September 2009 Archives

Long Beach State men's basketball coach Dan Monson and assistant Eric Brown were in Houston tonight.

And they're on their home as two very happy fellows after receiving a commitment from 6-foot-9 Westbury High center Nick Shepherd.

Shepherd, who helped his team win a Texas state title last March and is Rivals.com's No. 136-ranked prospect in the national class of 2010, became the third prep senior to commit to the 49ers.

Poly High standout Shelton Boykin (6-5) said in early August that he would sign with the 49ers during the "early" signing period (Nov. 11-18).

And 6-3 Jacob Thomas (Columbia Heights, Minn., High) announced early last month for LBSU.

Check out an updated blog on Thursday and Friday's Press-Telegram print edition for more details on Shepherd's decision.

In less you bleed Lakewood High's red, black and white colors, it wasn't a good Thursday/Friday for the Moore League football fortunes, was it?

The Lancers pounded Verbum Dei Friday night to improve to 3-1 and remain, ever-so-clearly, the team to beat in the Moore League -- yes, even with the 79-game winning streak the Poly Jackrabbits will bring into league play next weekend.

As for the rest of the league:

*Poly's offense was borderline inept (the Jackrabbits threw four interceptions) in a 14-7 loss to an overrated Oceanside squad.

Can the Jackrabbits generate enough offense to upset Lakewood on Oct. 9? That didn't appear the case at Oceanside.

But knocking off the Lancers is far from the Jackrabbits' only concern.

Even with John Timu out for Jordan and Millikan apparently suffering some key offensive injuries, Poly is going to be hard-pressed just to finish second in the Moore League this season.

Yes; Lakewood is clearly the most gifted team in the league.

And Compton fell from the ranks of the unbeaten with its loss at a so-so Dorsey team.

Lakewood's offense is going to light up the Tarbabes' defense next Friday night.

Despite its injuries, Millikan's offense operated pretty well but couldn't cope with what was, by far, the best team it had faced this season.

Right now, my projected Moore League finish is: 1. Lakewood (Clearly; 2. Poly (barely). 3. Milikan (if healthy at quarterback); 4. Compton (if its defense improves). 5. Wilson; 6. Jordan. 7 Cabrillo.By Cabrillo, I mean Dominique reaching its goal of

Back to Friday night: Jordan lost to Domigunez in overtime (oh, boy; do the Panthers miss Timu!); Lakewood hammered Verbum Dei and Compton was outscored by Dorsey. I have not idea of the score of the Bell Gardens-Cabrillo game but I'm assuming that Cabrillo is 0-4 as I write this.

Outside the Moore League, the Sunset League's "Big Four" -- Edison (23-9 over Servite( the Chargers are the best team in the CIF Southern Section's Pac-5 Divison); Newport Harbor over Corona Del Mar; Fountain Valley over Millikan and Los Alamitos (Thursday night) clubbed Wilson -- rolled.

The Sunset League will received the division's one wild-card bid.

. . . and Poly will be taking a 1-3 record into Moore League play next week after falling to Oceanside, 14-7.

The Jackrabbits' defense did a reasonably good job. But Poly's offense is a mess right now. The Jackrabbits finally generated a ground game on its final possession (Michael Simmons ran hard on the drive) but sophomore Dylan Lagarde threw his third interception of the half with 1:07 remaining to end Poly's comeback aspirations.

Poly blocked a punt and Dominique Williams recovered the ball at the 20 and scored with 10:51 to go in the fourth quarter to cut Oceanside's lead in half.

Neither team's offense played well in the third quarter . . . but Poly's was much worse as its quarterbacks threw three interceptions.

Poly's offense . . . is really struggling.

Oceanside hasn't lost since 2007 and, based on what transpired in the first half, the Pirates aren't going to lose to Poly tonight.

Oceanside dominated the first 24 minutes . . . throwing two touchdowns passes and totaling 165 yards.

Poly had 82 yards in offense but stalled each time it got into Oceanside territory.

A nine-yard scoring pass from Clark to King Holder . . . .

The Jackrabbits drove the ball to the Oceanside 5 but settled for a 23-yard field goal attempt -- which junior Alan Roniss missed.

