MidValleySports.Com

Here’s a look at the season in review for our Old School Teams. Keep in mind that “Old School” consists of all six teams in the MVL, Monrovia and Temple City in the Rio Hondo, Alhambra and San Gabriel in the Almont, Arcadia in the Pacific and Duarte in the Montview. We’ve added area teams Baldwin Park in the Valle Vista, Sierra Vista in the Montview and Bosco Tech in the Del Rey to round out the 15. 

Mission Valley League:

Arroyo (9-2) – Only two losses for the Knights in 2010 – the first one didn’t cause a blip on the radar but the last one left a bad taste in their mouths. Arroyo started the year with big victories over Ontario and Temple City in the Mid Valley Classic before heading to Montebello.

Quarterback Steven Rivera got injured early in the game vs. the Oilers but Eddie Federico and Hunter Duran saved the day by hooking up on a touchdown pass late in the fourth to pull out a 12-8 win.

The Knights were humbled the next week against Hart without Rivera but Hart does that to a lot of teams. Rivera returned and Arroyo went on a six game winning streak including five straight in the MVL to win the league title.

Then it was time for San Dimas. The Knights got the Saints at home and looked like they had pulled it out late when a double pass resulted in an apparent game tying score. But the referees ruled Rivera’s first pass was forward and the TD was nullified. San Dimas went on to win 21-14.

As bitter pill as it was to swallow credit Arroyo Coach Jim Singiser for saying that the officials made the right call after reviewing the play.

A 9-2 record and a league title are nice but a season ending loss like that can stay with you until fall.

Rosemead (8-4) – It was the year of Matt Fregoso for the Panthers as the senior ran wild for over 2400 yards. The Panthers suffered big non league losses to Rowland and San Gabriel but by the time the playoffs rolled along they were playing pretty well.

Rosemead had won five of six with the only defeat coming to league champ Arroyo. The Panthers got a nice CIF draw with Temple City at home – a team they had beaten 29-28 earlier in the year.

The Rams battled but the Mead eventually held on for a 29-28 win. As a reward the Panthers got a date with Village Christian in the second round. 

The Panthers pieced together two long drives early only to come up empty while Village Christian and Amjed Aboul-hosn took advantage. It was 14-0 early in what turned out to be a 34-0 VC rout.

Bad way to finish but a playoff win under your belt is always a confidence booster.

El Monte (4-6) – In any other year a third place MVL finish would have planted the Lions squarely in the playoffs but in the new CIF configuration, they were left out in the cold. The Lions couldn’t get over the Rosemead, Arroyo hump but they did take care of the three bottom layer teams including a 49-13 thrashing of South El Monte.

But El Monte’s 4-6 record cost them a shot at the playoffs. Non league losses to La Puente, Gladstone and Wilson jumped up to bite Joel Sanchez’ crew. 

The Lions came into their final two league games riding high at 3-0 before falling 4-7 to Arroyo and 42-29 to Rosemead.

A young team, El Monte could be on the verge of a break through.

Mt. View (5-5) – While .500 for some teams is considered a failure, the Vikings were basking in the glory. A win over El Monte would

have left them at 6-4 and third place in league but a 28-21 defeat by the Lions left the View at fourth and no shot at the post season.

However a new offense brought a new enthusiasm to the purple and gold. Jossymar Ulloa was the primary beneficiary of the double wing set as he rushed for over 1800 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Three early season wins brought a renewed interest in Viking football that hadn’t been seen in over a decade. The Vikes racked up 89 points in the back to back wins over Keppel and Bell- Jeff.

The excitement has spilled over into this summer as well with Coach James Wilson seeing the best turn out of players since he’s been at the helm.

Gabrielino (4-6) – The Eagles won three non league games including a 49-20 win over Cerritos in the opener. But things unraveled quickly once league play started. 

Gabrielino gave up 122 points in its first three league games before falling 15-7 to Mt. View and staring 0-4 right in the face.

The Eagles knocked off the Eagles (South El Monte) 28-13 in the season finale to salvage a league victory and avoid the cellar.

South El Monte (1-9) – When South beat Workman 28-7 in the second game of the season nobody dreamed it would be the Eagles only win of the year.

