By Tim Peterson
I’m really trying to get into basketball here…really trying. But the pull of football is just so strong.
I went to a game in December at Monrovia and ran into Monrovia AD Randy Bell. We talked about football. I went another basketball game the other night and before I entered the gym at Temple City I ran into former San Marino assistant Thomas Camerano. We talked about football. While watching Temple City and San Marino run up and down the floor, and it was a great game by the way, I received about 13 texts or direct messages…all about football.
It’s not that basketball in the San Gabriel Valley is bad, I mean look at what schools like Bonita, Los Altos and Pasadena are doing. But the fact is when it comes to the two sports on the high school level, well three if you include baseball, especially in the SGV, it’s no contest. Football is King. It rules the roost.
I’ve told this story many times before but it bears repeating. Back in 2012 the Temple City baseball team made a run to the CIF Finals. The Rams played Palm Desert out in Riverside and came up short 4-0, but it was a historic run for Temple City baseball as it was the school’s first ever appearance in the CIF Finals. We covered the game, full story with pictures and all, and posted it that night on the site. It was in early June so passing leagues had already started for football. That same morning I went out to a school and took a few passing league shots. Keep in mind this was not a tournament but just a few schools throwing the ball around in t-shirts and shorts. I posted it on our website with a small blurb – maybe a paragraph at most. And lo and behold that post took four times as many hits as the CIF Finals baseball story and probably 10 times as many comments. We knew how much more popular football was but that drove home the point.
So while I do my due diligence and bring you a couple of basketball games a week, I’m also going to stay on top of the comings and goings of the high school football season. I mean, I have to. There have been 14 head coaches on the local front who have resigned or been dismissed since the season ended. So far only two positions have been filled – Mike Maggiore returning to West Covina and former Bloomington HC Josh Cronkite taking over at Chino Hills. And that’s it.
December hires are rare. Schools usually wait until after the Christmas break to complete the interviews and name the new head coach. So far though it’s been kind of quiet. Pioneer, which has been a hot topic this off season with many names being thrown around, is now down to second interviews. They should be concluded this week with a new head coach being announced soon. There are a couple of big names on the local coaching scene that are still in the mix.
Arcadia has yet to name a successor to Andrew Policky who stepped down after the season. One local coach said “Whoever takes that job is in for a rude awakening.” The Apaches, who don’t have nearly the numbers that they had when they advanced to the CIF Championship game two years ago may have only enough players for one team.
Mt. View, who dismissed Aaron Sepulveda last week, is looking for a prominent name. Sepulveda, who had been at the Viking helm for two years, was let go by all accounts for wins and losses. Mt. View, who just saw the CIF State Championship run that neighboring El Monte had, may feel they can have similar success with the right head coach. The Vikes are still reaching out to see who they can land.
Arroyo, looking to replace long time HC Jim Singiser, is still in the process of conducting interviews.
Rand Holdren resigned at Burroughs last week after just two years on the job. As is the case with many head coaches, Holdren is looking for a job with a teaching position as well. The Burroughs job will be a walk on position.
At Glendale Cary Harris, who was trying to resurrect the program, has resigned to take over as the head coach at Calabasas. The future of the Glendale program is still up in the air.
Nogales is looking seriously at an assistant that served on former HC Richard Salazar’s staff as its new head coach.
Former Cathedral and Arcadia assistant Robert Maxie, who’s name always seems to pop up this time of year for head coaching jobs, has been named the offensive coordinator at Pasadena.
Meanwhile The awards keep coming for El Monte. Davon Booth was named Division 12 Offensive Player of the Year and JJ Reyes received Defensive Player of the Year. And yes, Jesse Ceniceros will be back.
And I’ll be here adding up the hits on this column compared to our most recent basketball story.
That’s my principle.
Tim can be reached at tim.midvalleysports@gmail.com or on Twitter @tspeterson40.
@ Deep Purple: Smoke on the Water, fire in the sky!
Could it be that the double-wing offense is back from the near-dead?
Pretty good diagram, by the way…
SPREAD this (DOUBLE WING ). x XXXOXXX x Highest scoring offense in the NATION x
x
POWER HOUSE IN 3 SEASONS.