Quentis Clark and Demario Coleman hooked up on a 45-yard touchdown pass with 16 seconds to go in the first quarter . . . and the hosts are in front but Poly is driving as the second quarter starts!

Let me tell, there is plenty of humidity in the land of the 760 area code!

Of course, the Oceanside High football field might not be a quarter-mile away from the beach . . . the junior varsity game just wrapped up, with Poly holding on, 21-13.

In my Norwalk-Paramount High football game story in the Friday Press-Telegram, I incorrectly identified the Paramount High who hooked up with quarterback Lawrence Hill for a 65-yard touchdown pass play in the fourth quarter.

The receiver was junior Marcel Patterson.

Add me to the list of believers.

Norwalk High has a quality football team, one certainly capable of not only winning the Suburban League title but a CIF Southern Section (Southern Division) crown as well.

The Lancers have the most efficient and effective running attack I've seen this season and their defense is much better than I anticipated it would be.

Coach Jesse Ceinceros' team is 4-0 after a 33-8 victory over Paramount in its final non-league game and I could see the Lancers taking a 9-0 record into its Nov. 13 Suburban League- and regular season-finale against league power Mayfair at Excelsior Memorial Stadium.

The only real negative for the Lancers Thursday night was the apparent injured left ankle suffered in the third quarter by captain Adrian Cortez, a 6-foot-2, 245-pound starter at defensive end and fullback.

I would say the Lancers are worthy of No. 5 (behind Los Alamitos, Lakewood, Poly and Warren) in the Press-Telegram's area Top 10 ratings.

The South Coast Water Polo tournament is being playing this weekend, beginning today and running through Saturday at four Orange County high schools.

Among the contests on tap today: (at Corona Del Mar) 3, Poly vs. Loyola; 4, Wilson vs. Foothill. (at Tustin) 6, Los Alamitos vs. Irvine University.

Competition begins on 3 o'clock on Friday afternoon and 8:30 on Saturday morning.

I'm there, traffic willing, tonight for the weekly Long Beach State basketball coaches gathering, at Tantalum (6272 E. Pacific Coast Highway).

I just checked their website. They service alcoholic beverages and snacks!

They've adjusted the starting time to 5:30 and it's supposed to be a wrap at 7:30.

I'm sure there will be a lot of Mackenzie Phillips comments made, as well as LBSU hoops talk!

I finally got in touch with Long Beach State men's basketball coach Dan Monson earlier this week and he confirmed what I had heard from other sources:

Yuba Community College transfer Tristan Wilson underwent surgery on his right knee with the expectation that some small pieces of cartilage needed to be removed. Once inside the knee, surgeons discovered the damage was more extensive than originally believe and "microsurgery" was performed.

Microsurgery is a technique that has been on several high-profile basketball players of late, including Greg Oden and Amare Stoudemire. During the process, holes are drilled into actual bone in order to stimulate cartilage growth.

The recovery time is usually much longer than other knee procedures. Monson said he was told that earliest that Wilson could return would be in three months -- approximately Jan. 1.

"It's a big loss because Tristan (who is 6-5) is someone we were counting on to come in, play a lot and give us another physical presence on the wing (to go with returnees Larry Anderson, Stephan Gilling and Greg Plater)," Monson said. ``He can really get to the basket and would have been our best rebounding wing."

Members of A2MEND are scheduled to participate in an assembly at Barton Elementary School in Long Beach on Wednesday, presenting students with backpacks and other school supplies.

A2MEND (African American Male Educational Network and Development, Inc.) is a national organization that focuses on mentoring African American students in the K-12 and higher-education institutions. The organization held its second annual national summit last March 27-28 at the Long Beach Marriott.

Long Beach resident Dr. Amanuel Gebru, who received his bachelor's and master's degrees at Long Beach State, is a founding member of A2MEND.

For more information on the organization, visit its website at www.A2MEND.org.

Here are the semifinal championship bracket match-ups in today's Fullcourt Press Fall Hoops Classic at Lynwood High:

1:40 p.m., Poly vs. Mater Dei; 2:50, Las Vegas Bishop Gorman vs. Belmont Shore.

The championship game is set for 6:20 p.m.

Beware: Mater Dei guard Gary Franklin didn't play Saturday because he was on a recruiting visit to Baylor. I'm not sure if he returns in time to play today. And Bishop Gorman's Shabazz Muhammed, one of the best sophomores in the country, suffered a sprained ankle in the quarterfinals last night and may not be able to play today.

