November 2009 Archives

Not to shabby. Four of the five area football teams competing in Friday's second round of the CIF playoffs won to advance to next week's semifinals:

La Habra defeated El Dorado, 27-7.
The Highlanders will play on Saturday the winner between El Toro and Cypress.

La Mirada defeated Garden Grove Santiago, 40-0.
The Matadores will play on Friday the winner between Segerstrom and Laguna Hills.

California defeated Burbank, 24-21.
The Condors will be on the road Saturday against Charter Oak.

Whittier Christian defeated Baldwin Park, 27-17.
The Heralds will be on the road Saturday against Monrovia.

Schurr lost to Diamond Ranch, 33-27, to finish the season with a 9-2-1 record.

Last Week: RMurray 5-1; ACampa 5-1
Records overall: RMurray 76-25-1; ACampa 71-30-1

This week's games:
La Habra vs. El Dorado: RMurray (La Habra); ACampa (La Habra)
Burbank vs. California: RMurray (California); ACampa (Burbank)
La Mirada vs. Garden Grove Santiago: RMurray (La Mirada); ACampa (La Mirada)
Schurr vs. Diamond Ranch: RMurray (Schurr); ACampa (Diamond Ranch)
Baldwin Park vs. Whittier Christian: RMurray (Baldwiin Park); ACampa (WhChristian)

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.