Four Fire at Maranatha

Maranatha QB Andrew Elffers

Maranatha hosted San Gabriel, Whittier Christian and Arcadia on Thursday.

Maranatha HC Pete Karavedas

The day in quotes…

“I’m excited about this season. I really like the way our guys are playing,” said Arcadia linebacker Austin “White Lightning” Ford. “Getting Joey Harmon was a real snag but the thing is he really is battling with Zach Yee. The coaches aren’t letting us know who’s going to be the starter and I think they’re doing that on purpose.”

Arcadia LB Austin "White Lightning" Ford

“I know Whittier Christian doesn’t use a tight end but Noah Evans should be a tight end. He would be an absolute beast at tight end. You know Robert Flewelling wasn’t tight end when we first got him and we turned him into one,” said Maranatha OC Michael Owens.

Arcadia's Darius Elliot

“We’re just making a lot of mistakes today,” said San Gabriel Coach Jude Oliva. “You know, you lose some of those three year starters and it just kills you. But we’ll be all right.”

“I think we’re playing well defensively but offensively we’re struggling a little bit,” said Whittier Christian HC Sergio Gradilla. “You know it’s a lot different out there without Cody (Bronkar). He’ll be back when we start two- a days in early August.”

 

Whittier Christian Sophomore Noah Evans...Remember the name. Oh and by the way , he's the son of former USC/NFL QB Vince Evans

“Wow Chris Long inherited a good program. Look at all those guys – 6-2, 6-3, 6-4…give us a just one of those guys,” – Maranatha OC Michael Owens.

“Hey did you see us in that first game? Did you see us,” said Maranatha HC Pete Karavedas. “Andrew completed his first six passes!”

Maranatha LB Matt Hall...oh he's a junior

“Hey I really liked that Fourth of July stuff you guys posted yesterday,” said Whittier Christian OL Coach Bruce Wallace. “I don’t know…that really hit me. Great!” I inquired about his son Ryan – former Heralds center. “He’s at TCU now. He’s going to walk on. He had a lot of different choices but he ended up at TCU. I don’t know if he’ll play but he’s going to walk on.”

The Mats were there!

“I don’t mind the realignment but I really liked being in the Mid-Valley,” Wallace said. “You know some people say move Monrovia out because they win it every year. I say I want to play them again. We need to improve our game!”

“We weren’t bad but we have a lot of work to do,” said Karavedas at the end of the day.

Herald QB Ryan Esslinger

“Andrew is so good,” Ford said of Maranatha QB Andrew Elffers.”We’re neighbors so we always talk a lot of trash to each other. You know we have to pretend we don’t like each other when we are on opposite teams but we’re actually good friends.”

Arcadia QB Joey Harmon looking more comfortable every day

“You know I saw San Gabriel’s receiver from last year (Alex Villalobos) on film. That kid can play. He could definitely get a scholarship somewhere,” added Owens.

“Jack Huitt has been playing well for us. He looks really solid,” added Gardilla. “Oh yeah Huitt is going to be great,” added Karavedas.

Whittier Christian receiver Michael Munnerlyn - Junior

“Yeah I’m still keeping busy,” laughed former Maranatha HC Joel Murphy. “Way too busy!”

“Hey we’ve never played San Gabriel before,” Arcadia HC Chris Long joked as he lined up against SG for seemingly the 30th time this summer.

Arcadia HC Chris Long

“You know we used to get down when one or two plays didn’t go our way but that team never did,” Wallace said of the 2010 Whittier Christian team that went to the CIF Finals. “They would just shrug it off and keep on going. It was just a great, great group of kids.”

 

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