An possibly intriguing individual matchup at 1:40: Poly's Shelton Boykin (who is committed to Long Beach State) vs. Mater Dei's Tyler Lamb, who plans to sign with UCLA in November.

The 49ers just dominated the Bruins in a women's volleyball match at Cal State Fullerton, winning 3-zip . . . it's hard to recall the last time a Long Beach team dominated a quality opponent in such convincing fashion.

I can't begin to tell you what a shocker this score is from Cal State Fullerton's Titan Gym Friday night:

Cal State Fullerton's women's volleyball team 3, UCLA 2!

It's the biggest stunner in the sport this season and maybe in a lot of seasons.

The Bruins were rated No. 7, nationally, and took a 9-1 record into Orange County -- including a five-set victory at Nebraska last week.

I'm trying to give you a parallel: Hmmm . . . maybe Stanford beating USC in football a couple of years ago?

Anyway, the Bruins aren't apt to be too happy when they face Fordham at 1 o'clock this (Saturday) afternoon and Long Beach State at 5 o'clock, are they?

It was quite the Friday night for area prep football.

Let's get the (wrap) party started . . .

*The Millikan Rams improved to 3-0 with a 26-21 victory at Redondo that probably can be filed under "mild upset".
Coach Kirk Diego plays host to another 3-0 squad, Fountain Valley of the Sunset League, next Friday. If the Rams take a 4-0 record into Moore League play, it would rate as one of the biggest of Pac-5 Division storylines.

*The Poly Jackrabbits broke into the win column, with a 28-14 victory over previously unbeaten Narbonne. Oh, how they needed that one! A trip to San Diego County to play one of that CIF section's better programs, Oceanside, wraps up non-conference play for the team before it plays host to Jordan in a Moore League opener on Oct. 2.

*Jordan loses a game but may have suffered an even bigger setback. Pasadena held on to beat the host Panthers, 19-16. But the critical question for Coach Scott Meyer's program is: What will be the status of quarterback John Timu for the rest of the season? Timu suffered an injured right knee on the first series Friday night and didn't play the rest of the way. He is scheduled to have an examined by an orthopedic specialist today (Saturday).

Needless to say, the Panthers need Timu -- and desperately -- to remain Moore League contenders.

*Wilson bounces back from a resounding loss to Edison last week to knock off La Serna, 31-10.

An unbeaten Los Alamitos squad is next up on Thursday night at Gahr High. The Bruins have already been hammered by one Sunset League squad (Edison).

*Lakewood cruises past Mayfair (at Bellflower High), 35-7.

Barring injury or other calamity, I think the Lancers are going to take a 9-1 record into the CIF Southern Section's Pac-5 playoffs.

*Norwalk rolls past Pacifica, 32-14, to improve to 3-0.

Some Lancers' fans think their guys should be ranked in the top three in the Press-Telegram's area ratings.

My question is this: Does anyone but a Norwalk fan rank them ahead of Lakewood, Los Alamitos or Poly?

But props to Norwalk . . . I voted the Lancers No. 1 in the Southern Section's Southern Division last week!

Charles Hendricks recovered a fumbled exchanged between quarterback Keith Nixon and running back Princeton Fuimaono with 1:36 remaining and Pasadena ran out the clock for a 19-16 victory over Jordan.

Jordan Coach Scott Meyer said the condition of quarterback John Timu's right knee is unknown and it will undergo further examination on Saturday.

Keith Nixon scores on a 1-yard sneak and Princeton Fuimaono adds a 2-point run with 7:53 to go.

Quarterback Aaron Simpson and wide receiver Shaun Sykes hooked up for a 68-yard TD near the end of the third quarter and Pasadena is up, 19-8.

Sophomore Cleo Bates just scored on his second 2-yard TD run of the night and Pasadena leads the host Panthers, 12-8, with 7:23 to go in the third quarter

I just got a cell phone call from Jordan basketball coach/athletic director Ron Massey, who told me that John Timu suffered an apparent bruise to his right knee in the first quarter and will be held out the remainder of the game but should be fine to play next week against Dominguez.

