1. This is a weekly feature I’ll be posting on the blog every Wednesday evening with a few nuggets of information that won’t necessarily be limited to prep sports. After the four items, I’ll always include one bold prediction that will make me look good on the rare occasion that I’m right. But until that happens…

2. Plans for football stadium construction projects to be completed by next summer at Pomona Unified District schools Diamond Ranch, Garey and Pomona were recently enhanced. The original budget of $10 million included funding for bleachers, field lighting, scoreboards, goal posts and turf fields at Diamond Ranch and Garey. Pomona, which is in the third season of playing games on its home field while Diamond Ranch and Garey still share Ganesha’s field, was to receive just bleachers.

With the recent approval of $5 million to that budget, now all three schools will also receive synthetic tracks, turf fields, restrooms, concession stands and ticket booths. Construction is already underway on the stadiums, which will be usable by next season, according to school board president Jason Rothman. Work on the restrooms, concession stands and ticket booths will begin following the conclusion of this football season.

3. St. Lucy’s volleyball team’s sweep of Chino Hills on Tuesday will be replayed on Time Warner Cable’s SoCal 101 on Friday at 9:30 p.m. Randy Rosenbloom will call the play-by-play and Paul Westphal is the color commentator. There will be additional replays of the game on Saturday at 4 p.m. and Monday at 7 p.m. The victory moved two-time defending CIF champion St. Lucy’s to 11-5 on the season and 4-0 in the Sierra League. Chino Hills (14-7, 2-2), which played St. Lucy’s in the CIF final two years ago, is tied for third place in league.

4. Rancho Cucamonga’s boys cross country team moved into the state rankings this week at No. 10 in Division 1 thanks in part to a second-place finish at the Inland Empire Challenge on Saturday. The Ayala boys dropped from fourth to ninth in the Division 2 rankings while the Bonita girls held steady at No. 3 in Division 3.

My wild guess this week is that the Rancho Cucamonga football team won’t lose another game this season. The Cougars have lost twice by a combined total of 13 points, including last week’s 19-7 defeat at the hands of Upland. But they’ll only get healthier as they make a run to the CIF-SS Inland Division championship.

Bill Zernickow dubbed this season the strangest of his eight in the Valle Vista League.

Thankfully for the San Dimas High School football coach, the one thing not so strange is his team’s success.

San Dimas has won a CIF championship under Zernickow, reached at least the semifinals of the playoffs each of the last three years and finished lower than second in league just once in his tenure.

The consistency is undeniable.

But for all their success, the Saints have only one outright league championship in the past seven years. Entering league play tonight against Hacienda Heights Wilson, San Dimas is hoping another consistent performance translates into something that hasn’t been so consistent – a league title.

“To see the fluctuation with everybody else is so weird,” Zernickow said. “This team is, I don’t want to say we’re right there, but I think we’re better than we have been the last two years.”
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The San Dimas High School football team’s season has already been one of the roller-coaster variety. And it’s only one game in.

The Saints lost a 23-point lead but converted a Bonita fumble into the go-ahead touchdown with two minutes remaining in a 37-36 win over their bitter rival Thursday night at Citrus College.

San Dimas running back Jake Payton collected 126 yards and three touchdowns on his first 10 carries, including a 30-yard scoring run on the first play of the second quarter to give the Saints a 23-0 lead.

Jennifer Cappuccio Maher/Staff Photographer
San Dimas junior Jake Payton finished with 180 yards and three TDs on 22 carries in the Saints’ 37-36 win over Bonita.
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BASEBALL
MVP: Erik Gonzales, Jr., Pitcher, Nogales

First Team
Pitchers: Niko Cataneda (Northview), Bernardo Flores (Baldwin Park), Caleb Rudusky (Nogales), Landon Moore (San Dimas).
Infielders: Adrian Guzman (Nogales), Eddie Gutierrez (Baldwin Park), Anthony Moreno (Covina), Alec Montanez (San Dimas).
Outfielders: Shawn Kennedy (San Dimas), Vinny Venegas (Covina), Albert Lemus (Nogales), Jake Grijalva (Northview).
Catchers: Gabe Rojo (Northview), Jimmy Lambert (San Dimas).
Utility: Nick Hynes (Covina).
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Aaron Jamieson has been approved as the new head football coach at Pomona High School, according to athletic director Joe Biagioni. Jamieson was an assistant at Pomona the last two years under Anthony Rice, who resigned Jan. 13.

“Aaron is a good coach with a lot of energy,” Biagioni said. “He is also a very good teacher as well. He has the background and experience and is ready to be a head coach. The fact that Aaron has been a part of the staff and foundation that Anthony Rice has established will help make the transition smoother.”

Jamieson was an assistant at Carter from 2005-2007 before joining Rice’s staff at Colony in 2008 to coach defensive backs and running backs. In addition to coaching the Red Devils, Jamieson has been a teacher at Pomona the last two years.

Anthony Rice resigned Friday after two seasons as the Pomona High School head football coach, opting to focus his efforts on seeking an administrative position. After winning two CIF-SS Central Division championships in four seasons at Colony High School, Rice was hired at Pomona prior to the 2010 season. Pomona went 5-5 in Rice’s first season before ending a seven-year playoff drought last season by posting a 6-5 mark good for a third-place finish in the Valle Vista League.

“I think we made good progress, but it was harder than I thought it would be,” Rice said. “When I first came on here, my thing was to try and get into administration. I told my wife it would be a two-year thing from the beginning.”

Just before Christmas break, Rice told Pomona principal Roger Fasting and athletic director Joe Biagioni he was considering resignation. The two convinced Rice to consider his options over the break, but he returned only to officially resign on Jan 13.
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Offensive Player of the Year: Steven Rivera, Arroyo, 12
Defensive Player of the Year: Brett Walsh, Monrovia, 11
Coach of the Year: Ryan Maddox, Monrovia

OFFENSE
Running back
Amjed Aboul-hosn, Village Christian, 12
Sir Darius Yarbrough, Pomona, 12
J.R. Nelson, Hacienda Hacienda Wilson, 12
Marquise Bias, Monrovia, 12
Desmond Reed, Azusa, 12
Quarterback:
Andy Guerrero, San Gabriel, 12
Billy Livingston, Covina, 12
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Gone are the days when the San Dimas High School football team won its Valle Vista League games by an average of 34 points. Though it was only two years ago when the Saints mowed down their first three league opponents by a combined score of 126-0 on the way to the schools’ first CIF football championship, much changed last season.

San Dimas didn’t just lose out on the league title, it finished third in 2010. After dropping a dramatic game to Baldwin Park, the Saints had a chance to earn a share of the league title but fell to Covina, the same team that happens to be currently ranked one spot ahead of them entering Valle Vista League play tonight.

Fresh off a victory over defending CIF-SS Mid-Valley champion Monrovia, San Dimas (3-1) has risen to No. 3 in the CIF rankings, but league foe Covina (3-1) is resting comfortably at No. 2.

“Covina is looking to be a league champion and a CIF champion as well,” San Dimas coach Bill Zernickow said. “They’re very good and their program has been doing well at the lower levels too.”
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