Last Week: RMurray 8-2; ACampa 10-0
Records to date: RMurray 71-24-1; ACampa 66-29-1

Friday's games:
La Palma Kennedy vs. La Habra: RMurray (La Habra); ACampa (La Habra)
Rowland vs. California: RMurray (California); ACampa (California)
Santa Ana vs. La Mirada: RMurray (La Mirada); ACampa (La Mirada)
El Rancho vs. Schurr: RMurray (Schurr); ACampa (Schurr)
Crescenta Valley vs. Santa Fe: RMurray (Santa Fe); ACampa (Santa Fe)
Whittier Christian vs. Arroyo: RMurray (Whittier Christian); ACampa (Whittier Christian)

CIF-SS playoff football games involving the seven area teams will begin at 7 p.m.:

Rowland at California
El Rancho at Schurr
Crescenta Valley at Santa Fe
Santa Ana at La Mirada
Kennedy at La Habra
Whittier Christian at Arroyo

Week 10 scores by the bunch:

Thursday games
Santa Fe 35, Pioneer 7
Whittier 24, El Rancho 7

Friday games
California 56, La Serna 7
La Habra 52, Fullerton 21
La Mirada 54, Artesia 7
Schurr 38, Bell Gardens 6
San Gabriel 36, Montebello 8
Whittier Christian 41, Village Christian 35
Cantwell 31, Verbum Dei 20
Alemany 44, St. Paul 14

Last week: RMurray 8-2; ACampa 8-2
Records to date: RMurray 71-24-1; ACampa 64-31-1

Thursday's games:
El Rancho vs. Whittier: RMurray (El Rancho); ACampa (Whittier)
Santa Fe vs. Pioneer: RMurray (Santa Fe); ACampa (Santa Fe)

Friday's games:
La Habra vs. Fullerton: RMurray (La Habra); ACampa (La Habra)
La Serna vs. California: RMurray (California): ACampa (California)
Village Christian vs. Whittier Christian: RMurray (WhChristian); ACampa (WhChristian)
Verbum Dei vs. Cantwell: RMurray (Verbum Dei); ACampa (Cantwell)
Artesia vs. La Mirada: RMurray (La Mirada); ACampa (La Mirada)
Montebello vs. San Gabriel: RMurray (San Gabriel); ACampa (San Gabriel)
Bell Gardens vs. Schurr: RMurray (Schurr); ACampa (Schurr)
Alemany vs. St. Paul: RMurray (Alemany); ACampa (Alemany

Last week of the regular football season.
How's for a possible scenario?

California (5-0) defeats La Serna (2-3);
Pioneer (2-3) defeats Santa Fe (2-3) ;
Whittier (2-3) defeats El Rancho (2-3).

La Serna defeated Santa Fe, Whittier; lost to Cal, Pioneer, El Rancho.
Pioneer defeated La Serna, Santa Fe; lost to California, El Rancho, Whittier.
Santa Fe defeated Whittier, El Rancho; lost California, Pioneer, La Serna.
Whittier defeated El Rancho, Pioneer; lost to California, La Serna, Santa Fe.
El Rancho defeated Pioneer, La Serna; lost to California, Whittier, Santa Fe.

California defeated everyone.

You figure it out.
Is it a double coin flip to determine the league's second and third place entries for the playoffs.?

Recent date change;
La Habra's game against Fullerton for the Freeway League championship, has been changed from Thursday to Friday, due to transportation costs consideration, according to a school spokesperson.
Game time still is 7 p.m. at Fullerton.

Terris Jones' sparkling 66-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage propelled California to a 28-0 victory over host Santa Fe Friday night, clinching the Del Rio League championship for the Condors.
California, 6-2-1 overall and 4-0 in league, sits alone atop the DRL. Santa Fe slips to 6-3 and 2-2 and in a three-way tie for second with La Serna 3-6 and 2-2 and El Rancho 5-4 and 2-2.
Whittier defeated Pioneer and is locked with the Titans, each with 1-3 records. Whittier is 4-5 over all, Pioneer 3-6.
Jones finished with 199 yards and three touchdowns in coach Jim Arnold's ground-oriented game plan. Quarterback Adam Contreras passed only once, a 7-yard completion to Christian Hernandez.
California's defense was stifling, holding the Chiefs to a net 24 yards on 22 carries. Santa Fe quarterback Justin Rincon racked up 209 yards passing but completed only 13 of 31 passes and faced constant pressure from the Condors.

Del Rio League football teams have provided a ball bag full of surprises this season, to wit ...

