October 2008 Archives

San Bernardino Valley College sophomore quarterback Mike Stadler did not play in Saturday's 28-10 American Division Mountain Conference loss to Compton.

He has played through a sore shoulder much of the season and head coach Pat Meech said the problem was likely worsened by a hit he took against San Diego Mesa two weeks ago. He will have an MRI Monday.

Freshman Danny Laugen, a graduate of Colony High School, got the start and fared admirably, completing 13 of 23 passes for 149 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He was sacked four times.

He has seen some playing time because of Stadler's nagging injury but got the majority of the reps in practice last week.

"He showed great improvement," Meech said. "He hung on to the ball too long a couple of times but nothing major. That comes with experience."

Next week the Wolverines (0-6, 0-3) play at Mt. San Jacinto (0-6, 0-3) which has struggled as well.

"It's going to be a test of character," he said. "We're both struggling and hungry for a win. It will be a matter of who keeps it together and is able to perservere."
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Victor Valley (2-4, 1-2) suffered a 40-30 loss Saturday at Los Angeles Harbor that makes next week's 1 p.m. home game against first-place Southwestern (4-2, 3-0) crucial.

Quarterback will be an issue as freshman O'Ryan Bradley, who ranks sixth in the state in passing, left the game with a hip flexor.

Coach Dave Hoover said Bradley got injured in the first quarter but played through it until it became unbearable and exited with 3:26 left in the third and the Rams trailing 33-10.

Freshman Elisah Filipili finished up, completing 12 of 18 throws for 142 yards and three touchdowns.

Bradley's status for next week is up in the air. But Hoover has faith in Filipili, who gray-shirted at Pasadena City College last year.

"There is no quarterback controversy. Bradley is our guy," Hoover said. "At the same time we trust Eli just as much. He has been a trooper. Of course he wants to play but he has taken his role of backup seriously. He has worked hard and been here every day. Eli is a very charasmatic guy, the kind the kids will rally around."

Jimmy Paulson, a fixture in the athletic department at San Bernardino Valley College for nearly 50 years, died last week at the age of 69. Paulson graduated from Pacific High School in 1956 and SBVC in 1959.

While at SBVC he was a student manager for the baseball and wrestling teams. After a brief stint in private business, Paulson was offered the position of athletic equipment manager by Sylvester Heinberg, the chair of the physical education division and coordinator of athletics. He served in that position from 1962 until retiring in 1997, when he was inducted into the SBVC Hall of Fame.

During 35 years as athletic equipment manager, Paulson worked with 45 head coaches, six athletic trainers, five athletic directors, five physical education division chairs and more than 10,000 athletes, 134 of whom played professionally and 12 who qualified for the Olympics.

A moment of silence was held before Saturday's football game against Compton. Trainer Mike Sola is looking into a more permanent tribute to the mainstay.

It is early in Foothill Conference play but the Chaffey College volleyball team is in contention for a championship.

The Panthers, coached by Larry Chowen, are off to a 4-0 start in conference play, trailing only Antelope Valley (5-0) which has played one more match. This week Chaffey will host San Bernardino Valley at 5 p.m. Wednesday, then trek to Antelope Valley for a first-place showdown on Friday.

"We played a pretty tough nonconference schedule and it gave us a good idea of our strengths and weaknesses," Chowen said. "So we have played to our strengths and done a good job of covering up our weakenesses."

Chowen singled out the play of sophomore middles Colleen Chauncey (Los Osos) and Tara Sawyer (Etiwanda) and also credited the improvement of sophomore oustide hitter Nikita Johnson (Yucca Valley)

Freshmen Christine Luna (Corona) and Britney Herrock (Ontario Christian) anchor the defense.

The Chaffey Panthers passed their first National Division Central Conference test last week, beating Cerritos in overtime. But it's about to get even tougher.

The Panthers (4-1, 1-0) will trek to El Camino (5-0, 1-0) for a 6 p.m. game Saturday against the Warriors who are ranked third in Southern California.

Chaffey coach Carl Beach knows his team is facing a juggernaut but hopes his team's showing against the Warriors in recent years will bode well even though personnel has changed.

"We have played them three times in the last five or six years and they have all been pretty close games," he said. "They're a solid program year in and year out. But they haven't blown us out of the water. We're going to go and play hard and compete and see what happens."

Beach said last week's 16-9 win will go a long way in boosting his team's confidence because it came against the best his team has beaten thus far.

"That was something to build on," he said. "There is definitely a difference when guys feel good about themselves. We also know this one will be tougher."

El Camino is unbeaten but has been pushed the last two weeks, squeaking out three-point wins over Bakersfield and Riverside, with last week's coming in overtime.

The Panthers lone loss came two weeks ago to Grossmont 51-16 but they regrouped in time for a solid showing last week.

Beach said he will keep using both quarterbacks - with Greg Sprowls starting and A.J. Springer entering in relief. The two are so different it presents a problem for the defense and Beach wants to keep using that to his team's advantage.

The team has other offensive weapons though. Running back Mark Chase, ranks eighth in the state in rushing at 101.6 yards per game.

Aaron Mays has been the Panther top receiver but also ranks fourth in punt return average at 22.9 per try.

El Camino's James Coy ranks eighth in the state in passing at 223.8 yards per game. He also does the punting and is ranked second at 43.3 yards per kick.

The Warriors kicking game is also solid with Brian Blumberg making seven of eight field goal tries, the longest of 40 yards.

"We need to contain the big play. We can't let them get easy scores quickly. We want to make them have to work for whatever they get," Beach said. "On the other side we need to be able to make a couple because that's what big games come down to."

Victor Valley (2-3, 2-0) and San Bernardino Valley (0-5, 0-2), both in the Mountain Conference of the American Division, are idle this week.

The Chaffey College men's soccer team is expecting to challenge for Foothill Conference honors this season. The team has never made the playoffs or won more than nine games but is 11-2-1 heading into its Foothill Conference opener in one week against Victor Valley.

The difference is simple, according to third-year coach Ben Cooper.

"Its recruiting. We have better players," he said. "We have some talented freshman that have brought a lot to the program and we're seeing the benefits."

Leading that group of newcomers is forward Ernesto Ramos (Rialto HS) who has a team-high 11 goals and three assists. Another freshman, Abel Rodriguez (Montclair HS), is next with seven goals.

The defense is also solid, having allowed just eight goals in 14 games. The players who are major factors there are Tyler Mitchell and Angel Betancourt, two of the four sophomores on the squad.

The success has come even though the team lost freshman forward Jorge Vergara to a ruptured kidney.

Cooper singles out traditional title contender Rio Hondo as the team to beat but expects a lot more competitive games.

"I think every team in the conference is better than it was last year," he said. "It's going to make for better games the rest of the way and that will only help us."