The Peterson Principle: 5/27/2017

Tim Peterson

By Tim Peterson

There is still one high school head coaching job open locally. San Gabriel has yet to find a replacement for Joe Ledesma. There have been plenty of names thrown around but nobody has landed as of yet.

Jude Oliva has been mentioned, isn’t he always? So has former Mt. View HC Frank Alonzo and former San Dimas head coach Bill Zernickow. Zernickow? Sorry, that’s not happening. The latest name to pop up is former Schurr quarterback Aaron Cantu. Cantu, who was helping out on the Schurr staff a couple of years ago, has been so busy lately with producing his “Air Show” features that taking over as head coach at SG seems like a longshot. I don’t think it’s happening but I didn’t think Jesse Ceniceros would say yes to El Monte either.

One local coach sent me a text saying that he heard the football program was folding. Things have been bad for the Matadors, no doubt, but San Gabriel football folding before Keppel would be the upset of the century. Doesn’t it seem like just yesterday that the Mats were in the finals?

**

Sal Ortiz has taken over as the new head coach at Wilson. Ortiz was the co-coach last year at Workman and spent previous years as the defensive coordinator and strength and conditioning coach at his alma mater- Los Altos. Ortiz played for Greg Gano during the Conquerors championship runs in 1999 and 2000. Needless to say Ortiz has his work cut out at Wilson. The Wildcats went 0-9 last year including a 59-0 loss to the old alma mater.

**

Former Diamond Ranch head coach Roddy Layton has come over to the dark side. Layton is now doing some media work for Sportscenetv and was busy doing interviews out at the Charter Oak Super 7 Tournament last Saturday. It’s a perfect fit. Layton is a natural when it comes to Media. When I used to interview him as a coach he was one of the best in the area. His quotes were classic.

**

Former Covina HC Darryl Thomas is now the DC at Upland and is coaching his son Corey who plays outside linebacker for the Highlanders. Corey Thomas, who will be a senior in the fall is 6-1, 200 and is getting some D1 looks.

**

Sierra Canyon won’t miss a beat when it comes to quarterback. Yes, they lost Niko Harris to graduation but when Harris was hurt last year, sophomore Jonathan Hawkins stepped in and threw for over 1800 yards and 21 touchdowns in 12 games as the Trailblazers cruised to a perfect 16-0 season. Hawkins looked like he was already in midseason form at the Charter Oak Tourney.

**

Charter Oak and Crescenta Valley both won their own tournaments on the same day – Saturday May 20.

**

The “Red Devil Shootout” at Pomona and the “One Blood” Tournament are both this Saturday, June 3. Is it too much to ask to have them scheduled for different days? Now if Mt. View and Pomona also both win their own tournaments then we got a story.

**

There is a one more All-Star game to wrap up the 2016 campaign. The 605 game will be played next Saturday June 3 at Richard Torres Stadium on the campus of Pioneer High School. This year is the 50th anniversary of the 605 All-Star Classic. Woodie Grayson of Valley Christian will coach the West and Ray Fenton of Los Alamitos will coach the East. What time is kickoff? 6:05 p.m. of course.

**

I almost feel obligated to watch the NBA Finals. You got the Cavs and the Warriors facing off for the third straight year. You got LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. Will Kevin Love continue to play well? Can Klay Thompson break out of his shooting slump? Will Draymond Green get ejected again? Can Mike Brown, now the interim coach for the Warriors, get over on his former team? Lots of angles here to work with. Sorry, it just doesn’t get my blood pumping. After all it’s the NBA. It’s a league that hasn’t got my blood pumping for the better part of the last decade. It’s a league where whoever hits the most threes wins. Whatever happened to post play? Would Hakeem Olajuwon consider a comeback?  Just not interested. Send me some updates. I’ll be trying to find out who’s the next head coach at San Gabriel.

That being said I like the Warriors in six.

That’s my principle.

Tim can be reached at tim@midvalleysports.com or on Twitter @tspeterson40.

26 Comments to "The Peterson Principle: 5/27/2017"

  1. Superman's Gravatar Superman
    June 1, 2017 - 8:04 am | Permalink

    I have an Idea of how to get your website a huge lift and viewers will love,

  2. General Turgidson's Gravatar General Turgidson
    May 31, 2017 - 12:26 pm | Permalink

    3 wins.

    Here’s hoping. I have sympathy for keppel.

    Marshall and Blair on the other hand seem to do things to actively destroy their student’s experience with the game. Sghs is following suit.

    At least Keppel gave the former coach some stability and some time.

  3. Ron Vrooman, AHS stat man's Gravatar Ron Vrooman, AHS stat man
    May 31, 2017 - 12:54 am | Permalink

    I did some research on MaxPreps in order to bring added clarity to the discussion about Mark Keppel’s baseball and football programs.

