Aaron Cantu will be guiding the offense
(Montebello) – Oh there were some big kids, and there were some small kids. There were some tall kids and some short kids. And there were some skinny kids and some…well…not so skinny kids. But the first thing I noticed when I walked out on to the practice field at Schurr High School Friday afternoon was the amount of kids. They were everywhere.
On the north end of the field they were running some offensive sets featuring quarterback Aaron Cantu throwing passes. On the south end offensive line coach Phil Jimenez was running a group through blocking drills. Somewhere in the middle HC Ben Negrete was overseeing some defensive drills facing a live offense.
There were also a couple more groups on the west end of the field (JV Squad) going through the paces.
Overall the total number of players from JV to the varsity was close to 150. It’s the first week of June but 150 is nearly twice the roster size that a majority of high school squads are running this time of year.
“We had about 100 last year so when we saw the increase we were like ‘what the heck?’ Jimenez said. “We’ve got some kids that we’re playing other sports so they might be a little raw but they definitely have potential.”
Bradley Powell will play both running back and linebacker
Cantu, the Spartans returning senior, was one of the 150 on hand as he fired long and short strikes to his receivers. He is expected to have a huge season after leading Schurr to the second round of the playoffs last year where the Spartans lost to eventual CIF finalist representative Diamond Ranch.
Chris Chiaromonte and Matt Contreras, both seniors will be on the receiving end of Cantu’s tosses. Cantu should be well protected by a line featuring center Albert Perez, and left and right tackles Alvin Garcia and Art Trejo.
Bradley Powell a junior is expected to be the primary ball carrier lining up behind Cantu.
Schurr historically has had a hard hitting defense and that shouldn’t change this year with linebacker Abe Gonzalez and Robbin Nell who will anchor the line at defensive end.
The Spartans won’t have to worried about depth however as they have plenty of guys waiting in the wings and itching to get on the field.
O-Line Coach Phil Jimenez has some talent to work with
“It’s always nice to have this many players out. We’re excited about this season,” said Negrete. “We’re looking forward to it.”
Schurr, a favorite in the Almont League, has been placed in the newly configured Mid Valley Division this year along with leagues such as the Mission Valley, Rio Hondo, Montview, Valley Vista and Olympic.
“We really like it because it keeps it all local,” Jimenez said.
Schurr will be participating in several passing leagues over the next few weeks and on into the summer.
Cantu, who threw for 2500 yards and 28 touchdowns a year ago, has a busy month ahead of him. He is traveling to Arizona for a football camp this weekend and to Tulsa, Oklahoma the following weekend for another camp. Later this month he will be going to Las Vegas as he continues to refine his skills.
HC Ben Negrete excited about the numbers
- The Bubbas up front look good
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why are you mad at cantu??
look at his skill ??
he make’s the throws !!!!
Knight Shift,
Steven Rivera is not how you think of him as. He scrambles when needed, put he’s a primarily a pocket passer first, and isn’t afraid to stand in the pocket. Since you say you never seen him play, here’s your chance to get a glimpse of him. Keep in mind, he’s only a sophomore in the video. Tell me what you think after viewing it will ya? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfTY34ValSo
Didn’t you lose in the first round last year to a third place team. Arroyo lose in the first round year in and year out. Rivera maybe a talent but can he see over the oncoming rush of the D-line. I have not seen any film on rivera but i envision something like dropback scramble scramble. I wish the kid a lot of luck but some of you guy talk a lot of masa and you have not done anything in the play-offs. Arroyo has not proven that they can play pass the 12th week.
Knight Train… Shhhh. If your a player get off the computer and go workout, or better yet study. UNLV this week should be a decent indicator of where you are relative to last summer. With teams like St. Bonnie, Los Osos, Bishop Gorman (NV)… this tournament is no joke. Good luck Knights!
Hopefully we’ll match up in the playoffs. Then you fools will see. Look I aint gonna say Cantu is no good. he’s all right but c’mon compared to Rivera? Geez this guy is only a Junior next year. Also numbers don’t mean anything if they can’t play. I heard Mt. View had 80 or 90 out this year. And we all know they ain’t going nowhere. I’ll take a solid 30 against a average 90 any day. Knights takin it this year!
