Tim Peterson
The Devils get their Due
I finally got a chance to see Pomona. We heard that the Red Devils had good athletes and they do. We heard Brandin Schreiman was playing every down at quarterback (not Tavea Cobb) and he was. We heard that they were going to give Covina a game and they did.
A few observations: The Colts played without quarterback Billy Livingston, who suited up but was relegated to walking the sideline with a clipboard. This changed Covina’s entire offensive game plan. The pages with the passing schemes on them were torn out of the play book. Daniel Sifuentes, Livingston’s back up threw the ball exactly two times. He completed one for seven yards. Livingston usually exceeds that in one series.
Vinny Venegas, who normally catches Livingston’s passes, was moved to the back field. He ran the ball out of the wildcat and took handoffs from Livingston and rushed for over 130 yards. Gevontray Ainsworth also did his thing with 72 yards and Covina was able to grind out a victory. I don’t know that Covina would have blown Pomona out with Livingston but he would have made a big difference. Covina was in a gun fight without its sharpshooter.
As for Pomona, where was Terell Mosby in the first three quarters? He didn’t catch his first pass until the fourth quarter and ended up with two touchdowns and 102 yards on four catches to spark the Red Devil rally. Covina didn’t have a player in the secondary that could match up with him – think Terrell Owens or Randy Moss. Mosby was great but he needed more touches in order for Pomona to win.
Sir-Darius Yabrough (great name) is a good back but he couldn’t get going against the big Covina front. Mosby would have made more sense.
The two calls that really killed Pomona – the personal foul that gave Covina a first down on its final drive to ice the game, and the ruling that a Pomona player touched the ball before it traveled ten yards on the onside kick – were both correct calls. Rip the officials all you want for the numerous penalties throughout the contest, but on those two they got it right.
Covina’s Nick Hynes is so good offensive coordinators now design plays to run to his opposite side.
Pomona loses to San Dimas and finishes third.
Sometimes announcers are more of a nuisance than a necessity. The PA guy for the Red Devils made so many errors at times you wondered if he was watching the same game. I think I had two carries for 10 yards.
Moors Fall in Ninth
“We had four or five turnovers and we were stopped in the red zone three times,” said Alhambra DC Jacob Ochoa. “Yes that is the correct score.”
I’m glad the coach clarified because after seeing South Pasadena beat Alhambra 6-5 I thought a fall league baseball score was listed by mistake. It was a stunning defeat but one that Alhambra will use for motivation heading into league. Besides if you told Coach Lou Torres he would be 4-1 heading into league play back in August, he would be fine with it. Meanwhile South Pasadena is 3-1.
M-Town is Down
Yes, Monrovia has lost three straight, yes its offense isn’t where it should be and yes the defense has given up some big chunks of yardage this season. And no, Monrovia won’t lose another regular season game this year. Seriously, who’s going to beat the Wildcats? Paramount? Anybody in the Rio Hondo? Not hardly. I’m not ready to say M-Town repeats as Mid-Valley Champs but the Cats will win the Rio Hondo and enter the playoffs on a six game winning streak.
Loss Altos
Great story this year coming out of Hacienda Heights but if Los Altos had that much trouble in a loss to Walnut, do they have any chance against West Covina, Bonita or Diamond Ranch? Even Diamond Bar is going to be a tough hill to climb.
That’s my principle.
Tim can be reached at tim@midvalleysports.com
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