This has been Monrovia’s league for the better part of the last two decades. Except for the occasional uprising of a San Marino or South Pasadena the Wildcats have ruled the roost. Last year Monrovia finished in a three-way tie for first place. The Wildcats lost to South Pasadena while South Pas fell to San Marino.
This year could be more of the same. Monrovia lost quarterback Brian Salazar to graduation as well as talented receiver Noah Ellison. Monrovia will turn to freshman Jesse Saucedo Jr. to fill the void at quarterback while Joshua Griffiths, coming off a season in which he hauled in 46 passes for 702 yards and 7 touchdowns returns at wide receiver. Vincent Paez who had over 500 yards receiving a year ago, is back as well. Linebacker Troy Grise, 90 total tackles last year, along with Lucas Martinez and Dominic Lino will anchor the defense.
Talk about Temple City and you’re talking about Judah Douglas. As a receiver he had 70 catches for 1,110 yards and 15 touchdowns. Yes, that’s one thousand one hundred and ten yards. He’s back and he is a game changer. He will be quarterback Jake Leone’s favorite target and will be the main cog in the Rams’ offense. Christian Gomez should be a mainstay on defense.
San Marino looks like the team that has the best shot to win the Rio Hondo crown. Quarterback Brady Beck is back after throwing for over 1,600 yards last year. He will be protected by Brown commit Mitch Mooney who had 35 pancake blocks last season. I love that stat! Mooney will also play on the defensive side of the ball where he loves to chase down quarterbacks. He had 85 total tackles last year to go along with 9 sacks.
Receiver JJ Wilson, 215 yards last year, returns as a receiver to connect with Beck. Julian Solis rushed for 327 yards and 5 scores last season and will help balance the Titans attack.
La Canada lost a lot to graduation but the Spartans do have some talent returning. Sohan Garg, 200 yards rushing last season, will be relied on to tote the rock. Defensively Josh Carruthers, who had 62 total tackles in 2023 will be a force as will Spencer Turner, 41 tackles last year. River Wokosin (cool name) will be lurking on the front line where he had 4 sacks a year ago.
Jason Hong graduated from South Pasadena in June and took his 2,063 yards and 39 touchdowns with him. To lose the Mid Valley Sports MVP is definitely a blow to the Tigers. They’ll land on their feet though. Zach Lee is back at quarterback. Last season he passed for 597 yards and 6 touchdowns when he wasn’t handing the ball to Hong. You may see those numbers increase as the passing attack grows. David Ortega averaged 9 tackles per game last year and will be a stalwart on defense. James Dowd, 11 sacks and David Eisenberg who picked off 3 passes in ’23 return as well.
Everson Mathis threw for 2,214 yards and 6 touchdowns last season for Pasadena Poly. Mathis also rushed for 470 yards and six scores. There’s no truth to the rumor that he also directed the band at halftime. That’s the good news. Here’s the bad news. He transferred to Village Christian. AB Shorter had 172 yards last year and he returns at receiver. Linebacker Charlie Brogge, 36 total tackles and TJ Mcelrath, 3 sacks, will be up front to shore up the defense. The question is with Mathis gone do they have enough to compete?
Projected Order of Finish
- San Marino – Beck + Mooney = Victory.
- Monrovia – Wildcats will find a way.
- South Pasadena – Hong is gone but Zach is back!
- La Canada – The Spartans will need to knock off one of the big boys.
- Temple City – Judah Douglas is worth the price of admission.
- Pasadena Poly – Can Poly compete for a playoff spot?
Wildcat,
There is discontent brewing at the academic side of things too. Principal making course selection decisions, without informing all stakeholders, that will have a negative impact on the academic preparation of many students.
Monrovia please stand up!!! Let’s correct the problem the principal must go. The head football coach/ ad must also go. The football coach started this early last year sending the kids to the school board about black uniforms. Creating a up roor then denying he had any knowledge they were going. Monrovia has always been a tight family community. How did we allow this to happen. School board please listen to the teacher’s/parents/ students.