Sophomore Cleo Bates scored on a 2-yard run with 4:24 to go in second quarter for the final points of the half as Pasadena cuts its deficit to a deuce.

Jordan standout John Timu returned to the sideline early in the second quarter, apparently after having a brace put on his right knee. Timu was walking on the sideline, albeit gingerly, and didn't play the rest of the half.

Any injury that would keep the Moore League's 2008 Offensive Player of the Year on the sideline for any significant amount of time would, obviously, border on the devastating for the Panthers' Moore League hopes.

They open league play two weeks from night against Poly at Veterans Stadium.

This is an early-season candidate for Sloppiest Game of the Year . . . but Jordan leads, 7-0, on a 5-yard run by Vincent Porter and conversion run by Princeton Fuimaono.

Pasadena and Jordan are scoreless after one quarter but the bigger story is . . . Jordan quarterback John Timu left the game on the second possession with an apparent right knee injury. He is walking on the sideline and talking to the trainer but there is no indication if he will return to the game.

Kickoff is about three minutes away here at Jordan High, where the 1-0 Panthers are about to take on the 0-2 Pasadena Panthers . . .

Lots of ants in the Jordan press box . . . look out fellas, I'm lethal . . . I've squashed about 20 already.

On Sept. 2, during a student assembly in the gymnasium of Proviso West High (in Illinois), wide receiver Kyle Prater -- with a gobs of national fanfare -- said he had "committed" to the USC football program and intended to sign a letter of intent with the Trojans in February.

Fast forward a few weeks and suddenly Prater has a different idea of what "committed" means. Yep, you guessed it USC followers: His commitment is "soft" and he now wants to visit some schools, including USC, before making his "decision".

Don't you just love football recruiting?

http://www.maxpreps.com/news/nAgwrKO7Ed6OEwAcxJTdpg/illinois--prater-says-commitment-to-play-football-at-usc-is-soft.htm

I know one thing: If I'm the USC coaching staff, I'm taking a long, hard look at Lakewood High senior wide receiver Kevin Anderson, who "committed" to Arizona State in the summer.

If Prater is a significantly better prospect than Anderson . . . well, then he must be really something.

If you haven't had the opportunity to do so yet, be sure to read Doug Krikorian's column on the late Darryl Wright, who passed away Tuesday.

Darryl Wright was a sweetheart of a guy that I saw regularly for more than 20 years at UCLA, Long Beach State and USC athletic events, as well as countless prep football and basketball games.

RIP, Darryl . . .
http://www.presstelegram.com/sports/ci_1335478

The Long Beach State athletic department will make it a lot easier for the school's faculty and other staff members to attend the intercollegiate athletic events the school is playing host to this academic year.

And when i say "easy", it means "in the most part, free".

Every LBSU faculty and staff member can receive up to two free tickets per athletic event hosted by the school, with the opportunity to buy more tickets at a discounted rate.

For more information, call (562) 985-4949.

Jacob Thomas, a 6-foot-4 senior at Columbia Heights High (located just north of Minneapolis in Minnesota), Sunday became the second player in the class of 2010 to announce that he plans to sign a national letter with the Long Beach State men's basketball program in November.

Thomas, who had high of 41 and 40 points while averaging 22.7 points per game as a junior, was a standout on the Nike-sponsored Howard Pulley Panthers traveling program that competed in tournaments in Virginia, Florida and South Carolina in the spring and summer.

A tremendous jump shooter who has draw comparisons to Davidson All-America (and Golden State Warriors' first-round draft selection) Stephen Curry, Thomas committed to the 49ers just before departing campus Sunday for LAX and his flight to Minneapolis.

"I really liked everything about the players, the coaches and the campus," Thomas said later Sunday night from his home. "I really got along well with all of the players and the coaching staff."

Thomas is rated the No. 25 shooting guard and the No. 89 overall prospect in the national class of 2010 by The Insiders/ESPN.com.

Thomas joins 6-5 Shelton Boykin of Poly High as current high school seniors committing to Dan Monson's 49ers' program.

Bouncing around:
During its 28-7 win over Peninsula, thought Lakewood displayed the kind of depth of skilled athlete that will make the Lancers a serious threat to win the CIF Southern Section's Pac-5 title in December.