    Houston Hernandez compiled a cumulative record of 23-73 (for a winning percentage of .240) during four seasons as varsity baseball coach between 2010 and 2013.
    His record was substantially better than those of his two immediate predecessors, Rick Cabezas, whose teams went a combined 2-36-1 (.064) in 2008-09, and Matt Dultz, who had a coaching record of 5-54-1 (.092) between ’05 and ’07. (By the way, the Aztecs’ baseball info on MaxPreps goes back only to 2005.)
    Coach Hernandez was forced out sometime after the 2013 season, when Jas Cisneros was the principal at Keppel.
    I don’t know who else might have been involved in making that move back then, or why the decision was made. Keppel has gone through a succession of athletic directors and administrators during the last decade or so, and my attention has been much more focused on Alhambra High.
    However, following an 8-12 season under Ryan Nunez in 2014, the Keppel varsity seems to have improved significantly under current head coach Andrew Macedo.
    With Macedo in charge during the past three years, the team has posted a combined record of 31-38 (for a winning percentage of .449). It appears that the Aztecs are now at least marginally competitive on the baseball diamond again.

    The circumstances surrounding Aaron Sepulveda’s departure from Keppel, aside from his 3-37 record as a walk-on head football coach, are rather murky from my standpoint.
    He left at roughly the same time that Jas Cisneros was in the process of being removed as principal for failing to report the child-molesting former girls’ varsity basketball coach, Joseph Kikuchi, to the authorities. I don’t know who was really in charge at Keppel during those months in late 2015 and early 2016.
    The high point for Sepulveda in his four seasons as head coach was in 2013, when the Aztecs went 2-8. But, the varsity team proceeded to go 1-9 in 2014 and 0-10 in 2015.
    In fairness to Sepulveda and everyone else, coaching football at Keppel has been a daunting task since at least the beginning of the new millennium.
    To illustrate that point, several head coaches who came before Sepulveda experienced an identical degree of futility, leading the varsity to a combined record of 6-74 in the eight years between 2004 and 2011. (The Aztecs’ football records on MaxPreps go as far back as ’04.)
    As I’ve been telling my friends at Keppel, I hope the Aztecs win all of their games from now on—except for the ones they play against Alhambra. I wish them the best of luck.

  4. ?'s Gravatar ?
    May 30, 2017 - 8:49 pm | Permalink

    Isn’t Zernikow at Glendora?

  5. Local Guy's Gravatar Local Guy
    May 30, 2017 - 4:58 pm | Permalink

    San Gabriel is hiring an assistant from Glendora, a defensive guy! First or second week in June the board will approve. Not sure who he’s bringing or who is staying but SG has a coach.

  6. Trump's Gravatar Trump
    May 30, 2017 - 2:49 pm | Permalink

    UGE HIRE COMING TO SG STAT!

  7. Bell Grande's Gravatar Bell Grande
    May 30, 2017 - 1:12 pm | Permalink

    Milvon nor his brother intens on taking a HS. They don’t like the politics…errrr rules. They have a semi case though because CIF looks the other way and Narbonne is such a fraud its not even funny.

    The only problem with the James bros is they were wreckless. Weren’t smart and didn’t play the game nor the paperwork/papertrail at the least to look legit. They screwed sooo many kids trying to take over. CIF was gonna drop a death sentence if the school didn’t fire them.

    They are doing far better now beating kids over the head with their Premium nonsense. But like B2G and all these other frauds…they’ll piss enough people off and fade away im relevancy….thus becoming an after thought.

  8. General Turgidson's Gravatar General Turgidson
    May 30, 2017 - 1:02 pm | Permalink

    It’s a shame. Maybe there was hope a few months ago. Heck, maybe even with an absurdly late start in May. But now? With no spring football???

    You could raise Tom Landry from the dead and make him the head coach and San Gabriel still wouldn’t be competitive. Too late.

  9. General Turgidson's Gravatar General Turgidson
    May 30, 2017 - 12:59 pm | Permalink

    As spectators, we cannot be blamed for having an opinion about the school. We can only form thoughts based on what has happened.

    If there has been a change in admin, then I would say a guy like Tuttle is the best possible choice and an excellent first step. A good sign!

    I’ll take that bet and say Mark Keppel is likely to be one of the best turnaround stories of the year. 3 wins and I’d say mission accomplished.

  10. Lol's Gravatar Lol
    May 30, 2017 - 12:57 pm | Permalink

    Can we ban the words “Milvon James” from this site already?

  11. NWO's Gravatar NWO
    May 30, 2017 - 9:08 am | Permalink

    I’ll bet anyone who busted their butts for SG football is shaking their heads in disappointment.

  12. Anonymous's Gravatar Anonymous
    May 29, 2017 - 8:00 pm | Permalink

    @roon the firing of Houston as baseball coach made no sense he had the program going to places it had never been the Alhambra baseball coach said that the program was going in the right direction. Aaron was also turning the football program around. The previous commenter was seeing the changes of the program and buying in to it. Then the admin fires both coaches.

