like a silly and mean thing to write. Hey , I do not claim I am very correct about what you meant, it looked similar to all kinds of insults directed toward LS. YOU are way off base with your incorrect assumption that i am terribly disappointed with LS game results as a parent or coach. I do not think LS staff has it in them to make such comments on this blog. Why would they drop to lower levels when they are true champions and recently a cif powerhouse in their division. I too believe in winning with class and losing with decency and respect. My athletic days are long gone and my kids days are long gone too. I respect you
Agree , that’s ridiculous. Pioneer was 1-2 in a league created of cellar dwellers in 2018. Their one league win was a forfeit . They were made a 2 seed and favored in all their games . Love the Titan story but please keep things in some kind of perspective. Last years team probably better
Ryan Bateman and Ernie Johnson in the same sentence… ha I think we’ve seen it all. Please log off already.
In Response? began coaching at Santa Fe in 2005, while playing baseball for Cerritos College and Whittier College. Bateman also continued his education, receiving a bachelor’s degree in performance and sports psychology and a master’s degree in special education from Grand Canyon University. Bateman is currently . I am not claiming to know more than you do. I am just adding quite a bit of just as important variables (to your important list of qualities) , and possibly more important variables? Maybe? You replied to me ‘ it is not rocket science’ , just (does ‘just’ basically mean it is at the top of the list?) good old fashion showing you care, and get out there within the school and motivate a lot more students to come play the greatest game ever. But above I supported my knowledge that playing college sports /sport is a huge factor in directing Santa Fe’s big improvement and success this year. To do what Bateman has accomplished so far, and some others like him have accomplished, I think I know that ‘the athletic background in college competition is equally important . So are several other necessary variables that lead to great improvement in a football (and other sports) program. I have observed several head coaches that truly care and love their players who did not improve programs. Great coaches , I believe many times have been blessed (by God) with this ‘great ability ‘ to educate and coach. And as YOU know most of the mental stuff , as you stated, comes very naturally in these ‘Winners’ like Johnson and probably Bateman are gifted with. I am glad you and I are having commentary discussion, especially with some intelligence
Not sure how this topic turned into this, however this is a different era in the city of pico Rivera, no longer is Ford Company or Northrop Grumman here to attract families from all over Southern California to come and live here giving El Rancho some of the best teams in SGV history. Now it’s just a heavily Hispanic community that on a good year has 80-100 kids playing football for their only HS, maybe a 3rd of those kids have previous football experience or any kind of training.
Don’t hold your breath, no one is saving Whittier High School as long as anyone from the “kingdom” has a say.
Great job Juarez but don’t ever put him in the same post as HCs from MD and SJB
Decline the bowl? That’s lame. This is a once in a lifetime for most. And decline? Gtfoh
In Response! I agree completely with you, but did you interpret my commentary as even slightly negative? Or that I did not focus on the extremely close to perfect coach he was? I just copied and will paste my knowledge of what kind of coach Johnson was! Here is one perfect conclusion (I think perfect indirect description of the man you know was the best) in one sentence. Read it closely please , and possibly realize we both know that the odds of finding another one like him seldom occurs. “matching up with Johnson’s consistency in WINNING was close to impossible”! I made it very clear. And your description of very good head coaches (although you failed to mention most of the best head coaches have a ‘very good athletic background playing a college sport”! Playing , with passion , goals, love of competition , having been in the same game situations as his players are is better than those who never competed a a very high level, (apologies for the lack of grammar and sentence structure;;;; I do not care one ounce about my mistakes writing; ) , and being a “master MOTIVATOR’, as you stated may be the most important variable?? Maybe/ ? Knowledge of the fundamentals and strategies you failed to mention. BUT I am with you ! The best coaches ‘reach the minds of his student athletes”. Do you disagree that the community has not put many athletes in The NFL, or Major leagues over the past three decades? You need great talent to accomplish Johnson’s excellence, and he earned 100% of it, but I have not heard of any Mark Bailey’s lately
If PiHi wins next week and we are heavy favorites we will need to charter a jet if we are away for the final. Maybe we decline the bowl like CV did a few years ago. We got our ring.