Knightstalker,
I guess a bad snap, a fumbled hand off, and intercepting a pass that looked like a punt because it was thrown by a backup QB technically counts as “forcing” 3 turnovers. That was more miscues by the WC offense than big plays by the Arroyo defense.
That is good to hear about Miller, word was that he was going to be out until like October. Good for him and the Knights!
Knight Train,
Steven Rivera is a good QB. Cantu is a good QB. If the Football Gods allow it to happen, we will see you in the playoffs! As for the Almont league being weak… Watch out! New head coach at SG that will run a good program. New head coach at Alhambra who has had good runs in his past years before Manny Ruedaflores called the offense. Mike Mooney at SM runs a good program. Koffley runs a good program. Whittier Christian is good. Monrovia is good and the rest of the big dogs in the conference. Your Knights run a good program as well! Worry about your first Ten games and we’ll see who’s in the playoffs! As my mentor would say… “Everyone’s good until you beat them!”
What the “K’? Arroyo’s defense forced 3 turnovers and gave their offense the ball twice inside the 10 yd line. The defense that your worried about held the Whittier Ch. passing game below 50% and 110 yds. And they also held an ALL CIF RB to 111 yds on 33 carries! That RB earned every inch that night and they rode him as a team to within minutes of the finals. BTW- didn’t WC put up similar points against Monrovia? Never looked it up… but how did they throw and run against Monrovia? Better or worse? What hurt Arroyo was 3 turnovers (2 led to scores) and maybe the best defense they had seen all year in Whittier Ch. If you take away the turnovers by both teams offenses, the score looks more like 13-10 Whittier Christian. As for your outlook on Arroyo. Yeah, I agree losing the best WR in the division to graduation will hurt. But with Rivera (League MVP),Vasquez (league MVP), Duran (starter), Torres (All league) & Thome (moved from RB to WR) all as weapons I think the offense will be fine. And Miller (All League) has been cleared to play for the past 3 weeks.
Cantu and Rivera are both the real deal. The problem for both of them is going to be losing key WR’s from last year…
Cantu loses 2 guys who were over 6′ and now he has to replace them with a bunch of 5’8″ kids. He also loses his RB and 3 OL.
For Rivera, losing Rodriguez to graduation and Miller to injury will be tough. Still he has Vasquez who is a stud. The biggest thing for Arroyo is going to be that defense, can they stop people in playoffs? They couldn’t last year, Whittier Christian rallied from like 18 pts. to beat them…with a backup QB!
Good for Carlos and the boys. We’ll be out there to cover the Hall of Fame Game. It will be good to see the seniors play one more time!
No problem on the vid, TP. My pleasure.
I received a call from Carlos Arredondo this afternoon. He was heading home after going to Baldwin Park High for the 2010 Hall of Fame All Star game meeting. He said the game would be played on Friday night June 25th @ Baldwin Park High. Along with him, were Angel Sanchez, Mark Avila, Nathan Ayon, and Nick Castillo. Carlos mentioned that Schurr has the most players from any one school…
Last add: Knight Train, I was being sarcastic. I wouldn’t want you feeling good about yourself… LOL!
Hey Knight Train, good line about Cantu and the wife beater but that’s all it was – a line. Cantu will beat plenty of people and win a lot of games in 2010. I like Rivera too…solid quarterback and he’s still learning. Looks good for Arroyo. But you can’t discount what Cantu has done and will continue to do. As for the Almont being weak? With SG, Alhambra, Montebello and BG along with Schurr it is anything but weak! Oh and Johnny Be Good – Good video.
Goood write up on Schurr. Some of the comments about schurr having an advantage because of enrollement is hog wash. I f you do some research Schurr has played mission valley teams in the pass. South El Monte (1-1) Rosemead (1-1) Arroyo (shs 0-2) if you are a coach and you are going around counting how many students go to each school you’ve already lost. You can’t controll that you should be worried about getting your players ready for the upcoming season. if Schurr wins it will not be about the coaching or players that make plays but about how many students they have enrolled.
I saw Rivera @ the Arroyo passing tourney last year. Schurr was there along with one other team. He looked good (freshman @ the time). I haven’t seen him play in live game yet. Hope to get a chance this next year. Having said that, I need to thank Knight Train for his “comedy relief”. That was some funny $hite!