DRL preseason favorite Santa Fe sends the rest of the league a message by upsetting Division 1 (Pac-5) member San Clemente, 34-20;

La Serna loses to Downey, 17-10 in season opener, gets a victory when Downey has to forfeit for using an ineligible player, and then loses four in a row to go into league play with an 0-5 record on the field. Apparently they didn't get the memo about Santa Fe, and they promptly upset the Chiefs, 28-23;

El Rancho opens the season with two wins, drops a tough one to Bell Gardens, and then begins a string of win big (Montebello), lose big (St. Francis), win big (Pioneer), lose big (California).

Meantime, Pioneer 2-4 after that one-sided, 43-7 loss to El Rancho, hangs on for a 17-17 halftime tie with La Serna, then rallies in the second half to stun the Lancers, 34-17.

And last night, El Rancho, without standout RB Art Franco to lean on, gives up two touchdowns in the final minutes of the first half to trail La Serna, 20-10, then roars back to shock the Lancers, 27-23, and turn upside down the race for the DRL's three automatic postseason playoff berths.

Tonight's games: League leader California (another surprise) vs. Santa Fe; Pioneer vs. Whittier.

If California (5-2-1, 3-0) defeats Santa Fe (6-2, 2-1) , the Condors clinch the DRL title and the Chiefs remain in second place.
If Pioneer (3-5, 1-2) defeats Whittier (3-5, 0-3), Pioneer improves to 2-2 and the league will have a four-way for second place going into the final week of the regular season.

If Santa Fe defeats California, the Chiefs gain a share of the DRL lead. And if Pioneer defeats Whittier, there is a three-way tie for second.

The final week's schedule:
California vs. La Serna; Santa Fe vs. Pioneer; El Rancho vs. Whittier.

And the beat goes on ... and on ... and ...

La Mirada High School quarterback Daniel Poncedeleon, in the midst of a very impressive football season, has made an oral commitment to the University of Arizona -- to play baseball.
Poncedeleon is a 6-foot-3, 195-pound, strong-armed senior who is completing 71 percent of his passes (125 of 175) for an area-high 1,626 yards and 13 touchdowns and has been intercepted just twice. He is averaging 5.1 yards a carry on 20 trips.
He also clocks in the 92-94 mph range when he throws his fastball pitching for the Matadores' baseball team,
Last season he posted a 5-3 record with two saves and a 2.33 earned run average. He had 56 strikeouts and 31 walks in 60 innings. Opposing batters combined for a .212 average against him.
"He had a tremendous summer," coach Kim Brooks said, adding that Arizona wanted him badly enough to make him their No. 1 choice and offered a full scholarship.
Poncedeleon is expected to sign the letter of intent later this month.

Great weekend of area high school football, with last second touchdowns, come-from-behind rallies, surprise performances, overcoming adversity, rivals clashing and clutch efforts.

A quick look:
La Serna 33, Whittier 29: Never-say-die Lancers save the best for last, scoring all 33 points in the fourth quarter, including winning it on a last-play-of-the-game pass.

La Mirada 42, Norwalk 33: One might say the Matadores spotted the Southern Division No. 1-ranked Lancers a 19-point lead (26-7) late in the first half, then the defense woke up and helped the team to the top of the Suburban League.

Santa Fe 21, El Rancho 3: The Chiefs lose their QB (Alex Flores) for the season two two weeks ago, so everyone figures the offense will be run-run-run, but backup QB Justin Rincon steps in to throw for 231 yards and three touchdowns.

La Habra 47, Troy 14: Standout RB Joshua Quezada stays home with the flu and coach Frank Mazzotta merely opens the cupboard and pulls out another quality back, this one Ahmad Avery, who responds with 177 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries.

Schurr 34, Montebello 12: They say you can "throw out the records" when two of the area's biggest rivals meet, but the favorite in this one won, and in such a manner as to send a message to this week's opponent, San Gabriel, that the Spartans are ready to defend their Almont League title.

California 37, Pioneer 0: RB Terris Jones, PK Tyler Hadden and the Condors' offense get their usual share of kudos for another impressive performance, but the defense steps into the spotlight for this one for never allowing the pass-happy and dangerous Titans to get their attack going. Four interceptions and an unofficial 14 hurries.

Cantwell 43, Don Bosco Tech 21: Everyone had a hand in this one, the offense producing five touchdown passes and the defense forcing five turnovers, as the Cardinals stay alive in the Camino Real League.

Whittier Christian 49, Firebaugh 0: After a pair of sub-par (for him) games, Garrett Fulbright returned to form and scored five touchdowns to lead Heralds in a game that was played with a running clock for the second half.