Alumni,
Was he the Principal, an Assistant Principal, or AD at El Rancho? I’m hearing he was at La Serna for maybe a year, years ago, as an Assistant Principal. One year? Not a good sign when only at a district for one year. Maybe he found greener pastures elsewhere.
Have a question has is the ad the head football coach? Is that a conflict of interest. Please bring Phil as the principal what are we waiting for,!!! We need coaches to go into the community. Ryan Maddox came with a plain he got coaches familiar with the community/ alumni . This is Monrovia not the city section. 4 cif appearances 3 titles 2 simi finals Ryan Maddox.
Please fire this principal he’s constantly lying. Hes trying to fire brad blackmore the base ball coach. Monrovia has had two head baseball coaches since 1984. Yes the principal was at elrancho high-school ruined there sports program. Question how many football coaches since Ryan Maddox?
RHL Fan,
Been hearing some interesting things that are going on at Monrovia HS, not just in the athletics department, but also in the academic side of things. Principal that believes that his changes that will bring academic success to the school, I beg to differ, will actually do the opposite. Not liking what I’m hearing one bit. Someone did suggest to look up his track record. Someone, please do!!!
Concerned Monrovian and mhs alumni, that’s crazy that the admin would do that to the baseball team. Baseball is basically year round at the high school level now. Between Summer practices, Fall and Winter Ball, the team is together almost the whole year. I am not sure what has happened there with the Admin and AD positions, but I know some parents who have kids at MHS and they have said some not so kind words about what has taken place there the last few years.
MHS Alumni,
If they took a look at his track record, they may indeed question the hire!!
Parents need to complain if that’s true about the practices. The new superintendent was on the cif board also the head coach is the ad he should also no the rules…also your correct about the district trying to charge thebaseball team per the principal . Some one please look at this principals track record…..
Man, everyone is piling on Monrovia Football!!! Can someone confirm that they indeed have had 4 to almost 5 hour practices?!!!! Yikes! one could understand two 2-and -a -half hour practices during 2-a-days, but 4-5 hours all at once?! Not even top programs go past three hour practices. What are their numbers like? I’m gonna take a guess, pretty low…
Also, got word that site/district admin has informed coaches that they would be charging the Monrovia HS baseball program a field permit fee (per hour) during Fall Ball home games. If indeed there is truth to this claim, the District and school administration should be ashamed of themselves. Monrovia’s Fall Ball program is not a travel ball team, it consists of only Monrovia HS kids. During the Summer and Fall practices, the field is maintained by coaches and student-athletes. These kids families are already paying property taxes that fund the district. The kids themselves are currently attending the school, are part of the program, and are engaged in offseason practices, but are being told that the program will have to pay to play on their home field?! Come on now!!! Make it make sense!! Shameful!!!
Judah had a grade 3 sprain. Still played that game by the way.
Judah has 3 D1 offers and 14 D2 offers and he has not even finished his senior dhow case. Monrovia will be terrible this season. Jaylen Moore was yall only hope.
Judah had a grade 3 ankle sprain and he still played both ways and got 2 pics and 35 rushing yards.
Monrovia will be the worst team in the RHL this szn.
3600 Yards 35 touchdowns going into senior year Judah is the best ever.
Yes Grim, TC is getting new field and track installed.
@Idaho St Recruiter,
Temple City has won 5 games in the last 3 years with Douglas on the team. With their non league schedule, Desmond Reed alone would count for at least 15 wins. And the Lowe divisions, 1 D1 athlete changes to he is the trajectory of a season that much. Just look at Booth from El Monte a few seasons ago.
August and hope springs eternal for a bunch of guys whose guts wont fit in their faded letterman’s jackets. And for every Desmond Reed or Judah Douglas there is a Kurt Scobbie. Football is fun, if you dont get injured for life, but the overwhelming number of RHL players (or any league in a division that doesnt start with the number 1) will never play another organized football game after they graduate. And the Reeds or Douglas’s of the world would be nothing without the toil of teammates who will live in anonymity. And even the best of the players will never make a $ playing football.. maybe a scholarship here and there.
Good for those that promote TC as it has been a hard road there, being the second coming of Blair. A sad state of affairs while the vaunted teams of the early 1970s won title after title without losing a game. That is a tough row to hoe.
