
Monrovia's Nick Bueno is the MVP
Staff-
We don’t choose a second team, third team or honorable mention. There is one team and one team only. So if you’re on it, you’re special. Because of that somebody will get left out. Some of our decisions were extremely difficult but after putting our heads together, contacting coaches and compiling stats and stories here is our all Mid-Valley Division Team.
Offense:
QB: Nick Bueno- Monrovia: Who else? He could beat with you his legs and his arm if necessary. Led his team to an undefeated season and into the Finals before a rain soaked loss to San Dimas.
RB: Ryan Kohler- San Dimas: The numbers of 1500 yards and 24 touchdowns speak for themselves. Kohler’s presence in the CIF Final made a huge difference. He was injured and not a factor the first time San Dimas and Monrovia met but he came up big in the Championship game.

Tre Evans of San Dimas is Player of the Year
RB: Kendrec McDade – Azusa: Rushed for close to 1400 yards in a break out season. The Aztecs’ offense revolved around McDade.
RB: Mikey Vasquez – Arroyo: Vasquez ran for over 1300 yards and had 14 touchdowns. A tough player that wasn’t afraid to throw a block.
WR: Chris Rodriguez- Arroyo: Rodriguez was maybe the fastest player in the Mid-Valley. He was a constant home run threat and he averaged over 18 yards a catch.
WR: Christian Lazaro – Baldwin Park: The go to guy for the Braves. Lazaro always made the big play when needed and racked up over 800 yards in receptions.
OL: Javier Sanchez – Rosemead: Sanchez is a two time All-League player. After playing center last year Sanchez made the transition to guard in ’09. He’s as versatile and as smart as they come.

Bill Zernickow is the Coach of the Year
OL: Javier Lozano – Arroyo: Has the size and agility to make a difference. He was the plow horse for Vasquez, Steven Rivera and company.
OL: Justin Sutton – Temple City: Sutton continued the tradition of great Temple City lineman. Sutton opened the holes that Max Ruckle ran through.
OL: Chris Miller – San Dimas: With all the great running backs the Saints had it was easy to overlook the hogs up front. Miller was the mainstay – consistent and a load for opposing defenses.
OL: Kizz Prusia – Monrovia: A defensive standout as well, Prusia made a huge impact on offense. Cleared the way for Bueno, Derrick Johnson and De’Shawn Ramirez.
Kicker: Dillon Corona – San Dimas: We won’t say automatic but Mr. Corona was pretty close. The field goal he drilled in a driving rain in the first quarter against Monrovia was huge. It gave the Saints a lead they never relinquished.
Defense:
DL: Justin Winrow – San Dimas: We debated whether to put Winrow on offense as a tight end or on the D-line. Ultimately his defensive presence and the impact he had on opposing quarterbacks was the difference.
DL: Jeff Worthy – Whittier Christian: Worthy was in on 131 tackles and averaged over 10 a game. He was the guy offensive coordinators always worried about.
DL: Tre Evans – San Dimas: Evans was another guy that could have been named for his offensive prowess as well- a two way starter who had a nose for the football.
DL: Grant Haggard – Monrovia: Haggard anchored the Wildcats front line- never took a play off.
LB: Josh Lowden- Monrovia: Led Monrovia in tackles and assists with 117 combined. Lowden will probably run for office someday.
LB: Christian Morgan- San Dimas: Another big numbers guy with 124 total tackles and assists. Morgan was the sack master with 24.
LB: Wardell Crutchfield III – Baldwin Park: Crutchfield was a running back late in the season but his biggest impact was at linebacker. He led a solid BP defense with 77 tackles and he assisted on 61 others.
LB: Jose Nunez – Azusa: The Aztecs’ leading tackler with over 100 tackles and assists combined. Nunez was the leader of a hard hitting unit.
DB: DuJawn Jones –Monrovia: Jones brought two interceptions back to the house. He had 7 picks overall totaling nearly 250 total yards.
DB: Stevie Yortsos – San Marino: Opposing quarterbacks hated throwing Yortsos’ way. He was instant game changer. He had 9 interceptions- almost one per game.
DB: Mike Chavez – Arroyo: Chavez was a hybrid who could play linebacker or drop back into the secondary. Chavez was a leader on defense and one of the toughest kids to ever play for Arroyo Coach Jim Singiser.
Punter: Dillon Corona- San Dimas: No we’re not being redundant. Corona is our kicker and punter. He constantly got the Saints out of jams with his boots. The one he dropped on the four yard line in the CIF Final was a classic.
MVP: Nick Bueno- Monrovia: Just ask yourself one question. Take Bueno away from Monrovia and where would the Wildcats be? Whether he was scrambling, running or throwing, nobody was more valuable than Bueno.