St. Francis 34, St. Paul 7: On a night when the defense had problems, the Swordsmen's offense failed to pick up the slack, and they find themselves needing to win their last two games to have a shot at the postseason playoffs.

Week 7 results: RMurray 7-3; ACampa 4-6
Records to date: RMurray 54-22-1; ACampa 49-27-1

Friday's (10-30) games:
Santa Fe at El Rancho: RMurray (Santa Fe); ACampa (El Rancho)
La Mirada vs. Norwalk: RMurray (La Mirada); ACampa (La Mirada)
Whittier vs. La Serna: RMurray (La Serna); ACampa (Whittier)
California at Pioneer: RMurray (California); ACampa (California)
Schurr at Montebello: RMurray (Schurr); ACampa (Schurr)
Troy at La Habra: RMurray (La Habra); ACampa (La Habra)
Firebaugh at WhChristian: RMurray (WChristian); ACampa (WhChristian)
St. Paul at St. Francis: RMurray (St. Francis); ACampa (St. Francis)

Saturday's (10-31) Game:
Cantwell at Don Bosco Tech: RMurray (Cantwell); ACampoa (Cantwell)

An impressive weekend for a quartet of local high school football
programs:

Pioneer's 28-23 win over La Serna Thursday night set the tone. The
Lancers may have contributed a bit to their downfall, but clearly, the
Titans won it. Outstanding defensive effort and another sterling performance
by QB Steven Del Villar.

California's 35-17 win over El Rancho Friday night was a exhibition of
one good, well-coached team beating another good, well-coached team.
Perserverence proved to be the difference.

La Mirada's 42-12 rout of Mayfair is elevated by the quality of the
Monsoons' heavy-handed preseason schedule. The Matadores didn't just win it, they did it with a purpose.

Santa Fe's 16-7 victory over stubborn Whittier is not flashy enough
to satisfy some of the Chiefs' critics, but the impact of quarterback Alex Flores'
absence was obvious. Hats off to the winners for finding a way to do it.

Last Friday night, La Serna sent a message to the Del Rio League with a
stunning 28-23 victory over Santa Fe.

Thursday night, Pioneer sent another message to the league, and this
time La Serna was the victim as the upstart Titans upset the the Lancers, 34-17.

Pioneer quarterback Steven Del Villar sparkled with 285 yards and a
touchdown on 24 for 37 passing. The Titans (3-4, 1-1) ran just enough (16-92-1TD) to keep the
Lancers honest, and the defense rose to the occasion, returning two
fumbles for touchdowns, and, after leading, 27-17 at halftime, holding
the Lancers to 31 yards on 12 carries in the second half.

La Serna (2-5, 1-1) finished with 129 yards rushing, Oscar Medina (7-36) and Richard Alvarez (11-56) sharing the load. The Lancers' scoring came from Craig Jones 4-yard run on La Serna's first possession, Teren Guerra's 37-yard field goal and quarterback Andrew Buenrostro's 1-yard sneak that gained a 17-17 tie late in the second quarter. Guerra also had two extra points kicks.

Pioneer's scoring: Tony Bolanos' 71-yard pass play from Del Villar (7-7), Gabriel Salazar's 28-yard field goal (10-7), Joseph Lara's 21-yard fumble return (17-7), Eddie Aguirre's 6-yard run (24-17), Salazar's 19-yard field goal 927-17) and Ruben Robles' 51-yard fumble return. In additiion to his field goals, Salazar kicked all four extra points.

La Serna quarterback Andrew Buenrostro finished the game 0 for 8
passing, with two interceptions.

Week 6 results: RMurray 6-3; ACampa 8-1
Season to date: RMurray 47-19-1; ACampa 45-21-1

Thursday's game:
Pioneer vs. La Serna: RMurray (La Serna); ACampa (La Serna)

Friday's games:
El Rancho vs. California: RMurray (California); ACampa (California)
Whittier vs. Santa Fe: RMurray (Santa Fe); ACampa (Whittier)
Mary Star vs. Cantwell: RMurray (Cantwell); ACampa (Cantwell)
Sonora vs. La Habra: RMurray (La Habra); ACampa (La Habra)
La Mirada vs. Mayfair: RMurray (La Mirada); ACampa (Mayfair)
Alhambra vs. Montebello: RMurray (Alhambra); ACampa (Montebello)
Schurr vs. Mark Keppel: RMurray (Schurr); ACampa (Schurr)
St. Paul vs. Crespi: RMurray (Crespi); ACampa (Crespi)
Cerritos Valley Christian vs. Whittier Christian: RMurray (WhChristian); ACampa (WhChristian)

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