But that’s exactly what it was as South El Monte stumbled in its next eight games including all five in the MVL to go 1-9.

It was a disappointing season indeed for a team that made big strides in the last decade featuring such stand out players such as Joe Morales, Tommy Cogburn, Lee Aguirre, Jose Garay and Manny Acosta.

Coach Ray Hernandez resigned after the season and was replaced by Ibis Aguilar. The South faithful are hoping a return to prominence will follow.

Rio Hondo League:

Monrovia's Nick Bueno did it all and then some

Monrovia

(12-2, Mid-Valley CIF Champs) – What more can be said about the 2010 season for Monrovia? The Wildcats finally broke through, put the ghosts to bed and silenced all its critics with a 12-2 season that culminated with a 38-8 win over Whittier Christian in the Mid-Valley CIF Championship game.

There were so many stars (Ellis McCarthy, Christian Blanco, Jay Henderson, Luke Williams, Derrick Johnson, etc, etc,) but it all started and usually ended with sparkplug quarterback Nick Bueno.

Bueno threw for 1828 yards and 23 touchdowns and rushed for 1513 yards and 14 more scores. But more then those big numbers it was the leadership that Bueno showed on and off the field. Bueno was a three year starter and by the time he hit his senior year, he was at the top of his game.

For Coach Ryan Maddox, also in his third year, the championship was a steady work in progress. In his first year, the Cats lost to Rosemead in the Semi Finals; in 2009 they fell to San Dimas in the title game before breaking through in 2010.

Don’t look now but with several key starters back, Monrovia might be even better in 2011.

Temple City (4-7) – What started off somewhat ugly ended up being a respectable season for the Rams. In fact talk around the Mid Valley Sports offices was that had Temple City beaten South Pasadena in the regular season finale our Coach of the Year honors would have gone to Mike McFarland in his first year on the job.

After a 42-14 loss to Arcadia in week three, the Rams were 0-3 and struggling. But then the worm slowly started to turn.

TC beat South El Monte 27-6 for its first win and although the Rams lost by one point to Rosemead the next week, they rebounded to win their first two league games including a big 27-15 win over La Canada that put them at 2-0 in the Rio. Josh Simangunsong led the way with over 224 yards and three touchdowns.

The loss to South Pasadena left the Rams at 3-2 and in a three way tie for second in the Rio but Temple City snuck into the playoffs by virtue of a coin flip. 

Although the Rams fell in the first round on that November night in Rosemead, they didn’t go quietly. By the time the dust had settled they had put 36 points on the board in a 49-36 loss. Rosemead knew it had been in the game.

With McFarland back along with several returning players including quarterback Mikal Quintanilla, the green and gold figures to be right in the mix again.

Almont League:

San Gabriel (5-5) – Coach Jude Oliva’s first year started off a little rough. The Matadors lost their first three games and had given up 90

 points combined in defeats to Muir and Burbank. In between there was a surprising loss to South Pasadena.

The Mats rebounded to win five of their next eight that included a season ending 38-28 victory over Schurr which left them at .500.  But a one point loss to Montebello (27-26) and a two point loss to Bell Gardens (37-35) derailed San Gabriel’s playoff chances. The Matadors finished tied for third in the Almont with Montebello at 3-2.

On the bright side Oliva discovered some talent in quarterbacks Eric Alvarez and Andy Guerrero and some a nice defensive player in Carlos Purser. All three players, along with other skill position players will be back this season.

.500 isn’t a success by recent San Gabriel standards but Oliva will surely use it as a foundation for bigger and better things to come.

Alhambra (4-6) – For the Moors it was a year of streaks. Unfortunately for Alhambra the losing streaks outnumbered the winning. The Moors lost two straight to open the season, bounced back to win four in a row only to lose their last four games.

The last four losses proved to be the Moors undoing – key league losses to Schurr, Montebello, San Gabriel and Bell Gardens.

Despite the tough season quarterback Josh Mendoza gained a year of experience along with several other Alhambra players who will all return this year. Coach Lou Torres, in his first year, knew he had a young team going in and knows it can only get better.

Ezra Broadus and Demetrius Russell had big contributions for the Moors and both will be returning in 2011.

