{"id":18055,"date":"2011-09-06T22:34:13","date_gmt":"2011-09-07T05:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/?p=18055"},"modified":"2011-09-06T22:35:33","modified_gmt":"2011-09-07T05:35:33","slug":"game-night-mid-valley-division-week-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/?p=18055","title":{"rendered":"Game Night: Mid-Valley Division-Week One"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/strong><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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Azusa and Desmond Reed open the season against San Dimas <\/p><\/div>\n

All Game times are 7:00 PM unless otherwise indicated<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thursday September 8 <\/strong><\/p>\n

El Monte<\/strong> (1-0) at La Puente (0-0) <\/strong><\/p>\n

Last Year: La Puente 35-27 <\/strong><\/p>\n

El Monte, led by Brandon Martinez, lit up Baldwin Park for 43 points in the opener. The defense did its job as well holding the Braves to 17. Last year the Lions had trouble stopping La Puente\u2019s running attack.<\/p>\n

The Warriors under second year Coach Brandon Roher will try to run it down El Monte\u2019s throat again. Quarterback Ivan Vasquez can throw the ball as well.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll go with the hot hand.<\/p>\n

El Monte 27 La Puente 20\u00a0<\/p>\n

Glendora<\/strong> (0-1) at Monrovia (0-0) <\/strong><\/p>\n

Last Year: Glendora 21-7 <\/strong><\/p>\n

The Wildcats were tied with the Tartans late in the game until Glendora eventually took control. Glendora lost several key players including quarterback Chad Jeffries. Monrovia on the other hand might be even better than last year\u2019s CIF Champion.<\/p>\n

Monrovia has the weapons to pass it, throw it and return it. Wildcats win.<\/p>\n

Monrovia 21 Glendora 17<\/p>\n

San Dimas<\/strong> (0-1) at Azusa (0-0) \u2013 Citrus College <\/strong><\/p>\n

Good test for both teams early. Things didn\u2019t go as planned for the Saints in a 20 point opening season loss to Bonita in the Smudgepot. The defense needs to shore up and offensively San Dimas need to avoid mistakes.<\/p>\n

Azusa has upgraded its non league schedule by adding the Saints. A win over San Dimas would go a long way in proving the Aztecs are a legitimate contender.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t see San Dimas laying two eggs in a row. Saints bounce back.<\/p>\n

San Dimas 28 Azusa 17<\/p>\n

Friday September 9 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Temple City<\/strong> (0-0) at Arroyo (1-0) – The Mid Valley Classic <\/strong><\/p>\n

Last Year: Arroyo 42-6 <\/strong><\/p>\n

All Time: 16-16 Even <\/strong><\/p>\n

The Knights, after losing twice to the Rams in 2009, have now won two straight to tie the series. Arroyo lost running back Mikey Vasquez but has an adequate replacement in Peter Aholoka. And of course they have four year starter Steven Rivera.<\/p>\n

Temple City should be better than last year in Coach Mike McFarland\u2019s second season. Chris Reed can establish a running game and returning quarterback Mikal Quintanilla is improved. Temple City has a solid offensive line.<\/p>\n

TC has closed the gap but not enough to beat Arroyo. It won\u2019t be a rout like last year.<\/p>\n

Arroyo 28 Temple City 10<\/p>\n

Rosemead<\/strong> (0-0) at Montebello (1-0) <\/strong><\/p>\n

Last Year: Rosemead 17-13<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s the opener for the Panthers while the Oilers are coming off a win over Roosevelt. Rosemead will do what it does best \u2013 pound the ball and play good defense. Montebello has good depth this year. Coach Pete Gonzalez had a lot of kids out in the summer.<\/p>\n

Expect a close game like last year. Rosemead should have enough.<\/p>\n

Rosemead 20 Montebello 17<\/p>\n

La Canada (0-0) at Alhambra (1-0) \u2013 Moor Field <\/strong><\/p>\n

Last Year: La Canada 17-0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last season the Moors couldn\u2019t get anything going offensively against the Spartans. In Zero Week, the Moors racked up 47. Yes, the opponent was Mt. View but Alhambra did what it was supposed to do. It was 40-0 at halftime. Josh Mendoza, Demetrius Russell and company were clicking on all cylinders.<\/p>\n

La Canada has a new quarterback and a new feature back and lost several key players to graduation. The Spartans need to win their non league games to bolster their resume for post season selections.<\/p>\n