But the Lancers' penalty issues (they had 15 for 120 yards) will cost Thadd MacNeal's club if they are not cleaned up by the time Moore League play (Oct. 2, vs. Compton, with Poly on tap the following week) gets under way.

The passing combination of Jesse Scroggins to Kevin Anderson has to be as lethal as any in Southern California.

*I watched much of the replay of the Poly-St. Bonaventure as I could before the DVR ran out in the middle of the third quarter (I guess a Sparks game ran late) and the Jackrabbits didn't play very well at all. With Narbonne and Oceanside on tap the next two weeks, the Jackrabbits would do well not to be 0-4 before opening Moore League play vs. Jordan (Oct. 2).

*According to Robert Morales, Jordan looked pretty good in its debut win over Beverly Hills. Check out his game story at www.presstelegram.com.

*Props to Coach Kirk Diego and his Millikan team going 2-0 with what was apparently a one-sided victory over visiting Artesia.

The Rams play at Redondo (which got ripped up pretty good by Serra) next Friday night.

*Compton opened its season by scoring 52 points but allowing 32 points to Centennial has to concern Coach Calvin Bryant, I would think.

Scroggins and Anderson hooked up for another score (from 65 yards away) and Scroggins hit sophomore Darius Powe for 34 yards and a TD.

This game is officially "out of hand" . . .

I just got a text from Robert Morales: The Panthers lead Beverly Hills by a couple of touchdowns at intermission . . . oh, the wonders of modern technology!

Kevin Anderson took a quick pass from Jesse Scroggins and blasted in from 46 yards out for another score and the Lancers, after being outplayed for about 20 minutes are up two TDs at the half.

It pays to have blue-chip prospects on the field, doesn't it?

Jesse Scroggins to Kevin Anderson for 46 yards and the night's first points . . . Lakewood 7-0 with 3:22 to go in first half . .

. . . after one quarter in John Ford Stadium. Peninsula had 63 yard in offense, Lakewood only 10 . . .

. . . at Lakewood as Peninsula drove to the Lancers' 14 but missed a 42-yard field goal.

The Lancers weren't sharp on their first possession and just punted . . .

. . . for Lakewood's football game vs. Peninsula. About to kick off. Very nice evening!

FYI: USC-bound safety Dion Bailey isn't playing for Lakewood tonight. He apparently suffered a mild concussion in the game with Crenshaw last week.

I thought that line would pull you into this . . .

Anyway, my thoughts on some of the games of the second week of the prep football season . . .

TONIGHT
Wilson vs. Edison at Huntington Beach High:
I'm covering it so you know this must be a big game (if I'm not going to stoke my ego, who is?) . . . The Chargers are one of the teams I think have an excellent chance of winning the Southern Section's Pac-5 title. I wouldn't guess that the Bruins have much of a shot at an upset in this one. But a strong performance (even with a loss) would mean that coach Mario Morales' club has a real chance of finishing in the top four of the Moore League and returning to the playoffs.

Kennedy at Gahr:
I was very impressed with the Gladiators' Casey Nielsen-orchestrated passing attack in the loss to Millikan Friday night. Kennedy got spanked by Tustin in its opener but the Tillers are one of the three or four best teams in Orange County. I think Gahr evens its record tonight.

FRIDAY
Poly at St. Bonaventure (on Fox Sports/7:30 p.m.):
The Jackrabbits aren't stepping down in competition eight days after being dominated by Servite. In fact, this could be a better team than the Friars . . . I think Poly leaves Ventura at 0-2 but Raul Lara's team will turn in a much performance this time around.

Los Alamitos vs. Mayfair at Bellflower High:
The Griffins make their debut a week after the Monsoons' 30-6 thumping courtesy Chino Hills. I look for the team from the Sunset League to pull this one out, via a lot of big plays by Shaquille Richardson, Coach John Barnes' best player.

Jordan at Beverly Hills:
The Panthers will facing a very good junior defensive end (Greg Townsend Jr.) but the Panthers have too many offensive and defensive weapons not to open their season with a win.

I was misinformed (via a LBSU press release on Monday) -- the Long Beach State hoops chat fest at Joe Jost's gets under this evening at 5 o'clock (not the 6 p.m. as I wrote in my Tuesday column) and runs until 7:30, give or take a bunch of beers.