Sports Man states that the Pico community is far different now than it was back in Johnson’s day. True enough, but the Arcadia community is also far different than it was then, yet there is sufficient interest in that area to produce a football team called Rio Hondo Prep. Fact is, football is the number one sport in these United States, and if a school is languishing in the dumps with its football operation, chances are excellent that the coach is not up to par with his people skills, meaning his willingness to interact with the kids and encourage them to come out.
To give an example, note how Santa Fe has shot new life into its football program via the PEOPLE SKILLS of new coach Ryan Bateman. It’s not rocket science, just plain old-fashioned showing that you care enough to meet and greet prospective athletes and to ask them to come out and give it a go. The worst thing that can happen is they shine you on, but the best thing that can happen is they DO come out, like it, and bring a couple of their friends to boot.
Ernie Johnson didn’t simply sit back and wait for the kids to come to him; he went out and sold himelf to the kids. He was all over the Pop Warner programs and the Junior Highs. He made a point to introduce himself to anyone who might contribute to his program. It was hard work, but as we know from witnessing the results, it was worth it.
In the wake of what Rio Hondo Prep has done with its extremely limited resources, I wonder how its coach would do if he took over, say, Whittier. There’s a neighborhood and a program that most of us consider hopeless. But I’d bet you’d see an immediate turnaround, because that coach would get into the kids’ heads and make them realize he gives a damn, which would spark interest from other neglected kids, and the ball would be rolling.
On a larger scale, look at what the United States has been able to accomplish relative to other nations. Ask yourself what’s the difference. It’s what’s in peoples’ heads, the exciting idea that life is out there to be lived, that they are able to accomplish great things. That’s the mindset Ernie Johnson brought to Pico Rivera. Some have called him the General Patton of football, but never forget that General Patton, like Ernie johnson, cared deeply about his guys.
Being one dimensional and shooting oneself on the foot are part and parcel of D 14 football. The Pioneer defense which gave up 48 to Kennedy , 70 to Cerritos and 35 in the first half to Artesia suddenly found strength against the vaunted Green running game. Make your own conclusions
Numbers somewhat close to zero are some decent teams even if negative. When a team must be -30 or lower to get in a division , well it’s not good football ,
Nobody in the “lay world” understands this , however people take championship as meaningful . It’s competitive equity and for me I just don’t care that much about it anymore .
Lowbendahl has totally bottomed out at Magnolia and Bellflower going 0 for 2 years and walking out late season at Magnolia
Administrators love head coaching experience even if they are proven losers
@ Sports Man
Relax there, Princess!
No one is saying it’s easy to win. When I made that blog post, there was no write up yet on the La Serna or El Rancho games. I was simply asking for info on how each of the games unfolded and brought both teams to defeat in the Sectional Finals. I’m far removed from my playing days and coaching career. But based on your response, you’re either a coach or a parent who is still emotional from the loss. And I get it, but try to breathe a bit.
In my day, we valued a few simple principles of the sports world.
“Be humble in Victory and gracious in defeat”.
In reading many of these blog posts, our society can use a little of that old school principle.
Coach Medrano from El Rancho has been a perfect example of that in his statement regarding their defeat. Congratulations to him and his football program on their success over the past few seasons. (Even though they took us down twice this year)
And I’ll share this from the CIF website, whether you agree with it or not:
“Together, the CIF and its member schools can change the very nature of high school athletics and bring back the character, sportsmanship, ethics, and integrity that high school sports can instill.”
Best of luck to our area schools who are moving on to the Regional Championship games.
Are those head coaches at Mater Dei and St. Johns Bosco more worthy of honors than a guy like Juarez toiling in a little poor section of Whittier for decades and finally going to a state bowl. I argue a very good arguement could be made for Juarez.