HERE THEY COME KNOW , THIS OR THAT THIS OR THAT …..!
X
Spread this (DOUBLE WING ) x XXXOXXX x. Power house in 3 years
X
x
It can be done in any division just have to have the aguacates to run it ….
@ Historical Suggestion: You sound like someone who has had a negative experience with public schools. I’m sorry if that’s the case, but many millions of Americans have been the beneficiaries of a good public education.
I attended public schools from kindergarten all the way through my teaching credential program at Cal State L.A., and I think I’ve turned out OK. There has never been a guarantee of success for anyone, by the way, and that includes private-school and home-schooled students as well.
I will partly agree with you, from the standpoint that some schools and school districts are better than others. Results have varied wildly from one place to another, and often within a single school system. There are numerous reasons for these disparities, and I believe that it’s usually unfair to place the blame entirely on teachers.
In the West San Gabriel Valley, where I live, our high schools are still sending thousands of students to universities such as UCLA, U.C. Berkeley, and those in the Cal State system. Many of those students will go on to careers in fields including business, medicine, law, software engineering, government and, yes, education.
And, community colleges like PCC and ELAC are well-known for their vocational programs. Rio Hondo College has trained many law enforcement officers and firefighters.
There are systemic problems in public and private education, but there also have been way more success stories than you care to acknowledge.
You do a disservice to dedicated teaching professionals and to many intelligent, hardworking young people when you say, “NOBODY who graduates from today’s high schools is qualified for more than minimum-wage employment.”
It doesn’t pay to make overly broad generalizations. However, there is some truth to what you say, particularly regarding schools and school districts where a large percentage of students suffer from substantial deficits in literacy, math, and basic knowledge.
It’s a hell of a thing to fall behind, especially at an early age. As individuals and as a society, we need to support the instructional programs and the extracurricular activities that our schools have to offer. We must do a better job of mentoring our young people as well.
Two words for your dumb pathetic DELETED! STATE CHAMPS! Stop arguing with these dumb DELETED “I played semi-pro football, I’m a stud in the alumni football game I have to pay to play in.” lame DELETED dudes! Never seen a bunch of pathetic dudes like this! SAD!
Should go check who won the D2A state title.
Now the lower division titles don’t matter but just a few years ago everyone was stroking the other team. Bet if you got some rings you wouldn’t be saying that. But it’s all good. Check yourself for them offers pretty sure they’re up, a lot more go into it than just signing a paper. I know you wouldn’t know that never seeing a D1 guy everyday in your life. Just hope you had a great season since you’re smacking your gums so much.
@yeahright stop being a hater bro no matter what you or other losers think coach g has 2 things you and your sons dont have or wont get which is a CIF ring and a state Championship ring.l
Coach g funk, that is exactly what the majority of coaches and fans think in the valley. And honestly, everyone knows who you are and that you aren’t a real coach. Stop being an El Monte groupie and grow up you chicken S.
The Truth nailed it on the button. Great Job by El Monte this year. The Double wing offense works in weak Divisions like D13 where nobody plays defense. The Upper divisions would smash and shut it down all night.
Randell is the pick, you heard it here first. I believe he is a English teacher and they are trying to figure out where they can plug him in for next year. Also, you are correct about them trying to work something out to bring in someone to assist him but it is to assist Randell.
@ coach G funk haha be proud of the playground league title. I can’t recall anyone coming from that league making it big. Has the RB picked up any D1 offers? Asking for a friend.
I will offer one salient fact concerning the value of the public school experience: nobody who graduates from today’s high schools is qualified for more than minimum wage employment. The simple reason is that ALL governments throughout the world use their state-sponsored ‘education’ programs for propaganda, which naturally involves heavy instruction on ITS version of history, government and the social sciences. This leaves precious little classroom time for anything that resembles vocational training.
Sports, by comparison, imbues youngsters with an extremely realistic view of how effort, team work and deferred gratification lead to success. It is, simply, one of the only things of value in the whole enterprise.
