By Tim Peterson
Can we pump the breaks now on St. Paul being the worst team ever? With the messages, comments and social media posts that I was seeing you would think that the Swordsmen should mail in the rest of the season and fold the program.
Couple of questions come to mind. How many schools in the Southern Section would have beaten Bishop Amat or Mission Viejo? And how many of you that were coming after St. Paul would have taken a 28-0 win over Whittier? This, mind you, is a Whittier team that outscored its first two opponents 90-12.
I mean Mission Viejo? They would give the Chargers a game. Slow the roll folks. Put away the pitchforks. St. Paul will be fine. Head Coach Austin Montoya will be fine. Better days are ahead.
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Monrovia quarterback Jesse Saucedo, who suffered an ACL injury early last season against Baldwin Park, has been cleared by doctors to play next week against Pasadena. The Wildcats lost in Week Zero to Brentwood but have bounced back the last two weeks to rout Eagle Rock and Roosevelt. Keep an eye on Monrovia freshman Ian Macklin. He scored three touchdowns Thursday night – one receiving, one rushing and one on a punt return. The rushing touchdown went for 92 yards as Macklin did his Usain Bolt impression after breaking through the line. This kid can play.
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El Rancho, playing a schedule that some thought would leave the Dons at 0-3, have done the exact opposite. the Dons are 3-0! They beat a good South Hills team in the opener, shut out Santa Fe and Friday night went into West Covina to upend the Bulldogs. Head coach Adrian Medrano, who always seems to get the most out of his players, has El Rancho playing at a high level.
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Alert the Press! Rio Hondo Prep lost a regular season game! For the Kares the 32-21 loss to Quartz Hill Friday night was the first regular season loss since they fell to Torrance 28-21 September 27, 2024. The loss snapped a 15-game regular season winning streak. The Kares, who have won three consecutive CIF Championships, are at Marquez on Friday night.
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Speaking of Torrance the Tartars beat Northview 27-20 Friday night. They look like the real deal after beating Mira Costa in the opener and playing with Redondo Union last week before falling late. For the Vikings, who are playing a schedule that resembles a death march, the gauntlet continues next week against La Serna. Circle October 29 on the calendar when Northview hosts Charter Oak.
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I owe “Low Profile” a pastrami at The Hat for the Mt. View loss to Hoover Friday night. Well, the Vikings didn’t just lose, they were pummeled 56-6. So maybe I owe him two pastramis…with extra pickles. I still need to see more out of the Tornadoes though before I completely buy in. They’re at Crescenta Valley next week. We’ll see how that goes. The big question is how will Hoover fare in the Crest League with Glendale, Temple City and Arcadia? If Hoover wins the league I’ll throw in an order of chili cheese fries.
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The Downey-Millikan game was called with seven minutes still left on the clock due to excessive penalties in the fourth quarter. Downey won the game 39-10 for its first victory of the season after losses to Long Beach Poly and Capistrano Valley. Receiver Damani Porras had over 160 yards receiving and three touchdowns.
The outcome was not in question with the Vikings up big but unless there was an actual brawl did the game really need to be stopped?
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The fireworks continue at Nogales as the offense lights up the sky. After a 49-43 win over Cantwell Friday night the Nobles have scored 144 points in three games. Gatsbee Gumban (cool name) has rushed for 538 yards and eight touchdowns in three games.
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Nice bounce back for Muir Friday night with a big win over St Pius X/ St. Matthias. I’ll admit I didn’t see them dropping 50 on the Warriors so I’ll throw in something for Muir head coach Matt Villasenor as well. Maybe a pastrami burger. The Hat still makes those right?
Tim Peterson can be reached at tim.midvalleysports@gmail.com or on Twitter (X) @tspeterson40. Facebook -Tim Peterson
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@Pasadena …Muir is now the only viable program in Pasadena . There is no Blair , no Marshall, Pasadena is a JV squad at this point. They should have athletes .
The Kobe Bryant Foundation has donated millions to improve facilities at Muir in various sports . A small percentage of that going to NIL ascertains that they get all
The Pasadena athletes and maybe some from Arizona too
Muir is good! League gonna be like JV games for them. Can’t match their speed or toughness. Probably D4. Win it all in D5.
Best pastrami in Pasadena is Lucky Boy. Way better than The Hat. Best LA spot is Langer’s by MacArthur Park.
I’m pretty sure if Hoover made the playoffs, it would be their first time in over 40 years. A Glendale vs Hoover playoff elimination game on the final week of the season would be cinema.
I think quality of Hat varies by location , with original locations still great but newer locations like Brea not as good , My friends love Lucky Boy in Pasadena as well….
Hoover beat Bassett who rolled Temple City ; Glendale has vicious schedule for their level and might be worn out by rivalry week. I’m not sure if they can beat Arcadia but victories over TC and Glendale put them in playoffs
Pastrami smelling good !!!
LS would mop the floor with them. ER would beat them also.
When Alhambra firing the coach and getting a real coach in to bring back the glory days
Pastrami Good!
Everybody and their brother swears they know where the best pastrami sandwich is sold, but having tried a ton of these joints, I can guarantee a top-notch experience at Roscoe’s in Fullerton. The meat is not stringy, greasy or in any way disappointing. Once you’ve tried it, you’ll be spoiled for anything else.
Is it true that the best pastrami’s in the sgv are at the Hat.? I admit it has been a while since I have been there but I recall that pastrami being very greasy.
If you want to watch Saint Paul play football go see La Mirada.
I submit that if La Serna played St Paul, the Lancers would blast Montoya’s group. Heck, if El Rancho played those guys, the Dons would probably prevail. In other words, the Swordsmen are the equivalent of a mid-level team in the old Del Rio arrangement. THAT is not enough to keep paying parents happy; St Paul is expected to be a cut above the area slouches. Until this situation is corrected, we can expect an outpouring of online complaints.
The Del Rio teams were routinely putting up 40+ points on Whittier…. Just saying
The deaf, dumb and blind knew that St Paul was going to lose to those first two opponents. The question is: how severe was the beating going to be? I can assure readers that the Swords would still be in the top 12 if they had played those two teams closer. But Peterson dropped them from that list immediately after the Bishop Amat slaughter.
To speak of the Whittier win, if the Cardinals really are that much of an offensive power, I darn-well expect that Friday’s shutout of this juggernaut should put Montoya’s guys back in this week’s top 12. If they fail to get reinstated, it’s proof that Peterson doesn’t think Whittier is much of anything.
From T. Peterson: Actually that’s incorrect because Whittier wasn’t in the Top 12 before. So why would St. Paul jump into the Top 12 for beating a team that…uh…wasn’t in the Top 12?
I can assure you that Bonita, Charter Oak, La Serna, even RHP would have fared better against Bishop Amat and Mission Viejo. Peterson’s defense of his obvious favorite youngster (Montoya) rings hollow when we realize the man dropped the Swords from his top twelve after that first slaughter at the hands of Amat.
Let me offer that Montoya’s team will not make the playoffs, and will definitely have a losing season. If this is what Tim means by “being fine” and “better days ahead” then we all need to consult dictionaries to make sure those words still mean something positive.
From T. Peterson: Fared better? I said BEAT Mission Viejo and Amat not fare better. Also I didn’t say they were a Top 12 Team so yes I dropped them out. You do realize that St. Paul went 3-7 in the regular season last year and were blown out by Amat and Mission Viejo right? I know it’s difficult but try to keep up.
As regards to St Paul do you mean fine like Silk or fine like sandpaper? If you mean fine like a sandpaper I think the St Paul faithful we’re hoping for a little better than that. Scraping by does not feel like a fine season to me Imo.