Pacific League:

Arcadia (7-4) – The Apaches finished 6-1 and in a first place tie with Burroughs for the Pacific title. Burroughs was the only team to beat Arcadia, a rugged 21-14 victory at Burroughs in October.

Arcadia opened with a pair of tough opponents in St. Francis and Monrovia and it showed in two consecutive defeats. Arcadia responded to win seven of its next eight games and earn a home game in the first round of the playoffs.

However Norwalk and Elijhaa Penny came into Salter Stadium and beat Arcadia 35-27 to knock Arcadia out.

Junior Myles Carr had a break out year throwing for over 1800 yards and 26 touchdowns against just four interceptions. Taylor Lagace, who recently verbally committed to Washington, caught 42 passes for 650 yards and nine touchdowns. The Carr-Lagace connection will be back this year to create havoc.

Arcadia has had trouble with Muir in recent years but the Apaches exercised that demon with an impressive 34-13 thumping of the Mustangs in the second league game. 2011 could be the year.

Montview League:

Sierra Vista (7-3) – A 7-3 record should be good enough for post season but all three of the Dons’ losses came in league and they finished fourth and out of the playoffs.

Giovanni Rivera was the story of the year for Sierra Vista. The junior running back rushed for 2304 yards and 14 touchdowns averaging over nine yards per carry. Rivera went over 300 yards twice – 328 against Mt. View and 360 and five touchdowns vs. Workman.

A 9-7 defeat to Gladstone on October 22 was a killer for the Dons. A win there propels to them to 8-2 overall (5-2 in league) and a playoff berth. Gladstone finished 5-5 but made the playoffs by virtue of a third place finish. The Gladiators were rewarded with Monrovia in the first round and that didn’t go so well. Maybe the Dons didn’t miss much.

Rivera is back for Sierra Vista this year and that alone makes the Dons interesting.

It was a long year for Tip Sanders and Duarte

Duarte

(0-9) – How bad was it? The Falcons only played nine games and were shutout in seven of them. They only scored 13 points all year. They were outscored 380-13. Ouch!

Ganesha, yeah Ganesha, beat Duarte 62-0; La Puente swamped the Falcons 63-0.

It’s been this way since Wardell Crutchfield was shown the door after the 2008 season and most of the players left as well. Coach Tip Sanders has worked miracles in other stops such as Blair and Marshall but making something out of this disaster might take an act of God.

Valle Vista League:

Baldwin Park (5-6) – There was high expectations for the Braves coming into the season but after four games it was looking pretty bleak. Although Baldwin Park had played a tough schedule that included South Hills and Bonita, the Braves were still 0-4 through the first month.

They beat Pomona 33-7 the next week to restore some order and then surprised San Dimas 19-14 in the first week of league play to let everybody know that they were back.

Three wins in their next four games secured second place, behind Covina, and a playoff spot. James Heggins’ team then hit the road for Schurr. The Spartans dominated from the get go and eliminated the Braves 31-7.

Mario Rodriguez, Demetrius Jackson and Wardell Crutchfield III all had big years for the BP. Rodriguez threw for over 2000 yards and Jackson, his favorite target, had 49 catches for 854 yards and 11 touchdowns. Crutchfield rushed for over 600 yards and was a force on defense with 70 tackles and 39 assisted.

Heggins hoped for a longer playoff stay but after an 0-4 start, the Braves showed resiliency.

Del Rey League:

Bosco Tech (5-5) – The Tigers took fifth in league (2-4) but when some of the teams above you are named Verbum Dei, Bishop Montgomery (league champ) and Cantwell, you have nothing to hang your head about.

BT won four of its first five, but then hit the skids in league losing four of its last five. The Tigers did get a big 45-44 win over St. Bernard late in the year but it wasn’t nearly enough to reach the playoffs.

Quarterback Dillon Welsh (1116 yards, 8 touchdowns) and receiver C.J. Alvarez (336 yards) led the Tigers. Both are back this year. The season could have changed for the Tigers if two league games would have ended differently. Tech fell to Verbum Dei 34-31 in October and Mary Star 31-29 in the season finale. Oh what a difference five points can make.