No matter what all the haters say what El Monte did this year was hard for any team to do UNDEFEATED
@NWO stop crying already loser, its 1 kid your crying about. Did he run over your son on the field or did he break your heart in a playoff game. Stop already what done is done. No matter what you say they went UNDEFEATED
@thetruth the only truth is your a hater. So your tell me its El Monte’s fault Adelanto fought. They beat every team in cif and in the state game which is way better competition then league. All these teams knew about Booth yet all of these teams couldn’t stop 1 kid. But El Montes defense stop many playoff teams. What do you have to say about the defense
@coachGFunk you dont have to explain to all these haters anything. They can keep crying about Booth all they want. El montes defense is a big reason the won this year. Every single highschool football team has had 1 or 2 players not from there area yet they still fail. It’s not El Monte’s fault every single thing fell in place for them with 1 player not from the area. These people complaining should help there teams instead of using the same excuse every time they post a comment. Stop whining already it ain’t going to change the history made.
Schurr is open
So what you football Gurus are saying is that The two Penny Brothers and Booth are the reason for all of Ceniceros success has a HC and that the other 10 players on the field had no involvement right?? You guys can hate all you want but like it or not EM is your MVL, Division 12, 5AA CHAMPIONS. DEAL WITH IT!!! #DoubleWingFootball
To OldWhitMont
My source said it was close with Randall . But they are working out a deal with the school and district for a biger name and will iron it out sooner than later.
The truth is football on this site is the main thing and that is perfectly fine. Most of the readers/posters are older. I’d say 40+ and this level of “social media” fits them. Now if you go on twitter that’s where the hardcore coverage of every sport is at nowadays with live post, videos and comments back and forth from fans.
The stationary debates on football by older fans dominated these type of chat boards but the Basketball highlights dominate the younger crowds. Which is why so many high school basketball kids are famous among their peers and have followings all over the country when they travel for showcase games.
Forgot to mention, the Bell Gardens Coach was introduced to the team yesterday. Former head coach at Marshall High School in LA City Section.
Keep hating as we keep reaping the awards! Sip your Hatorade, as we sip the champagne!
I agree a lot of success was because of Booth and the Penny’s but wouldn’t anyones be if they had those guys. Isn’t there always that kid/class that puts a school on the map? But the thing is his first two years no Penny two semi finals. Got E.Penny another and R.Penny a finals. Chino a quarterfinals with a kid that hadn’t had more than 10 carries in a season and a playoff berth the next year. 2013 finals a double OT loss to a team that it was their third year straight in the finals. That experience alone gave LS a advantage and it was a double OT loss, come on.
When SM made the run a few years ago they had their QB and WR studs. LM was full of guys from out the area when they made their run a couple years ago than fell off the map. Why? Cause they lost those kids. EM has BMart made playoffs even a quarterfinals he left 1-9. Looks at Arcadia this year to last. Kids are only here for four years. But if you look back no Coach C team never fell off and wasn’t competitive, guy has only missed playoffs once with pretty much a JV first year at EM and still went 5-5 any other previous EM coach maybe wins 2 games with them.
Randell from Colony is the pick. Announcement late this week early next week!
@ Rise of the Titans
Whats is the scoop ? what do you hear in whittier? are you guys actually going to rise?
@LVLions
Yes, Coach C did a great job this past season and did a great job at Norwalk. But let’s be real, at Norwalk his success was the result of the Penny family and at El Monte, the same.
If Coach C would have had even a little bit of success at Chino, I’d give him great credit, but the truth is that when his talent is equal, or slightly less, his teams have folded. I will also say that he got out coached by La Serna in a championship game that Norwalk should have dominated.
Come on man get over it we did what we had to do and would of took out those ghetto DELETED too. Booth averaged more yards in the playoffs per game than he did in league. Just stop it already.
He’s a coaches son. Nobody said he’s from EM. But I’m sure after this year he’s a honorary Montero.
