Was flipping through channels Saturday morning when I came across a blast from the past on Fox Sports Net 2, Saturday at 11 a.m.

It was a Fox Sports "High School Football Game of the Week" replay of the 2003 Mission League showdown between Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and St. Paul at Monsignor Cranham Stadium.

That was a contest that featured prominent stars like St. Paul's D.J. Tardy (Washington State) and Notre Dames' Garrett Green and Cary Harris (both at USC).

Another blast from the past was linebacker/fullback Matthew Parent, who scored St. Paul's first touchdown of the game and also led the team in tackles. Parent is currently a junior at the University of New Hampshire and is a starting linebacker for the Wildcats.

For those who have forgotten, St. Paul trailed 21-13 at the 1:20 mark in the fourth before rallying for a 24-21 victory, in their biggest upset win of the season. Kicker Randall Reynoso sealed the game after a Knights' muffed kick return by nailing a 47-yard field goal with 18 seconds left.

The Swordsmen finished off the 2003 campaign Mission League champions at 10-3 with one of their two regular-season losses against Long Beach Poly (47-14).

St. Paul was eliminated in the semifinals of the D-III playoffs by Palmdale, 14-6. The Mission League title was the final in the brilliant career of St. Paul coach Marijon Ancich.

Here's the Lancers summer Info -

Wednesday, June 25th, at Fullerton,
June 27-28th, at Bonita (La Verne) Passing Tournament, TBA
Tuesday, July 1st, at La Habra,
Wednesday, July 9th, at Los Altos,
Tuesday, July 16th, at Claremont Passing Tournament, TBA
Wednesday, July 19th, at Fullerton,
Saturday, July 19th, Chino Lineman Competition, TBA
Tuesday, July 22nd at home, against Whittier Christian.

The Lancers dead period is listed from July 25th to August 19th.

Fall practice begins on Wednesday, August 20th with Two-A-Days. All of the above practices are listed for 5 p.m., not counting tournaments.

Pasadena High School quarterback Tyron Crockum (28 TDs, 2,905 yards passing), the Pasadena Star-News Player of the Year who wasn't included on the Hall of Fame roster, is also expected to play in the Fiesta Bowl exclusively.

Those aren't shabby acquisitions for a bowl game in its second year. I'll try to have a roster with our local kids included by Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

It was a pretty fruitful weekend for the Pioneer High School football team, which took third at last Saturday's L.A. Watts Summer Games at the Home Depot Center in Carson.

The Titans claimed the bronze with a 5-2 record. This was the second-straight strong effort by Pioneer, which finished runner-up to L.A. Jordan in the same tournnament last year.

Pioneer actually had a chance to advance to the championship game and just missed.

Down 13-7 with two minutes left in Saturday's semifinal, the Titans drove to the L.A. Banning 3-yard line with about 15 seconds left. However, on the very next play, the Titans were picked off.

Despite the close loss, Titans head coach Ramon Juarez said he was generally pleased with his squad's performance.

However, an area of concern that the Titans will need to address this summer is their defense.

Juarez admitted that due to Pioneer's small team-size, several athletes are currently tabbed to play both ways. One of those players is Pioneer quarterback Ronnie Palacios, who will also play corner.

"We're still trying to find guys on defense," Juarez said. "That's an area where we'll definitely need to get stronger. I thought this was a good test against some pretty physical guys from the L.A. City Section."

The Whittier area has a couple of locals involved in this week's College World Series, both La Mirada High School alums, including Fresno State freshman Jake Johnson (left) and Stanford sophomore Adam Gaylord (right).

Johnson is a catcher for the Bulldogs, who are coming off a 17-5 rout over No. 6-seeded Rice on Sunday. The former Suburban League MVP is currently batting .222 and has only committed one error this season.

As for Gaylord, while he's seen limited action, he's only committed two errors in the field as a defensive replacement. Stanford roughed up Florida State on Saturday, 16-5.

The WAC Champion Bulldogs are back in action today against No. 2-seeded North Carolina at 4 p.m. The Pac-10 runner-up Cardinals also play today at 4 against Georgia. That game will be televised on ESPN2.

Pioneer High School football coach Ramon Juarez checked in this afternoon with some info about the Titans, who are currently involved in the Los Angeles Watts Summer Games (football passing league tournament).

Pioneer, which is ranked No. 2 in the tournament and sports a 3-1 record, is set to go in Saturday's quarterfinals at 11 a.m. at the Carson Center against Inglewood Morningside.

A victory would send the Titans into the 1 p.m. semifinal against either Compton or Los Angeles Banning.

The consolation championships are set for 2 p.m. while the championship game is scheduled for 3.

For Juarez and company, they're hoping to reach the championship game for a second-straight year. Pioneer was defeated by Los Angeles Jordan in last year's finale.

"I like to play against city-section teams because they bring a speed that we don't really see in our area," Juarez said. "These kids bring great speed, athleticism and skills and that can only help prepare us for the season."

This will be a great opportunity to check out senior quarterback Ronnie Palacios. Is Palacios the area's top returning QB? While it's still too early to tell, he's on a very short list.

St. Paul High School Athletic Director Marc Hernandez (yes, that's the same Marc Hernandez of NIAAA fame) checked in this afternoon with a bit of interesting info.

For the first time in the Coach Pete Gonzalez era, St. Paul has moved up its dead period.

The dead-time period consists of three weeks of non-activity (not counting lifting) mandated by the CIF Southern Section office.

Last season, St. Paul took its three weeks off from July to August.

This year the Swordsmen will start the dead period on Friday, June 6.

When asked for a reason behind the change, Hernandez said the coaching staff felt that the team would be better served to take its break early and then head into the season without another interruption.

While the timing is a bit strange in this area, it's consistent with what many Orange County schools have done recently.

Of course, this begs the question, is it better to have the dead period early and then head into the season, or later, and give the players a final rest before the long haul?