Player of the Year: Tre Evans – San Dimas: We had arguments over Evans. We didn’t know where to put him. Is he a defensive lineman? Running back? Linebacker? Receiver? The truth is he was all these things and more. He is listed in nearly all of the Saints’ statistical categories. He had 920 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns. He caught 9 passes for 102 yards. He had close to 50 tackles, and 4 sacks. He intercepted a pass and for good measure he even completed one. Tre Evans did it all for the CIF Champs and for that he is our Player of the Year.
Coach of the Year: Bill Zernickow- San Dimas: There were no discussions here. It was a slam dunk. After losing numerous standout players to graduation Zerncikow declared “We’re going to be okay,” back in May. Yeah, I guess they were okay. Zernickow molded the Saints into a championship team losing only one game all year. After losing to Monrovia big in September he made the adjustments needed and beat the Cats when he had to. Zernickow seemed to push all the right buttons. He is our Coach of the Year for 2009.
Fair assessment on Fulbright and the location issue. I appreciate the positive comments on Worthy and Robles, MVS was pretty good to WC during the post season for the most part.
“K”… I agree 100% on Robles. The kid was a beast. If you feel that WC wasn’t represented well on the All CIF team talk to your league champion. Those are coaches argue for their own leagues. Im sure if you look at it a lot of guys from the Olympic got overlooked for this All Mid-Valley Team because no one around here gets to see much of them. This is a great local paper. The writers bust their hump to get out to games, but it isn’t in their budget or their circulation to go hit up the Olympic League outside of CIF games. As for Fullbright? He had over 100 more carries on the season than Kohler, McDade and Vasquez. Those 3 guys all averaged about 7.5 yards per carry. Garrett avergaed about 5.3 yards per carry. If you give those 3 guys an extra 100 carries each… They are all over 2,000 yds. WC just kept feeding him the ball and the kid never broke down. Is that an “All Star”? Yeah, I think so too. Did he get All CIF? Yeah he did, so those coaches agreed. But you can certainly make an argument for any of those guys.
BTW- Worthy was the best DL I saw all season… any division… any team.
Where is Garrett Fulbright from Whittier Christian? He has more yards and more TD’s than anyone on this list! Oh, and WC was 1 play away from beating Monrovia en route to the finals!
These LBs from BP and Azusa…are you kidding me?!!! Where is Paraclete’s Todd Davis who was the mid valley defensive MVP in 2008 and was a nightmare in for opposing offenses in 2009? Where is Rudy Robles from WC who had 145 tackles and 5.5 sacks?
What is obsession with Arroyo’s players? Both this team and the All CIF are so Pro Arroyo. They won the WEAKEST league in the division and then lost in the 1st round to Whittier Christian…yet they have 4 players on this team and WC has 1?
Good calls on Bueno and Kohler…both great players.
Vargas was great yeah. But again over Josh Lowden? Christian Morgan? Crutchfield? Again we only recognize one team. It gets too watered down if there are more. Sometimes players get left out.
no vargas from LP at LB, what a joke! He made all cif,led the division and sgv in tackles and was league defensive mvp.
Nobody ever breaks down the guards, tackles, and center on the offensive line. They’re inter-changeable. Sanchez for Rosemead was a center last year! A lot of coaches have to move they’re O-line around all the time. I like the way the Mid Valley does it as opposed to other publications that list three teams and players at wrong positions.
Nice to see Justin Sutton get some love. Equally sad to see Matt O’Malley omitted. Since his freshman year, Ruckle had the same right side support and downfield escort of center/guard Derek Lumary, guard O’Malley and tackle Sutton. Pretty good dudes leading the way. Last year he had Collin Smith and Josh Ouelette on the left side and put up some serious numbers as you know.
I would say Justin’s biggest contribution this year came on defense, where he terrorized the QB’s of Arroyo, Rosemead, Arcadia and yes, Nick Bueno as well.
A tribute to Bueno’s scrambling skills…as Justin was able to blow past the M-town O-line multiple times and get into the backfield quickly.
Max Ruckle was the best running back in the SGV. Unfortunately injuries and the changes to offensive schemes at TC impacted his numbers and senior season. If you saw the TC/Arroyo opener – then you saw Max at full bore. He was electric.
Another strong season of coverage for MVL sports. Thanks to all.
where is fulbright from WC. Didn’t h have over 1700 yards and 28 TD’s. talk about the numbers speaking for themselves.
Don’t like the list for specific reasons…has nothing to do with the players, definitely all deserving. However offense is where I find the problem.
Should be
QB
2 RBs
2 WRs
2 OTs
2 OGs
C
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