@historicalsuggestion: what evidence do you have to support your claims about schools and teachers? Athletics serve about 15% of the student body, but you are saying that we should base a school around sports and coaches? Perhaps we should stop worshipping at the “alter” (altar is what you meant) of this misguided notion that football is a-all b-all of existence. You and the readers of MVN find it interesting, and that’s cool–more power to you. However, why should a school, comprised of hundreds of students that really don’t care about sports or any other sport, center around football? I teach and my students are hardly bored by the social studies content that I cover, and as a teacher I have more day to day contact with my students than I ever did as a coach. I’m sorry that learning and reading are boring to you. Enjoy your football but don’t slag education and the hundreds of hard-working teachers (yes, even the ones that coach) that serve the vast majority of our students. Maybe football is dying–or at least becoming a niche sport–has to with the fact that kids don’t want to be sacrificial lambs served up to restore such sever masculine insecurity.
A questions, would Booth be any good against better competition? The MVL teams play no defense and are not all on an equal playing field. Think about this, against Rosemead, South, Gabrielino, Mountain View Booth could easily run for over 1500 yds.
As far as I’m concerned, the El Monte Lions team’s championship is with an asterisk * due to not playing a true playoff/championship schedule . Say what you will but it is tainted in my opinion.
Recruit? You sound like a lame. Coach C builds programs that kids want to play for, any player that has came to EM in the three seasons here have been two coaches kids and kids that walked into the weight room when they registered at the school and said they wanted to play. Get your facts straight cause I’m sure if EM really wanted to recruit they would take your kids.
CV Falcon, you should see the drop off at the youth level. Part of the problem high school programs are hurting.
All respect for coaches/teams that do it with home town kids. Everyone knows that Mr. Booth is not from El Monte.
Heard they already got two new toys.
I love high school sports—especially football. But, sports and all other extracurricular activities are intended to complement the learning that should be going on in our classrooms.
Schools at all levels exist to provide our young people with a well-rounded education which will help them support themselves and enable them to be contributing members of our society.
The subject matter in classes like U.S. history and government is about as compelling right now as it’s ever going to be, since we’re living in the most turbulent time since the late 1960’s/early 70’s. One would have to try really hard to make it boring.
Most teachers I’ve met, including social studies teachers, are dedicated, hardworking professionals, and I’d say that the vast majority of them do not have “cush” jobs. I believe that fewer than a quarter are really subpar.
I’d like to ask, how many people in the general public would be willing to teach academic classes that routinely number more than 30 students, who have varying skill levels and motivation?
I suggest that we support all aspects of our public (or private) school programs, instead of making overly broad generalizations and engaging in personal attacks. A little empathy can go a long way.
There is more interest on the name of the new Pioneer football coach than any hoops game. And Pioneer plays D14 football. I don’t know the name of one basketball coach much less any players. Not even parents post on basketball on the MVS.
Where are all the Football insiders, gurus, and trolls?
I agree, Football is king.
Unfortunately, maybe not for long. Participation numbers are dropping at many schools. Some schools are having trouble fielding teams at all levels(Varsity, JV, Frosh). I am afraid that Cary Harris leaving Glendale will be the death knell for a second team in Glendale, the other being Hoover. Arcadia’s numbers are down. The Pacific League could be in trouble. I don’t know about other leagues, but I have a feeling that they are having similar issues.
Where would this site be if Tim were to rename it Mid Valley History, Government and Social Studies forum? It would be in the dumper, that’s where. There’s no demand for that kind of discourse, which is why most adults can’t put enough distance between themselves and that crap. The opposite situation, however, pertains in our public schools: the men and women who are well-paid to teach that subject matter are regarded as pillars of the community. I’ve got news: if it’s boring to us adults, it’s even MORE BORING to kids. The discipline problems and poor grades are the proof.
It’s high-time to stop worshipping at the alter of these teachers and make THEM work for walk-on salaries, rather than the football coaches. If none will work for a stipend of $3500 for twelve months, then shut-down their classes. We’ll miss their instruction about as much as we would if it were posted on this site.
What a special year El Monte football team had. All the right Pieces fell into place and they completed what they couldn’t complete last year with the right pieces. My son was sad last year when we lost in the semifinals but I’m So glad he got to be apart of this history.
Does EM coach work with what he has and go back to mediocrity or recruit another back and make another run? Time will tell.
It is not The Pull it’s THE FORCE. It’s Yoda, Ben Kenobi, Jim Thorpe, Knute Rockne, the West Covina-Bonita championship game. No use in trying to fight THE FORCE Peterson with a little round ball.