Olympic League
Whittier Christian RB Joel Rhone
1.) Whittier Christian Heralds
Head Coach: Sergio Gradilla
Staff: Pete Karavedes DC, Kevin Oberlander, Clint Duran, Don Hearn, Bruce Wallace, Manny Tellez, Sean Thompson.
Last Year: 9-4
Last 5 Years: 40-20 overall, 14-8 league
Last Playoff Appearance: 2009 Semi Finals: Lost Monrovia 35-32
1st Down: At least Jeff Worthy can hold off the recruiters in his senior year. He verbally committed to Boise St.
2nd Down: Linebackers Rudy Robles, George Flynn and Tim Sanchez might be the best in the division.
3rd Down: It always nice to have a quarterback returning-especially one like Stephen Anderson.
4th Down: Paul O’Laughlin and Taylor Smith call themselves “salt” and “pepper”
Game Plan: You won’t hear it from them, but Whittier Christian is a title contender.
None League Schedule: at Ontario Christian, Notre Dame Riverside, Kern Valley, at St. Margaret’s, Salesian, at Cantwell Sacred-Heart.
***
2.) Valley Christian Crusaders
Head Coach: Erick Streelman
Last Year: 8-4
Last 5 Years: 37-25-overall, 13-6 league
Last Playoff Appearance: 2009 Second Round: Lost San Dimas 37-14
1st Down: Ryan Fronke settles in behind center for Kevin Running. Fronke saw some action last year throwing for 135 yards.
2nd Down: Whittier Christian is getting all the ink but Valley went 4-0 in league last year.
3rd Down: Trevor Rodriguez and his 725 yards rushing are back to lead the attack.
4th Down: The Crusaders are tested early. They open at Tesoro on Thursday September 2.
Game Plan: A playoff spot seems certain. Can Valley defend its title by holding off the Heralds?
Non League Schedule: at Tesoro, at St. Joseph, St Bernard, Mayfair, at Ontario Christian, St. Margaret’s.
***
3.) Village Christian Crusaders
Head Coach: Jeff Cortez
Last Year: 6-4
Last 5 Years: 26-28 overall, 9-10 overall
Last Playoff Appearance: 2007 First Round: Lost Santa Clara 41-14
1st Down: Village scored 65 points against Valley and Whittier combined but fell short in both games.
2nd Down: Penthouse to the basement in consecutive weeks. Village routed LA Baptist 42-14 but was shut out by Paraclete 35 -0 in the next game last October.
3rd Down: Kyle Custer (1200 yards passing) leads the offensive charge along with Amjed Aboul –hosn (860 yards rushing).
4th Down: Village closes the regular season with Olympic favorites Whittier and Valley Christian.
Game Plan: Village can put points on the board. But unless the Crusaders play defense they might be left on the outside.
Non League Schedule: La Salle, at Fillmore, at Antelope Valley, Bernstein, Rosamond, at Rio Hondo Prep.
***
4.) Maranatha Minutemen
Head Coach: Joel Murphy
Staff: Henry Rodriguez DC, Joey Rodriguez, Tim Cantrell, David Alonzo, Adam Crouch, Chris Weber, Adrian Jennings, Drake Buchanon, Colin Jones.
Last Year: 9-3
Last 5 Years: 46-16 overall, 21-5 league
Last Playoff Appearance: 2009 Second Round: Lost Ontario Christian 28-24
1st Down: New league and new division for the Minutemen as they jump into the Olympic from the Alpha. Now they find out how good they are.
2nd Down: Murphy led his team to the quarters last year.
3rd Down: Quarterback Cody Keith has graduated paving the way for Andrew Ellfers.
4th Down: Minutemen Stadium (not official name) is beautiful. It has that small college feel.
Game Plan: Maranatha will be good in the Olympic…eventually. It’s going to take some time before they can make some noise against the big boys. 2010 will be a start.
Non League Schedule: Big Bear, La Salle, Santa Maria, at Salesian, at La Canada.
***
5.) Los Angeles Baptist Knights
Head Coach: Lance Fauria
Last Year: 3-7
Last 5 Years: 25-27-2 overall, 7-11 league
Last Playoff Appearance: 2008 First Round: Lost Duarte 38-30
1st Down: LA Baptist likes to run the ball and Michael Ray should do the bulk of the work. The senior averaged over five yards per carry while rushing for nearly 600 yards a year ago.
2nd Down: It’s nice to have Drew Larios back at quarterback.
3rd Down: They’ll need to shore up the defense to have a chance. The Knights allowed more than 40 points in every league game in 2009. Valley Christian put up 49.
4th Down: We hope the bus is running well. LAB takes a trip to Mammoth Lakes in the opener.
Game Plan: Simply put the Knights need to stop people. Even then, in a competitive Olympic, this might not be their year.
Non League Schedule: at Mammoth, at California Military Institute, Chadwick, at Desert, St. Genevieve.
Leave a Reply