{"id":4541,"date":"2009-11-29T18:58:54","date_gmt":"2009-11-30T01:58:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/?p=4541"},"modified":"2009-11-30T12:06:32","modified_gmt":"2009-11-30T19:06:32","slug":"game-night-southeast-division-semi-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/?p=4541","title":{"rendered":"Game Night: Southeast Division Semi-Finals"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"South

South Hills & Steve Bogan are one game away from a Southeast Division Finals appearance. (photo courtesy of www.southhillsfootball.org)<\/p><\/div>\n

Game times are 7:30 PM\u00a0unless otherwise indicated \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Friday December 4<\/p>\n

Diamond Ranch (6-6) at South Hills (10-2) at Covina District Field<\/p>\n

Last Meeting: Diamond Ranch 15-12 (2008 Southeast Division Semi-Finals)<\/p>\n

The Panthers defense came up big when they needed it against Schurr as Elijah Hensley intercepted Aaron Cantu\u2019s last second pass in the end zone.\u00a0\u00a0 The Huskies took care of business with a win over Crescenta Valley on the road.<\/p>\n

Both teams are taking care of business on the field as Diamond Ranch has won five straight games with their last loss coming against Charter Oak.\u00a0 South Hills has won nine straight after starting the season 1-2 with losses against La Habra and Tesoro.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Panthers rely on a heavy dose of Amari Staten who can run between the tackles or turn the corner on a defense.\u00a0 Staten\u2019s back up Jacoby Carter is serviceable when called upon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Senior quarterback Gus Viramontes is a true leader.\u00a0 He can find the open receiver or find open space to run for a first down.<\/p>\n

Ryan Gibson and Brandon Taylor are good targets for Viramontes find in the open.\u00a0 Gibson is a big-play receiver who has very good hands.\u00a0 Hensley can also be counted on to catch some passes.<\/p>\n

The Huskies are led by Jacob Shirley who wasn\u2019t even the starter at the beginning of the year.\u00a0 Shirley has a rocket arm and scrambles well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Most of Shirley\u2019s passes go to Ify Umodu and Geoffrey Vaughns who have accounted for 65 of 111 receptions.\u00a0 Dakota Behr is one of the best tight ends in the Southeast Division and has sure hands.<\/p>\n

Vaughns rushed for 1,037 yards on the season and has a bruising back up in Jamel Hart. \u00a0<\/p>\n

OUTLOOK:\u00a0 Diamond Ranch must keep Jacob Shirley from roaming outside the pocket and getting yardage with his feet.\u00a0 Offensively, Viramontes needs to make good decisions when scrambling.\u00a0 Staten will get his yards and if Gibson can get open it will be a long night for South Hills.<\/p>\n

The Huskies must contain Viramontes and not allow him to scramble for yardage.\u00a0 They also must defend against the quick strike capability of Gibson.\u00a0 On the offensive side of the ball, Shirley must continue to manage the game.\u00a0 Vaughns will have to be able to get 4+ yards a carry.\u00a0<\/p>\n

PREDICTION:\u00a0 Can you argue with the success of Diamond Ranch coach Roddy Layton?\u00a0 The Panthers lost to six playoff teams that have gone on to the quarterfinals and Chino Hills is now in the Southern Division semi-finals against Upland.\u00a0 Not taking anything away from what South Hills has done this season, Diamond Ranch has been tested more during the pre-season.<\/p>\n

Diamond Ranch 24 South Hills 17<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Saturday December 5<\/p>\n

California (9-2-1) at Charter Oak (11-1)<\/p>\n

The Condors are 9-0-1 since dropping their two straight to start the season.\u00a0 The Chargers were considered to have a good chance at a State Bowl game before dropping a home game to Rancho Cucamonga (in a Southern Division semi-final).\u00a0 Since the loss they have rattled off eight-straight wins.<\/p>\n

Last week, California needed a Terris Jones 30-yard touchdown reception to defeat Burbank and advance to the semi-finals.\u00a0 Charter Oak took care of business quite easily against West Covina.<\/p>\n

This game is a marquee match-up of running backs.\u00a0 With Jones averaging 145 yards per game on the ground and now being featured in the slot on certain offensive sets.\u00a0 The Chargers counter with Adam Muema who can batter a defense.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For the Condors it isn\u2019t just about Jones.\u00a0 They also have elusive Travis Alexander who can come in and get valuable yards while Jones is on the sidelines.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Quarterback Adam Contreras is developing into a nice signal-caller and can manage a game as well as any of the four quarterbacks remaining in the semi-finals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When they do need to throw the ball, Christian Hernandez is a good option with his 15 yards per catch average along with Bryan Barragan\u2019s 19 yards per catch.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Prior to the playoffs the California defense had only allowed one team to score more than 20 points in a game.\u00a0 During the playoffs they have given up an average of 24 points a game.\u00a0 The defense during the season did have a 12-quarter shut-out streak going.<\/p>\n

As previously stated, the offense goes through Muema.\u00a0 He has gone from a finesse runner to a bruising back that doesn\u2019t go down after the first hit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sophomore quarterback Travis Santiago has grown into his role and if given time will pick apart a defense.\u00a0<\/p>\n

AJ Powell and Dennis Rufus are two of the best receivers in the Southeast Division.\u00a0 If they are covered, Christian Boyd and Kyle Brown will be asked to make plays.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Powell also can change field position in a blink of an eye with his defense and playmaking ability.\u00a0<\/p>\n

OUTLOOK:\u00a0 California must wrap up on defense and not allow Muema to get second and third effort yardage after the initial contact.\u00a0\u00a0 The Condors must also try to rattle Santiago when facing long yardage situations.\u00a0 Jones must have the game of his life on offense against a much disciplined Charter Oak defense.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Chargers will probably put eight or nine guys in a box and make Contreras beat them.\u00a0 They also need to get off to another fast start and not suffer from post-West Covina win hangover.\u00a0 Muema will get his yards, which means when Santiago is called upon to move the chains in long yardage situations he must make a play.\u00a0<\/p>\n

OUTCOME:\u00a0 This is going to be a good-old fashion defensive battle.\u00a0 Both teams will punch each other in the mouth and the first who blinks will win this game.\u00a0 In the end, Charter Oak has too many weapons for California.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Charter Oak 17 California 14<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Game times are 7:30 PM\u00a0unless otherwise indicated \u00a0\u00a0 Friday December 4 Diamond Ranch (6-6) at South Hills (10-2) at Covina District Field Last Meeting: Diamond Ranch 15-12 (2008 Southeast Division Semi-Finals) The Panthers defense came up big when they needed it against Schurr as Elijah Hensley intercepted Aaron Cantu\u2019s last second pass in the end […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"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-4541","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\/4541","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\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4541"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4541\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4543,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4541\/revisions\/4543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}