Here’s Aaron Cantu’s Highlight #1…. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlFVOQ1R0d0
I must say that I agree with “some” of the comment that was posted by one of my fellow Knights, Knight Train. Unfortunately, I can’t say that I agree with it all. First off, I agree that Arroyo will beat Rosemead in the Crosstown Showdown this upcoming season (no offense Panther Pride.) Secondly, in regards the notion that the Mead isn’t going anywhere this year, I strongly have to disagree on that assumption. I think Rosemead will have a pretty good year, finish in 2nd place in the MVL, and earn themselves a well deserved playoff bid.
Moving along to the QB discussion, I agree with you 100% that Steven Rivera is a real QB…a real good QB to say the very least, and a QB who has 2 more seasons to continue elevating his game play and skills to go from being real good QB, to being real great QB, and I know for a fact that Steven is constantly putting in the time and work to excel and strive. Whether it’s watching game films, studying the playbook, passing camps, etc…as for Cantu, other than watching his highlight film, I’ve never seen him play live, but from what I saw of him on his highlight film, make no mistake about it. Cantu is for real, and he’s a winner who knows how to win. He’s got all the tools, skill, and a good arm. If you don’t think so, remember…the stats don’t lie. Cantu had 2500+ yards, 28 td’s last year. That’s real enough for me…And finally, Schurr’s school enrollment, and the size in numbers for their football team should not be used as an excuse or a reason for non success against them by any school that plays them. I can recall a CIF playoff game in 1996 when Arroyo defeated Schurr. So at the end of the day, when it’s all said and done, and the Friday night lights go on, come game time, it’s 11 on 11 on the field.
i don’t want to be Johnny Rain Cloud here, but I don’t like it! Sorry. Cantu is good, but Arredondo made the plays last season. Cantu is good but Nick Castillo made plays last season. Who is the feature back this year? Lets not give Schurr the title just yet. I’m a Monrovia man in 2010. They have it all.
The mead ain’t going nowhere. The Knights will run right over them. As for Schurr they don’t have enough for us. We’ll take them out quick. Cantu will need that wife beater because he ain’t beating anybody else! If you want to see a real QB take a look at Steven Rivera. Thats whats up! Schurr might win their league cus that league sucks but they ain’t gonna beat the Knights!
Any school that has triple digits should be pinged to have a great year. I talked to some folks at the game this afternoon and they said that Schurr takes their football seriously. Hey we take ours seriously but geeze if we had 100 kids. Cantu in a wife beater though, I meant he could at least have had a t-shirt on.
bottomline is schurr is a solid team. the spartans just got to take it one game at a time,and we don’thave to fear ANYBODY. we work harder then anyother team out there and everyone is devoted.some guys just need to build confidence and review a little.but we”SCHURR HIGH SCHOOL” got C.I.F this year
Yeah I thought that pic of Cantu in the wife beater was funny too. I haven’t had the the chance to see Schurr but I do see what they have coming back. Wow! Who’s this Powell kid? He looks like he can do something. The thing I like about Schurr too is the coaching…always solid. Negrete has picked up right where Elvin Dick left off. I see Jimenez is still with the green. I remember him from his Alhambra days. You sure Peterson isn’t fudging the numbers? 150? C’mon! That’s not a roster it’s a congregation! Anyway there’s one team Schurr better look out for. Fear the MEAD!
Nice write up on Schurr, TP! I’ve heard alot about Cantu, but not Schurr until now. I was by thier practice on Thursday. I couldn’t believe the numbers either! The sheer number of good looking atheletes also stood out to me. Guys, they have an enrollment of 3400 +. That’s a big pool to draw from.
I saw Albert “Rhino” Perez (1st team CIF Center) mixing it up w/ the hogs. Alvin Garcia (left tackle) was likewise showing some nice footwork in the drills. Jimenez has those big boys moving.
At receiver, Chris Chiaromonte is the real deal. Smooth as silk running routes. He has HUGE shoes to fill. Make no mistake, he wants to be “the” guy. I think the offensive side of the ball looks great heading into summer.
Defense is where there are many more questions. Simply because of the lack of game experience. Gonzalez (LB) and Nell (DE) are solid. Albert Perez will also play on the D-Line. Besides that, there are not many known commodities.
Last add: I thought Cantu having on a “wife beater” is classic! Who needs under armor moisture wicking mumbo jumbos….