The state CIF football playoff pairings are out, and Pioneer is going to play Panorama (from Panorama City) next Friday, December 7, at 7pm. The game is at Pioneer. I’m normally a critic of anything Titan, but find myself oddly wishing that everyone concerned with high school football in the area would go support the kids in this historic opportunity. Maybe it’s just that I don’t want HS football to be over yet, but this is a rare chance to do something outrageous and pack the stands, which would blow the kids’ minds. Think about it…and then go to the game!
From T. Peterson. The game is Saturday night at 6:00 p.m.
Correction= a huge variable in Johnson’s Days at The Ranch is the 100% undeniable fact that the ‘community’ then was far, far different than the ‘community’ is today. I read , as you do, some of the comments about ER football and I respect some comments because it is good to post positive comments on the teams the persons like/love. But I suggest many are ridiculous, especially the consistent criticizing (such as focusing on La Serna). Even after Johnson , at least one, the next one or two head coaches at The Ranch had great success, yet matching up with Johnson’s consistency in WINNING was close to impossible. One coach, after Johnson’s Reign, went on to head JC Coach at Cerritos and was very successful. His son was an awesome coach turning La Habra from a way below average culture into the CIF Powerhouse he directed. I forgot his name. In those days , with some research, we can find several of ER’s baseball players who played in the big leagues. One , I think was ??? (first name ??? haha) Rick Pope, who also was ER’s QB. This whole area of Pico, Whittier with Chandler, Buehler both winning two Super bowls on the RAIDERS , Norwalk’s ballplayers in the Major leagues, and more great, great high school athletes. ER tied Whittier hs 0 -0 in Whittier’s first game of their 64 CIF Championship. Great, great athletes during those days/ Take care
Congrats Riser!!!! Go hoist a few with the veterans at the Squeeze Inn.
Correction: Well (I have not read any) there is zero, yes zero, chance that current coaching at ER can be in the same class as Johnson
Just An Ol’ Has Been? What happened you want to know? Do you think it is easy to win this type of Championship? Especially against a Palos Verdes club
On to next year. But……First off El Rancho got beat. A few plays one way or another and El Rancho pulls out a win but in reality the breaks went both ways. No complaints from me about the refs or even the fans didn’t carp very much.. Got there what I thought was early but the El Rancho stands were already packed and noisy. It was much like a family reunion with old men in their coveted letterman jackets introducing wives , girlfriends, grandchildren to old friends. Ever in the loss it felt comfortable. Disappointment fo sure but very glad they came to the far side of the OC to rep their boys. So packed it was that I would venture a few hundred ER fans invaded the Portola side it looked like. If this road game atmosphere is any indication Friday Night Lights at the new stadium will be a hot ticket. From what I heard the new stadium is not following the mammoth jobs at Pioneer and La Serna but will be more intimate shall we say. Its going to fill up. Medrano has some very good players that are Jrs. and Sophs so the cupboards are not bare. See you next year. PS.. Did not see LS game so I will refrain from reporting on LS other than to say congrats on a fine season.You have 2 more years with a top QB.
First off congrats to Pioneer HS on winning the Division 14 Championship. Now here is my concern with John Glenn HS, every team in the 605 league have made it to their respective Division championship final and won except for Glenn. As of right now with Penny as head coach, Glenn may not have a football program. Granted he had a good 1st year but didn’t make the playoffs. He went from having 40 players that 1st year to finishing with 15 players due to injuries and players quiting, also forfeiting 2 games this year due to the drama between Norwalk because of what a coach did and to Pioneer because of lack of players. I saw a red flag after last season ended when the incident happened with the 2 coaches and players transferring including his own cousin. The only way to save this program from disbanding is getting rid of him and bring in someone who knows the kids that go there, the league, and how the program works. The last time they won league and went to the playoffs was with Coach Lobendanh. Something needs to be done to bring this program back from inly having 15 players. Penny has to go? Bring back Lobendanh maybe? Something needs to be done.