Almost a decade ago during Monrovia’s run of CIF appearances and a state bowl game, I pointed out that even Mighty Monrovia football could go the way of the DoDo bird. That logical conclusion that nothing lasts forever, was met with howls and teeth gnashing. I am just surprised some of the faithful did not show up to burn me at the stake. Could this be the year the glass slipper busts into a million pieces. Who knows? Maybe all the naysaying on the coaching staff is just sour grapes that will turn to wine.. or Whine. Who Knows???!!!
CALPREPS has their favorite based on some sort of proprietary calculation. S Pas is their pick.
But face it football is lagging in popularity and demographic change has accelerated that decline. It is hard to be a sports hero if you are preparing for the SAT Test half of your waking hours. And putting all your eggs in a football home schooling enhancement program is not going to get you into Harvard or Stanford.
So I nominate Shofi as the best RHL player of all time. He set national receiving records in High School, Went to Yale and was the captain of the football team. You might have seen him on ESPN a couple of times with the play of the day highlight. And the reason he is the best of the best of the RHL, he got good enough grades at Yale to get into medical school, where he has or is just about to be a fully licensed medical doctor.
And that is real success that I hope many players in the RHL will aspire to.
note what is with the TC schedule with no home games, are they finally getting rid of the half dirt half grass field? And do you know their field is haunted? But that is a story for another day.
Okay Judah. This is getting out of hand. We know it’s either you or a parent hyping you up. Stop it please! It is going to do nothing but hurt you in the end. Hopefully you are that good. I’d love to see it! But if you’re not. Well you’re gonna see the hate real fast. Feel me?
As someone who has watched Temple City football over the there are many players in Temple City’s rich history since the turn of the century that I could say are better than Judah.
Jamil Frazier, Herman Wagner, Antonio Wagner, Desmond Reed, Kenji Morinaga, Tsun Shin Tsai, Sammy Yu, Dwight Broadnax, Will Do, Max Ruckle, Daniel Centeno
Don’t get me started on the rest of the Rio Hondo League
Bro Chill lol. Monrovia has like 5 kids as good or better than Judah right now. We have this grade of player every season. Everyone does! Players like Desmond come around once in a lifetime. Charter oak has a few that would run circles around Judah and they are still good but Average playere with offeres. Monrovia had a few of those also over the years. Judah isn’t that trust me! He hasn’t shown anything to anyone yet that proves it. Did he become so elite over the last few weeks that we didn’t notice! Why wasn’t he at any national combines. Why haven’t we heard much about him other than here locally in the sgv? H3 definitely isn’t better than Mitch Mooney!
Was it Desmond Reed who got 5 receptions for 12 yards against San Marino?
Y’all must not know Judah Douglas then. I talked to him on the phone personally. You guys really think Desmond Reed, who is a great player has more confidence, work ethic, will to win, and more TALENT than Judah. Y’all crazy, no disrespect to Desmond Reed but Judah is one of the most confident people, it almost seem arrogant at times but its not and I know thats just how confident he is in his ability. And are we really talking about work ethic, he goes to a D-14 school and is getting so much exposure and he dominates, that shows he grinded his way through his poor situation, and why are we acting like Desmond Reed wasn’t in a better position and have a better team around him. This Judah kid has no one. Don’t get me started on talent if you seen the kid you’d know. Don’t disrespect him and hate on him, knowing Judah all y’all talking yall doing is fueling his fire. He going to prove all y’all wrong just watch all the reckoning that he’s gonna bring to this year.
@Anonymous,
He should be at an SEC school next year then if he’s more talented than Desmond Reed. You’re either a huge homer, a family member, or an absolutely TERRIBLE judge of talent.
JUDAH DOUGLAS IS NOT BETTER THAN DESMOND REED! DELUSIONAL!
Watching Judah Douglas he definitely has more talent than Desmond Reed or any other player I have watched. And yes his team may be limited, but Judah always finds a way to power his way through an entire defense. You can’t slow him down. No way is it easy to stop him. The way he put his team on the map its not normal. He does everything for that team, and he does it with poor scheming from coaches.
