Tim Peterson
By Tim Peterson
Note to CIF officials: In high school football there is likely a holding penalty on every play. That doesn’t mean you have to call holding on every play. Especially when the holding infraction occurred on the other side of the field and had absolutely no effect on the play.
There were so many penalties called in the first half of the Downey-Cathedral game Friday night that I thought I was at Allen Layne’s Laundromat instead of Allen Layne Stadium. The number of flags ruined the flow of the game, and generally sucked out all the excitement out of a second round playoff contest. It was better in the second half and it turned out to be a great game but there were still way too many yellow rags.
It’s high school. Penalties will be committed. But the fans didn’t come to see you. As the fan in the Cathedral stands kept bellowing throughout the night, “C’mon man. Let the kids play!” His advice needs to be heeded. Keep the flags in your pocket.
That being said the men in stripes actually got the time out right. I was standing on the Cathedral sideline at the time and the entire Phantom coaching staff was screaming for a time out as the teams were lining up for the field goal with two seconds left. I was surprised that the officials took so long to grant it but they were well aware of the time out request when both teams lined up. The ball should have never been snapped but the reason the Downey kicker drilled the 29-yarder through the uprights was because the some of the Cathedral players had backed off aware that the refs had blown the whistle for a TO before the ball as snapped. It was absolutely the correct call. Of course when the subsequent kick was blocked it’s only natural that the Viking faithful would be less than thrilled.
Note to Cathedral HC/OC: Marcos Lopez and Kameron Johnson are going to need a lot more than 11 carries combined if you’re going to beat La Mirada. It worked…barely…against Downey…but the Matadores are a different animal. You’ll need to control the ball. You have two solid backs. Use them.
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In his first year as head coach at Chino Jesse Ceniceros had the Cowboys five points away from the semi finals. Look out for Chino the next couple of years. The Cowboys are loaded with under classmen.
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Who would have thought that Valle Vista League champ Northview would be out and runner up San Dimas would be moving on? To not only win, but win at Paraclete, is huge for the Saints.
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Former Monrovia receiver/kicker Mason Bryant, who won three CIF Mid-Valley championship rings, now has an Ivy League championship ring with Penn.
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Let the coaching changes begin. There are already two head coaching positions open, Bell Gardens and El Rancho, with several others rumored to be on the way.
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Pomona just scored another touchdown.
That’s my principle.
Tim can be reached at tim@midvalleysports.com or on Twitter @tspeterson40.
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