@Correction, I agree with your statement in part. No one doubts the great accomplishments of coach Ernie Johnson and coach Picon. I will add coach Dick Shelko and coach Medrano as some of the best coaches in El Rancho football lore. Not to disparage the other football coaches at ER. El Rancho has always been a competitive team. What they all had in common was that all their players were players from the community of Pico Rivera. Football is totally different from the years of Coach Johnson. Today’s players have many distractions and football is not the most important thing in their lives. What Medrano has done with the players of today is an accomplishment in itself. No on campus practice facilities and no home field for 2 years is a tough situation. He may not be Ernie Johnson but he is one if the best
Titans have their moment ! Finally got to the right place at that right time ….so glad they beat SG !
Nobody “hates” D14, but quite a few of us dislike the notion of teams with negative power ratings carrying on as if they are the Lords of creation. Apparently, MVS agrees somewhat on this, because their decision was to not cover this one. This fine site has only so many resources, and sparing the electrons to post the Pioneer score was generous enough.
SG had several opportunities to score and take Div.14 but shot themselves in the foot. They were very one dimensional on offense tonight. Defense was hungry and battled but Pioneer had a couple more weapons.
C’mon you D14 haters. I’m waiting for you!!!
PiHi wins! PiHi wins!!! Will this help PiHi keep attendance area 8th graders from putting their names in the WUHSD’s Open Enrollment “Lottery” and making their way to the “Kingdom”?
El Rancho has always had great attendance and support and I’ve been going to games for 29 years now. Ernie Johnson will always be the greatest coach this program has ever seen however what Adrian Medrano is accomplishing today is to be applauded.
I hasten to inform readers that a man named Ernie Johnson won a national championship for ER, along with a division 2 CIF crown and two D1 crowns. Johnson’s teams won more games than any other program in the state for an entire decade, during which the stands were packed every Friday night, not just on championship game night. The other great ER coach was Dominic Picon, who won a state championship and numerous CIF titles in Soccer.
I cast no aspersions on the current sports leaders of the school, but this happy talk of the current coaches being among the greatest reveals a real lack of perspective.
El Rancho didn’t make enough plays on offense to win this game, the offense didn’t seem to click much, a few fumbles and turnovers in key moments really killed ER.
What El Rancho has been able to do with 2 years of no home stadium or an on campus practice field is remarkable. Gotta give credit to coach Medrano, in his 8 years coaching ER he has made the playoffs in 6/8 seasons (not counting covid season ) he has led this program to 2 Quarterfinals 2016, 2019, a Semi Final 2018, a CIF final 2024 and we can’t forget that 2021 season where ER was on the cusp of playing in D6 and got thrown to the wolves facing Leuzinger in the 1st rd, a program that is now in D2. ER football program is on a very positive trajectory and return a ton of young dudes, a few things go our way and we could very well be here again in a year or 2.
It was my first time witnessing Rio Hondo Prep and let me tell you, those boys play great football.
Congrats! Definitely deserving of all the accolades.
As for La Serna and El Rancho, what happened? I was really hoping for some additional celebration in the Pico Rivera & Whittier communities.
Well let’s see what the neighboring Pioneer Titans can do tonight.
Tough loss for my alma mater The Ranch. Portola did a good job of grinding out some deep drives and won the field position battle all night. ER struggled to get in the endzone in the first half with a couple missed opportunities on dropped balls. Then in the 2nd half the offense struggled to get going because Portola’s ground game and timely passing kept ER off the field.
Congrats to the players on a great season and congrats to the Pico faithful who came out and more than doubled the home crowd. That was a sight to see.
And last. What about the job Adrian “Boomer” Medrano has done since he’s been with us? I might get heat from some of the alum but IMO he’s right up there with the ER greats if not even higher. He has found a way to make ER competitive every year and if there’s a bad season, the next one is a great one.
Congrats Dons!