Head coaches Jody Wynn and Dan Monson, and some of their assistant coaches, will be on hand to discuss their respective teams and the upcoming seasons.

Dan Monson of Long Beach State and former UCLA coach Jim Harrick, along with Tim Grgurich of the Denver Nuggets, are among the basketball speakers during the Palm Springs Coaches Clinic next weekend at the Renaissance Esmeralda Hotel in Indian Wells.

Others coaches scheduled to speak include John Savage (UCLA baseball), Mike Gillespie (UC Irvine baseball), Billy Grier (University of San Diego men's basketball) and Mike Dunlap (Oregon assistant men's basketball).

For more information, go to www.palmspringscoachesclinic.com.

The Gahr Gladiators to go for a 2-point conversion -- and a likely victory -- after scoring a touchdown with 1:08 remaining to get within a point of Millikan.

But quarterback Casey Nielsen was intercepted for the fourth time tonight -- this time by Jerrell Bradford -- and the visiting Rams held on ever-so-barely for a 35-34 victory.

Nielsen threw for 417 yards and five touchdowns but Millikan got the critical picks and also sacked him seven times (five of those after intermission).

The Rams' running attack was impressive, especially by way of the effort turned in by 139-pound junior Darius Hardy (180 yards on 24 carries).

The teams combined for 816 net yards (431 of those by Gahr).

. . . on aAlden Darby keeper from 20 yards away. Millikan 35-28 and about to kick off . . . what a game!

Paul Slater just picked off a Casey Nielsen and returned the ball 20 yards for a TD . . . and Millikan has tied the score at 28 with 9:53 remaining . . . amazing!

. . . with a 52-yard burst by Darius Handy with 11:03 remaining. Gahr, 28-21 . . .

"Fourth", in this case, is touchdown as Nielsen and Johnson just combined for a 35-yard pass and run score and the host Gladiators take a 28-14 advantage into the fourth quarter. . . .

Seven minutes to go in the third quarter and Gahr's passing game is dictating the pace in this game . . .

Millikan dominated the 13 minutes of play . . . and the host Gladiators returned the favor over the 11 minutes of the first half and it's 14-all at Hanford Rants Stadium.

FYI: I saw a man and woman sit down on the Gahr side of the stadium with a large Costco pizza box. They didn't chase the pizza with a 32-can pack of Diet Coke from Costco . . .

Sorry . . . no details other than score from Crenshaw.

Casey Nielsen to Delshawn McClellon on the throw and run from 47 yards out . . . and Nielsen to Emanuel Wyatt from 45 yards out . . . and the PAT ties the score with 1:57 to go in the half.

That's all I know right now . . .

Silve Vaifanua scored from two yards out and Paul Slater threw a 2-point conversion pass to Josh Brown . . .

That was a very nice 12 minutes of play by the Rams . . .

Alden Darby made a TD-saving interception in the end zone of a Casey Nielsen pass on the ensuing drive after the Rams' score . . .

And Millikan has drive the ball to the Gahr 13 to start the second quarter . . .

Millikan is up, 6-0, after a 66-yard drive on nine plays after the opening kick. Quarterback Paul Slater covered the final 16 yards for the TD.

Millikan vs. Gahr in another football opener tonight . . . not a lot of people in the stands. I'm guessing a couple of hundred . . .

Hey . . . the actions of University of Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount Thursday night after the game at Boise were outrageous and they should (and, no doubt, will) be dealt with in severe fashion.

That being said . . . I hope a lot of other football players across the country were reminded of a very valuable lesson, at the expense of Boise State's Byron Hout.

Never, and I mean NEVER EVER, remove your helmet into you or safely in your locker room or (and this speaks mainly to high school players) on your bus after the game -- especially if you insist on talking "head" to an opponent after the game.

The thing is, fellows . . . some guys answer taunts with punches.

I'm covering Millikan at Gahr . . . it should be entertaining and, I would think, relatively high scoring, right?

Robert Morales will be staffing Lakewood at Crenshaw for us. Hopefully I'll get updates from him and will post them on this blog . . .

That should be a heck of a game . . . possibly the best of the "high-profile" games since Servite dispensed with Poly in a game that didn't prove to be very competitive at all.