It will be a struggle but Alhambra gets it done.<\/p>\n

Alhambra 21 La Canada 14<\/p>\n

San Gabriel<\/strong> (0-1) at South Pasadena (0-0) <\/strong><\/p>\n

Last Year: South Pasadena 22-9 <\/strong><\/p>\n

All-Time: San Gabriel 11-10-1 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Last year the Tigers stunned the Mats in a 22-9 upset. The loss proved to be huge at the end of the year when SG missed the playoffs. This year it\u2019s the same scenario. The Matadors are coming off a big loss to Muir and it\u2019s the opener for the Tigers.<\/p>\n

Most of the skill position players are back for San Gabriel while the Tigers lost a majority of its playmakers including quarterback Conor Bednarski and receiver Matt Nelson.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t expect the Mats to get caught napping again. San Gabriel gets the win.<\/p>\n

San Gabriel 24 South Pasadena 14<\/p>\n

Blair (1-0) at Duarte (1-0) <\/strong><\/p>\n

Last Year: Blair 23-0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

No that isn\u2019t a typo. Both teams are undefeated. Blair is coming off a win over Fulton while Coach Tip Sanders picked up his first victory at Duarte in a win over Marshall.<\/p>\n

Both schools have good athletes but it\u2019s just a matter of coaching them up. Ironically Sanders turned around the fortunes at Blair leading the Vikings to the Rio Hondo league title in 2007.<\/p>\n

Neither team will run away but there could be a lot of points put on the board. Blair survives a shootout.<\/p>\n

Blair 35 Duarte 31<\/p>\n

Covina<\/strong> (0-1) at Gladstone (0-0) \u2013 Citrus College <\/strong><\/p>\n

Last Year: Covina 33-0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The overtime loss last week to West Covina almost feels like a win for Covina. The Colts were down by two touchdowns before rallying in the fourth quarter to tie. They stood up to possibly the best team in the Southeast and nearly pulled off a victory. Quarterback Billy Livingston is best when the game is on the line.<\/p>\n

Gladstone QB Kevin Amezquita has looked solid all summer. The Gladiators should be much improved from the 2010 team.<\/p>\n

G-Stone might hang in for awhile but in the end it will be Covina. Colts pull away late.<\/p>\n

Covina 34 Gladstone 13\u00a0<\/p>\n

Saturday September 10 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Maranatha (1-0) at La Salle (0-1) <\/strong><\/p>\n

Last Year: Maranatha 38-7 <\/strong><\/p>\n

These are teams heading in opposite directions. La Salle let a three touchdown lead get away last week and was sent to its twelfth consecutive defeat. The Lancers haven\u2019t won a game since 2009. Maranatha is a team on a roll. The Minutemen advanced to the second round of the playoffs last year and rolled over Big Bear last week in their opener. They also have one of the best quarterbacks in the valley in Andrew Elffers.<\/p>\n

Despite the loss, La Salle played tough last week against Village Christian \u2013 at least for a half anyway. If the Lancers can sustain that they could give Maranatha some problems. Last year\u2019s starting quarterback Michael Novell is suffering from a bad back and junior Austin Wallis will get the start. Novell came in last week in the second half and could play if needed.<\/p>\n

La Salle should compete and make it closer than a year ago but the bottom line is Maranatha simply has too much. Minutemen go to 2-0.<\/p>\n

Maranatha 35 La Salle 17<\/p>\n

Other Games: <\/strong><\/p>\n

Friday September 9 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Gabrielino (1-0) at Bosco Tech (1-0) \u2013 Bosco Tech<\/p>\n

Bassett (1-0) at Mt. View (0-1) \u2013 Mt. View<\/p>\n

Ganesha (1-0) at South El Monte (0-0) \u2013 South El Monte<\/p>\n

Schurr (0-0) at Cantwell (0-0) \u2013 Cantwell<\/p>\n

Workman (0-0) at Keppel (0-1) \u2013 Workman<\/p>\n

Bell Gardens (0-0) at Torrance (0-0) \u2013 Bell Gardens<\/p>\n

Eagle Rock (0-1) at San Marino (0-0) \u2013 Eagle Rock<\/p>\n

Wilson (0-1) at Diamond Bar (0-1) \u2013 Diamond Bar<\/p>\n

Northview (0-1) at El Rancho (0-1) \u2013 Northview<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All Game times are 7:00 PM unless otherwise indicated Thursday September 8 El Monte (1-0) at La Puente (0-0) Last Year: La Puente 35-27<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-high-school-sports"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18055"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18058,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18055\/revisions\/18058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}