{"id":84832,"date":"2024-08-10T11:52:13","date_gmt":"2024-08-10T18:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/?p=84832"},"modified":"2024-08-10T12:16:39","modified_gmt":"2024-08-10T19:16:39","slug":"almont-league-at-a-glance-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/?p=84832","title":{"rendered":"Almont League at a Glance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Bell Gardens won a CIF title last year. Is an Almont League title next? (Photo by Duane Barker). <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Last year Schurr <\/strong>ran through the Almont going unbeaten. The Spartans look poised to do that again. They have a senior laden team with several key players returning at the skill positions. <\/p>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

Running back Elias Navarro, who was All-League the last two years returns as does quarterback Joe Alvarado, who was the starter in 2022. Caesar Aguila is a playmaker at wide receiver. The O-Line is solid as well led by Almont League Lineman of the Year Alfredo Rodriguez and all-league center Alfredo Picazzo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defensively all-league linebackers Erik Henderson and Hadrian Segura are back to wreak havoc. Aguila will go both ways as he plays defense as well and Jayden Moraga returns from a 1st team all-league season. Tyler Gallardo is one of the big boys up front at defensive tackle. This will be a tough nut for the rest of the Almont to crack. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bell Gardens,<\/strong> who some people forget won a CIF Championship last year, may be the team that can give the Spartans a run. Hector Nova resigned after the season and Rudy Ramirez took over. Carlos Arredondo, a Schurr alum who was on the Spartans’ coaching staff, is the new OC at BG. The Lancers have plenty of weapons offensively. Junior running back Daniel Tovar and junior quarterback Michael Mendoza are the key components to make the offense go. Receivers Devyn Duarte and Sean Allen are ready to make some noise as well. Juan Diego Perez will protect them on the offensive line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sophomore D-Lineman Anthony Lopez and junior linebacker Tristan Moreno will anchor the defense. Isaiah Flores and Bryant Rios will be patrolling the secondary. If these guys can come up big BG will be a threat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alhambra<\/strong> had a rough year in 2023 going 1-9 and Eric Bergstrom then stepped down after the season. Mike Mackintosh, longtime Moor assistant, took the reins as the new head coach. Despite the tough sledding a year ago Mackintosh is excited about 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Our most experienced player on offense is definitely our quarterback Bryan Leonard. He\u2019s a junior now and has started since he was a freshman, so he has a ton of game experience. Being his third year in our system he is in more control of the offense now,” Mackintosh said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leonard will also play some defense for the Moors. Running back Halen Tsang is coming off an ACL tear from last season. He has put a ton of time and effort into rehabbing to get back on the field. He’s healthy now and will carry the load in the backfield. Junior RB\/LB Devin Martinez has had a great summer. He will be a great complement to Tsang in the backfield. “They both have similar running styles just at different speeds. Devin is a workhorse and definitely one of our leaders,” Mackintosh said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Junior WR\/LB Marco Vasquez will be used like a Swiss army knife this year. He can do a little bit of everything and the Moors will count on him to get it done – another guy that they will look to as a leader as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defense might be Alhambra’s biggest challenge as the Moors nearly had to start from scratch. “Bringing in a new DC, I wasn\u2019t really sure how our guys were going to react. But they really took to the coaching and the scheme during spring ball and through the summer,” Mackintosh added. “Senior SS\/WR Christian Mina will be one of our key players on defense. He never came off the field last year as a junior and looks to do the same again this year. He is always around the ball and does everything with ease. I\u2019m really looking forward to seeing what he can do this year.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senior LB\/OL Jorge Mendez will be relied on to make all the calls on defense. He started every game last year and made huge strides in the weight room this offseason to get better. Senior DL\/OL Luis Pineda had a really good offseason. He has really put the time in the weight room and on the field to get where he is now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“He opened up our eyes this summer and showed us that he really wants to play and has continued to get better every day.” Mackintosh said of Pineda. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The players are there and appear to be ready. The question is can the Moors bring it all together once the season kicks off? If so they can make a run at a top three finish and a possible playoff berth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Montebello<\/strong> missed the playoffs last season going 2-3 in league and 4-6 overall. The Oilers and head coach Pete Gonzalez are looking to bounce back this year. Runing back Freddy Morales will get the bulk of the work at running back. Last season he had 321 yards and four scores but that came courtesy of just 58 carries. Samuel Isodoro will be at wide receiver as well as Louis Jimenez who hauled in 18 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns last season. Jonathan Marroquin will be up front paving the road. The Oilers will be breaking in a new quarterback in sophomore Eddie Pimentel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defensively DB Jeremiah Diaz, who had 70 total tackles last year, leads the charge. Francisco Mireliz Jr. will be in the secondary as well. Matthew Cortez will lead the linebacking crew along with Kevin Baca. Cortez had 43 total tackles last year. Daniel Rodriguez will anchor the defensive front. In 2023 he had 37 tackles playing defensive end. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year the Oilers fell to Schurr, Bell Gardens and San Gabriel. They will have to knock off one of them to break through and enter the playoff picture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

San Gabriel <\/strong>made the playoffs last year and finished second in the Almont (4-1 in league) in head coach Marcus Galan’s first year. Adam Mascorro returns to lead the running attack and Louie Navarro will also tote the rock while he isn’t playing tight end. Efren Torres will get the nod at quarterback. Ricky Garcia, who was the JV quarterback in 2023, will also see time behind center. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mascorro will play on both sides of the ball. Defensively he will line up at outside linebacker and cornerback. Linebacker Navarro is a two-way player as well. Christopher Ramirez will be the mainstay in the secondary and on defense as he plays safety. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Matadors open the season at Whittier Christian and then travel to Rosemead. They get Franklin, Carpenteria and El Monte at home before opening the Almont League at Schurr. If SG can gain some momentum and confidence in non-league the Mats could be dangerous heading into the Almont. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Keppel i<\/strong>t’s still a work in progress. If the Aztecs get a couple wins, just a couple, it will be a step in the right direction. Keppel will not fold the program and that’s a good thing. It means the Aztecs still want to fight and eventually the fight will turn into success. One foot in front of the other. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Projected Order of Finish<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Schurr – It’s always good to have two Alfredos up front. <\/li>
  2. Bell Gardens – CIF title in ’23, league title in’24? <\/li>
  3. San Gabriel – HC Marcus Galan has picked up where Kevin Encinas left off. <\/li>
  4. Montebello – RB Freddy Morales poised to have a big year. <\/li>
  5. Alhambra – New HC Mike Mackintosh brings high energy to the program. <\/li>
  6. Keppel – The Aztecs hosted their own passing league Tournament in the summer. That’s a start. <\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Last year Schurr ran through the Almont going unbeaten. The Spartans look poised to do that again. They have a senior laden team with several key players returning at the skill positions.<\/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":[12816,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hsfootball","category-high-school-sports"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=84832"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84853,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84832\/revisions\/84853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=84832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=84832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/midvalleysports.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=84832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}