If the Lancers come out of this one with a reasonably impressive victory (and, considering the caliber of team the Cougars have, any victory would be impressive . . . we're just talking degrees of impressiveness now), I'll vote them No. 1 on my CIF Southern Section ballot Monday.

I think the Lancers will win with a score in the neighborhood of 35-21 . . .

As I expected, the Servite has a very, very good football team -- one that is capable of not only winning the Trinity League and beating its Mater Dei rival for the first time since I was about 12 but of also bagging the CIF Southern Section's Pac-5 championship.

The Friars are very good on both sides of the line of scrimmage, as they demonstrated while dominating Poly Thursday night at Veterans Stadium.

And, as I suspected, the Jackrabbits were immensely overrated by much of the high school sports-covering media.

And that's no fault of Coach Raul Lara's staff or players. Hey, my media brethren: What part of NO returnees on defense and just three or four "starting-types" on offense didn't you get?

The Jackrabbits will improve but coming out of their monster non-league schedule (St. Bonaventure, Narbonne and Oceanside, in that order), they would do very well to be 2-2 going into Moore League play.

And, of course, the Jackrabbits open league play against Jordan and Lakewood . . . and those, ultimately, are the most significant games they'll play in 2009.

I thought the Jackrabbits had stabilized things and were going to make it a "game" . . . so much for that notion.

Servite is now officially blowing out the Jackrabbits, 30-7, with about five minutes to go . . .

The Friars just punched in another TD from five yards out five seconds into the fourth quarter.

This baby is pretty much over with . . .

Servite has 286 yards in offense . . . Poly has racked up 69.

It's turned into a bit of a defensive struggle . . . which favors the team with the 9-point lead.

And Servite just hit a clutch pass for a first down deep into Poly territory with less than a minute to go in the third quarter.

The Jackrabbits finally generated some offense, with Michael Simmons capping a 50-yard drive with a 9-yard scoring run 46 seconds before intermission . . . and now it's intermission with the Trinity League team up nine points.

Poly's defense played a bit better in the second quarter but, despite the late burst of offense by the Moore League team, the Friars still appear to be well in control of things.

Sophomore quarterback Dylan Lagarde threw well on that Poly drive. Let's see if he is on the field after the Jackrabbits take the kickoff to start the second half.

The Friars are dominating the game and the Jackrabbits will have to play much, much better just to keep from getting embarrassed.

It hasn't been a good start to the 2009 season for the Poly football -- or those who incredibly had the Jackrabbits as the No. 1 team in the preseason despite their heavy losses.

Servite is winning 9-0 and outgained the Jackrabbits in yardage, 108-minus 8.

It could get ugly in a hurry.

The Servite family, friends and students and assorted others were tail-gating their hearts out in the parking lot over the past hour. It smelled good.

It wasn't as warm on the on the Veterans Stadium field as I anticipated it might.

Oh, by the way: Poly vs. Servite kicks off the prep football season just minutes from now!

One more thing: I'm starving . . . .

There isn't a better opening-weekend game between CIF Southern Section football teams than the one played between the Poly Jackrabbits and Servite Friars Thursday night (7 o'clock) at Veterans Stadium.

The Jackrabbits have been tagged as the preseason No. 1 Southern Section team by several media outlets.

As Bob Keisser wrote in today's Press-Telegram, that's more out of respect for Coach Raul Lara's program and the kind of athletes who play for the school, year-in and year-out, than out of in-depth analysis of the team's roster.

It just seems unlikely that the Jackrabbits, with all of their personnel losses from the past season, can be playing at a "best in the Southern Section"-level in September.

Servite returns a lot of key players from a team that shared the Trinity League title before losing to Lakewood in the first round of the Pac-5 playoffs last November.

The presence of all that veteran personnel is why I think the Friars should be an ever-so-slight favorite tonight.

That being said . . . this is one of the games that will tell us a lot about the way playoffs might shape up in three months.

I screwed up in my Press-Telegram column today by referring to Crespi High graduate and Long Beach State men's basketball walk-on candidate Jerramy King as "Jerramy Smith". Go figure. Sorry, Jerramy.

King averaged 13 points a game as a senior for the Crespi High team that lost at Wilson in the first round of the CIF Playoffs in 2008 before going spending the past school year at The Kent School in Connecticut.