Tim Peterson
By Tim Peterson
It’s kind of hard not to like Northview in the Valle Vista. The Vikings went 5-0 last year in league and the closest team to them lost by 18 points-San Dimas.
And they may be better this year. Quarterback Steven Comstock is a year older and a year stronger and my goodness, you should have seen the throws he was making Saturday. Elijah Grijalva is back after rushing for nearly 800 yards and 17 touchdowns last year.
“He’s been the man for us all summer,” said Northview head coach Marcel Perez. “What makes him so tough is he’s also elusive. He can not only run over you but he makes people miss.”
If Grijalva isn’t beating you then there is Hooper and Cooper. Running back Andres ran for over 1100 yards in 2014 while receiver Paul had 386 yards and five touchdowns.
Did they lose anybody? Sure. The versatile Alex Camacho graduated as well as receiver Jacob Van der eb, but the Vikes have immediate replacements. WR Dominic Ramirez transferred in from Azusa and Antwaun Ayers, who can do a lot of things, came over from Baldwin Park.
“He’s just a great athlete. He can do it all,” Perez said. “Last year they had him at quarterback but he’s going to be playing DB and receiver.”
Ayers picked off a pass and made a leaping catch of a Comstock pass at Saturday’s practice. Ayers is just another option at Perez’ disposal.
Defensively the Vikings look set as well. If you get a chance check out freshman linebacker David Barela. You’ll never know he’s a freshman by his size or speed but look for number 55. He’s already raised several eyebrows this summer.
Another note on Comstock: You may see him playing more than just quarterback this year. Perez is considering using him at safety as well.
“He’s a great athlete. He’s a wrestler. You think I’m worried about him getting hurt making a few tackles? I would have no problem playing him there.” Perez said.
I’m not going to discount Wilson but Northview beat the Wildcats 42-0 last year. Nogales? Well it’s still Nogales. Rowland isn’t ready yet so that leaves Covina and San Dimas. You don’t lose a championship head coach like Bill Zernickow and not take a step back, and although I really like Covina’s talent the Colts aren’t there with Northview yet.
In 2015, the Valle Vista looks like it will be painted Northview black.
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I’m hearing a lot of rumblings coming out of Muir and it’s not good. There has seemingly been a mass exodus out of the Mustangs program in the last several months. It continued this week when running back Jaylyn Newson, who was considered a feature back coming into this season, transferred to Monrovia.
Antoine Sims replaced John Hardy early this year and players were reportedly not happy with the change. One local coach even equated the situation at Muir to Duarte a few years ago when Wardell Crutchfield was fired. The Falcons had to virtually start from scratch as the roster was down to four players. “I don’t know how they’re going to field a team,” he said.
However to every story there are two sides and this one is no exception. A comment on MVS says that while several players “flirted” with other schools only three actually left-Newson and Canaan Chandler to Monrovia and Jamere Calvin to Cathedral. So we’ll see. Muir opens with Salesian on August 28.
That’s my principle.
Tim can be reached at tim@midvalleysports.com or on Twitter @tspeterson40.
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