From T. Peterson: No disrespect to Judah Douglas but he’s not better than Desmond Reed. Reed, based on will to win, talent and work ethic, was one of the best players, if not the best player, that I’ve covered in 25 years of covering High School football. He could have played in the NFL if he didn’t blow out his knee while playing for USC on the long grass field at Notre Dame. Reed was just tremendous player in all aspects. Always the first to arrive at practice and the last to leave. And that came from the coaches. Judah is great and I hope he has a big season and is successful in all of his future endeavors. But he’s not better than Desmond Reed.
Not only that , but when the rest of the team is limited , it’s easy to game plan to stop / slow down one guy.
I never seen the kid play , but I applaud him for staying loyal to TC ….in contrast to situation with Mathis brothers transferring from Poly to Village Christian leaving the Panther Orange cupboard bare
It.looked like a junior high practice no corrections just running plays off a sheet. So keep taking pictures..
Hey how many rings do you have???? I have 3 so I know what I’m talking about
@Anonymous,
I don’t doubt that Judah Douglass is a special athlete but you must be new to high school football if you say that you’ve never seen that type of talent at TC or at any other school. You know that TC used to have athletes galore right? It wasn’t THAT long ago that Desmond Reed was suiting up for them.
Judah douglas will win MVP of the league this year, there is nothing he can’t do, he does it all. Tc should be thanking God they have a player of such caliber on their team because I have not seen this type of talent at Tc ever or at any other schools. If you’re watching Temple city your really watching Douglas. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had 30+ touchdowns this year.watch out for this youngstar
? = Have any of the rest of the leagues teams been able to stay within 30 points with LS? No , so you have repeated same exact comment that has been commented for the last two months
School board please take note the principal is terrible. He’s killing the sports programs and coaches. We need a full time athletic director the kids deserve better.
I get this is a HS Football blog, but tried the HS blog to see if there was any word on rumors circulating about Monrovia baseball, possible suspensions. Since you all, on this thread, seem familiar with Monrovia HS, any insight?
Hey alumni! STFU idiot You don’t know anything about football obviously! This is a great coaching staff! Don’t let some disgruntled window licker tell you any different! I’ve been to all practices and I haven’t seen any former players there! Either that or you must be running the track spying and non of us recognized you because you sucked and nobody remembers you!
Receivers are not being taught to block,run there routes… this is cif not the city section. Monrovia needs a younger head coach who knows the area (Chris Williams) to relate to the new generation of players. Stop bringing in your friends to coach or be on the staff.
A lot of unknowns with LC and SP this year. A lot of new players taking over key positions (running back mainly). Given that SP QB had less than 600 yards passing and only 6 TD’s, shows that they were heavily reliant on Hong last season. Not sure who replaces Hong there. I think TC is a sleeper team. Saxson has them going in the right direction. Douglas is crazy good. Poly just doesn’t have enough horses to keep up. SM and Monrovia have enough talent to be fighting it out for the league title once again. Give the edge to SM due to the QB experience and Mitch Mooney on the line. Should be an interesting race to watch this season.
The hate not comming from former coaches. It’s comming from alumni who played at Monrovia. This is the worst coaching staff in 20yrs at Monrovia. Chris Williams was let go for this coaching staff????
Waiting for a Del Rio update. Other than La Serna have heard nothing good about the rest. That signals thet La Serna’s practice teams aren’t competetive.
Curious…..what makes them so horrible? Anyone can say that but what are YOUR views as to why they’re horrible?
The hate on Monrovia coaching staff seems to come from disgruntled former assistant coaches that didn’t get the red carpet rolled
Out for them……
Wildcats shared a league title last year and look like they may have some pieces in place this year. Don’t be the guy that roots against them from behind the bushes. Unless they’re doing something immoral or illegal, Just support your team or don’t pay attention to them if you don’t like it anymore. It’s that simple.
Bad hire smh
Went to a practice at Monrovia. Things look different….
Still got haters. Get over it.
1) SP
2) TC
3) LC
4) SM
5) Monrovia
6) Poly
Monrovia coaching staff is horrible
Monrovia coaching staff is horrible