Alhambra quarterback Noah Rodriguez has transferred to Monrovia. (Photo by Duane Barker).
(Monrovia)- Alhambra quarterback Noah Rodriguez, who led the Moors to a 12-1 overall record last year, has transferred to Monrovia Wildcat head Coach Chris Williams confirmed Tuesday.
“He checked into school this morning,” Williams said.
Rodriguez has passed for 4,498 yards and thrown 53 touchdown passes, with an overall completion rate of 51.8%, in two seasons at Alhambra High. As a sophomore in 2019, he connected on 192 of 361 passes (53.2%) for 2,676 yards and 34 touchdowns to lead the Moors to an appearance in the Division 13 semifinals and the 12-1 finish.
The Moors have gone 20-3 with Rodriguez as their starting quarterback since the first game of his freshman year.
In 2018, Alhambra fell one victory short of an Almont League co-championship, and in 2019, the Moors won the league title outright and defeated two playoff opponents before falling in the semis.
Alhambra pulled off a school-record 13-game winning streak with Rodriguez running the offense. That streak began in the final game of the 2018 season and continued all the way through the Moors’ quarterfinal victory over Calvary Chapel last year.
Monrovia has a good JV/Frosh quarterback returning and Williams indicated there will be an open quarterback competition.
Ron Vrooman contributed to this story.
@ JP: “They don’t play anyone.” That’s what we at Alhambra keep hearing, but we’ve sure been winning a lot of games.
Having a 12-1 season and going 20-3 in a two-year span ought to be a big deal at any level.
And, as a matter of fact, five of Alhambra’s victories in 2019 were against teams in higher playoff divisions: We beat Montebello (Division 10), South El Monte (D11), Schurr (D11), Rowland (D12), and Bell Gardens (D12).
Montebello and Bell Gardens were both better than their overall records indicated; Montebello played an extremely tough nonleague schedule, and five of B.G.’s six losses were to teams that made the playoffs.
Rowland went 7-3 and finished third in the Valle Vista League, but the Raiders were somehow not invited to the postseason.
South El Monte showed a few signs of life, and the Eagles might’ve had a decent season if they’d been able to win a couple of games on the road. (They went 0-4 away from “The Swamp.”)
Schurr was uncharacteristically bad; I’ll give you that much.
Alhambra also beat South Pasadena, a Division 13 team that made the playoffs and finished 7-4.
Yes, we’re not up there with any of the “football factories” in the greater Los Angeles region, but we’ve done all right lately.
Haters gotta love them !!!!
@ MOOR: You’re right; Noah was definitely above average, both for the Almont League and for Division 13. He was the best quarterback to play at Alhambra in a decade, as I noted earlier.
The average quarterback doesn’t throw for 4,500 yards and 53 touchdowns as a varsity player during his first two years in high school.
But Noah didn’t accomplish that by himself. He benefited from good coaching, receivers who could catch (especially Raul Cortez, Vito Russell and Kody Chuang), and blockers who gave him adequate protection most of the time. In addition, the Moors usually ran the ball well enough in 2019 so that he didn’t have to throw on every down.
After two stellar seasons, Noah could’ve cemented his legacy at AHS by serving as a leader for a young team while continuing to put up good numbers. However, he and his family have decided to move on. What’s done is done, and Alhambra will move on as well.
@ Truth Really???? Why lie why not just tell it like it is, no need to sugar coat. No ones bringing him down. Just keeping it real. It’s a cruel world out there, these kids need to toughen up.
@ Bad info – They don’t play anyone c’mon man it’s D13. It’s like playing against freshmen teams. Someone is lying to him and he ate it up. oh well he will learn that’s all someone can ask for.
Maybe he wants to WIN and staying at Alhambra was NOT the best choice because the Varsity team is young.
JP he is not average, Alhambra got that far because of the team and its seniors and Noah.
Win a title at Monrovia and come back to Alhambra
Your senior year and graduate with your friends
That support you.
What prompted the transfer in schools? Did he move residences? Is he going to sit out 30 days? Whats the real deal?
If there is any shadiness to this… oh well spineless CIF won’t do anything about it anyway.
Let’s move on.
How about the quarterback that transferred to La Habra?
Oh well, let the musical chairs continue.
You know and I know that the Monrovia coaches recruited this young man. Coaches that can’t develop players to improve their team recruit players to improve their team. That is why you see teams have real good years and bad years, no consistency. A good coach and program have good years every year by developing players through their off season program and in the weightroom.
Bergstrom. Pete Gonzales,Adrian Medrano. All fine coaches without any players living in their garage. forfeiting games or having players waiting half the season to play if at all.
@ Bad Info?: Alhambra went 46-56 in the 10 seasons prior to Noah Rodriguez’s arrival in 2018.
The last quarterback at AHS who put up numbers comparable to Noah’s was Darrian Cazarin, who played for us in 2007-09.
As the full-time starter in his last two seasons, Darrian totaled more than 4,300 yards passing—despite the fact that our team didn’t run the ball well. Alhambra went 11-9 during that time.
@ SoCal: Alhambra has an excellent coaching staff, from Head Coach Bergstrom on down. The coaches have worked hard to develop our players’ talents and football IQ, and they promote hard work and discipline. This approach has paid huge dividends for us the last two seasons.
As good as Noah was, football is still a team game. I believe you will see a great determination on our part to continue winning and to not allow one player’s departure to ruin us.
First off – the only ones who really know the truth to why this happen is between the player and the parents, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But why bring down the kid, what happen to encouraging the kids for the best.
The kid did great this year no doubt about that, and will continue to work hard and push for his future regardless of where he plays.
Kids now a days have weak spines. I remember a time where if you were good you made your city proud. This just teaches a kid to take the easy way out. I’m not a moors fan but it is disappointing. Maybe it’s the new generations fault maybe it’s the parents. I’m not speaking on him specifically but on the overall topic. Maybe kid is looking for tougher competition for scouts, who knows. We do know Alhambra is back where it was.
Again why? This kid’s parents are the worst player agents you could possibly have. He was thriving where he was at. Another issue is that Monrovia had multiple transfers from Etiwanda High last year (30 miles away). With this kid coming in, it should raise red flags that pre-enrollment contact between coaches and players is occurring at Monrovia. It’s bad for high school football. Great coaches win with local talent, average coaches can only win with out of the area talent.
@ JP
I think most programs would love to have a QB that has led his team to a 20-3 record by the end of his sophomore year.
What was Alhambra’s record in the decade prior to Rodriguez?(A little help here,Ron V.)
I understand Monrovia’s stat man is transferring to Alhambra, which will stage an open competition for the starting clipboard position.
Damm just when they were on the verge of taking the league. Now they will be back to where they were. Middle of the pack.
bad move! He is a good HIGH SCHOOL QB and will shine at Alhambra.
Why would he leave Alhambra? The reason why Alhambra won league and had two great years winning football games is because they have a very good coach. The reason why Monrovia wins games is because they have good players and the league is s*** outside of Monrovia. I don’t think the kid had good advice. Somebody is lying to him.
At least it happened now instead of during the spring or summer. I believe our guys will use his departure as motivation; they’ll be out to prove that they can win without him.
Facts! He’s a good Almont QB. There might not be no talent coming back at AHS only reason why I feel he would leave.
He’s average. He was better off staying home. He got bad info.