  13. Ron Vrooman, AHS stat man's Gravatar Ron Vrooman, AHS stat man
    May 29, 2017 - 1:47 pm | Permalink

    As an alumnus of Alhambra High who does football stats and PR for the Moors, I’m usually reluctant to make comments about what’s going on with the athletic programs at other AUSD schools.
    However, I’d like to dispel some misconceptions.
    I’ll preface my remarks by saying that I’ve been involved with the AHS football program since 2003. And, I’ve been a substitute teacher for the Alhambra district since ’02.
    The anonymous comment made on this thread about Mark Keppel’s administration would’ve been a lot more accurate if it were posted more than a year ago. But, that remark doesn’t reflect the current reality.
    John Scanlon, who had previously served as athletic director and as an assistant principal at San Gabriel High School, became principal at Keppel in the spring of 2016. John Tuttle was hired as the new head football coach on about June 1 of that year, so it might be safe to say that Scanlon played a prominent role in that hiring.
    It also might be useful to point out that Scanlon was A.D. at San Gabriel during the Keith Jones era, which was arguably the most successful run in the history of the Matadors’ football program.
    Having worked extensively at Keppel during the just-concluded school year, I can attest to the fact that Scanlon strongly supports both academics and extracurricular activities—including athletics.
    I agree with “General Turgidson” about the existence of football talent at Keppel. I think the main issue for Coach Tuttle and his staff is whether they’ll be able to attract enough capable athletes during the summer in order to maintain an adequately deep varsity roster.
    I believe the Aztecs could win at least two or three games this season if they can accomplish that goal and continue to make progress as a team. Based on recent performance, Gabrielino, L.A. Jordan, and San Gabriel are possibly beatable opponents for them.
    In closing, I’d like to comment briefly on the search for a new head football coach at San Gabriel.
    In my opinion, Athletic Director (and former head coach) Jones has been involved in the search process. However, the principal (Ms. Stone) and Assistant Principal Matt Dultz (who was listed on the CIF website as the contact for the job opening) are certain to play key roles as well.
    An appropriate hire by San Gabriel High School could make the Matadors’ long wait worthwhile.

  14. Anonymous's Gravatar Anonymous
    May 29, 2017 - 9:43 am | Permalink

    Keppel had a good thing going with Aaron but they decided to fire him. They also had a good thing going with the baseball program and fired Houston. The administration can care less

  15. General Turgidson's Gravatar General Turgidson
    May 29, 2017 - 9:20 am | Permalink

    He just needs a surprise win or two to keep it alive. Not saying it’s easy, but I think he can do it. Keppel is not the black hole of talent everyone says it is.

  16. General Turgidson's Gravatar General Turgidson
    May 29, 2017 - 9:19 am | Permalink

    Keppel always seems to have a few guys who can play. Very sad. That was once a very proud program. Maybe Tuttle can do some good things with a full offseason.

  17. Trump's Gravatar Trump
    May 29, 2017 - 12:39 am | Permalink

    Milvon James already has a great huge job at Mickey D’s.

  18. @Tim Peterson's Gravatar @Tim Peterson
    May 28, 2017 - 11:30 pm | Permalink

    For mark keppel, I heard former glendale high coach john Tuttle is keppel’s last hope to turn their struggles around before they fold. If coach Tuttle resigns too soon enough, then I heard that will leave keppel in rambles/shambles. Good luck coach Tuttle and respect to mark keppel high.

  19. HAWKINS HS's Gravatar HAWKINS HS
    May 28, 2017 - 10:07 pm | Permalink

    Is Milvon James even applying for jobs in the area?

  20. Anonymous's Gravatar Anonymous
    May 28, 2017 - 4:46 pm | Permalink

    Keith Jones needs to hire milvon James

  21. May 28, 2017 - 3:57 pm | Permalink

    Any luck getting Loyola off the schedule to add Mountain View or Keppel?

  22. D1 Fan's Gravatar D1 Fan
    May 28, 2017 - 2:44 pm | Permalink

    The Cathedral Phantoms will be at Pomona. QB Bryce Young and The Phantoms will be ready after a Great Showing at Los Alamitos tourney defeating both St. John Bosco and Gardena Serra.

  23. For Gods sake's Gravatar For Gods sake
    May 28, 2017 - 12:03 pm | Permalink

    Valley Christian is west of the 605 bro. Your sense of direction is a little off. N=ever E=at S=our W=orms.

  24. Anonymous's Gravatar Anonymous
    May 28, 2017 - 8:27 am | Permalink

    SG should go get aaron the former keppel coach

  25. ?'s Gravatar ?
    May 28, 2017 - 2:51 am | Permalink

    Valley Christian and Los Alamitos are both east of the 605?

  26. Bell Grande's Gravatar Bell Grande
    May 27, 2017 - 11:22 pm | Permalink

    Have you seen the 605 rosters?

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