VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS OF FRIDAY'S RIO HONDO LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Good post New York. It would be great if LS would recruit, but the fact is that they do not. The student body is about 750 students, Irregardless the Lancers will win the Camino Real League outright. They have developed into one of the better teams in the Division. They have impact players on both sides of the line. The coaching staff has found the winning formula and the playoffs will be a testament to their ability.

Observer,

School size alone is a bit irrelevant as to whether or not a PRIVATE school can field a good football team. I'm sure La Salle does not go out of its way to bring players in like Oaks Christian does, but my point still stands.

And by the way, I was not very happy to have beaten La Salle at the time, but they have since proved to be a good football team who will represent its league as a first place team.

Also, the CIF must have figured that this "small catholic school" had enough resources to be in the same division as the RHL.

Observer,
Stand back. The La Salle jab was at Lancer88 because he is a La Salle backer and he took a shot at me for supporting Monrovia. In other words, my intended target knew exactly why I mentioned La Salle and you don't need to know. I'm not even sure why I bothered explaining it to you.

Also, La Salle is a little Catholic school and Monrovia is a school over 1,000 so why should you be happy to beat La Salle. You should beat La Salle most years because simply you guys have more people to pick from. So if you are solely happy on beating up on small schools go ahead because you know what La Salle is going to win league and you aren't.

Why do you have to bring La Salle into this. Ya you beat them, but when you lose you take it nicely and do not try and put down others. Suck it up and take it like a man.

Double 8's,
I never said that Monrovia has dominated the league, but I did in fact insinuate that TC has not dominated the league since Monrovia's arrival. I was specifically thinking of the first two meetings, which came off of Temple City's very dominant years.

Oh well. We lost to Temple City this year, but at least we hung 52 on La Salle.

hey the game is played on grass not online and oh yeah temple city won!!!!

I just really wish our guys had knicknames and a fun announcer like Monrovia's. =( seriously, I love how Monrovia's visitors side had speakers so that visitors could be more into the game. the 'No Deposit, No Return,' was a little kick to the guy because everytime Kelley kicked it off, that's all he said..and boy could kelley kick ahahh

TcGuy
what's up with the "no deposit, no return"

i guess it's 10-14-1 now. Sure is quiet in here.

How 'bout them Rams? It was a real war and Monrovia, props to you and your team, they played their heart out thats for sure. GOOD GAME Monrovia

oh, 'No deposit, no return' right? =)

What I'm talking about is a 10-13-1 straight up record against TC doesn't sound like domination...unless your trying to redefine the word? So don't go yapping about runner up 20 years ago. I'm not a TC guy but I know a few who will tell you they won a "couple" in a row about 30 years ago.

PS-Dominate, v, -to control or rule by strength or power; rise high above; tower over

10-13-1 ???!!!? Flip to the P's observant and look up "parity"

Hey Fred, that was a classy move posting a story that was copy and pasted from the Mid Valley. You could have rejected the post and know one except ex rhl player would have ever known. Props to you for posting it along with the following posts. I hope your editor doesn't give you too much grief. See ya on the field !

?David Potts not Davis Potts

-spchk

Double8s....

What are you talking about, Willis?!? Did you read the history lesson?... the '82 team went to the CIF final... and the '83 team went 11-0 before dropping in the playoffs.

Thanks ex-RHL for the AWESOME post... just one correction: the '96 FB/QB was RODNEY McNeely, not Chris.

Sorry New York...

Thanks for the history lesson Joe. What did New York say about dominating the RHL when Monrovia entered????

Wow those guys at the midvalley sure do a great job!

Most excellent rhl player!

just in case anybody wanted to get a history of the game. credit goes to joe torosian at the midvalley news.

Published: Wednesday, November 01, 2006
History of the Game...and The Fate of the World
We opened the vaults and have put together a complete history of this season's biggest game. What follows is a summary of the previous 24 meetings between Monrovia and Temple City, TC and M-Town, Rams and Wildcats...and of course the Fate of World
1982: Monrovia 31 Temple City 0
The first meeting between the schools isn’t much of a game. Richard Watson’s Wildcats roll to an easy win and carry their season all the way to the CIF Finals at Citrus College before losing to Verbum Dei 7-0.

1983: Monrovia 32 Temple City 23
M-Town takes out TC in the Rio Hondo League opener and rolls to an 11-0 record before losing to Canyon , 27-25, in the semi-finals. The Rams win out the rest of their RHL schedule and get a first round playoff win over Cabrillo before falling to Bishop Montgomery in the second.

1984: Temple City 42 Monrovia 13
TC and Head Coach Don Swanson get first victory over the ‘Cats who were in the midst of a 1-9 season. The Rams led by quarterback Mark Mooney push all the way to the CIF Finals before succumbing to Claremont 45-0.

1985: Temple City 17 Monrovia 3
The Rams Dave Rodoracio rushes for 207-yards on 42-carries, and a pair of touchdowns as offensive linemen Steve Gilmour, Barry Dewing, Jerry Henderson, John Anter, and Don Miller plowed the road and protected quarterback Tim Vance, who completed 8 of 13 for 99-yards.

1986: Temple City 42 Monrovia 14
In a blowout Tim Vance rushes for 165-yards and two touchdowns, plus he throws for another as the Rams smashed the ‘Cats at home. M-Town scores first after a seven-yard run by Jamal Jones that was set up when Aaron Flucker intercepted Vance. The TC quarterback avenged the mistake took his team to the win. Temple City’s season ends with a loss against Hart in the CIF Finals.

1987: Monrovia 28 Temple City 20
Jim Walker is in his first year as TC’s Head Coach and the Wildcats are looking for their first playoff appearance since 1983. One spot left, its week 10, and at North Field Mike Mooney rushes for 201-yards on 30-carries, but M-Town’s Charles Allen rushes for 278-yards and scores on runs of 93 and 59-yards. Temple City misses the playoffs for the first time since 1979 and suffers its first losing record since 1959. The Wildcats advance to the second round of the playoffs before losing to El Segundo 20-19.

1988: Temple City 45 Monrovia 0
Jim Walker and the Rams restore order. Charles Bayer and Kenny Mushinskie each score twice as TC scores on seven consecutive drives and hold the M-Town offense to just 16 passing yards on one completion. For the record it was Deondre Armstrong that made the grab. The TC season reaches the semi-finals before falling to Santa Maria.
The Wildcats missed the post-season dance for the fourth time in five years.

1989: Temple City 41 Monrovia 0
Another bad year for the Cats netted one win, and it wasn’t against the Rams as Terry Fesler completed seven of seven passes for 142-yards and three touchdowns. He even ran for one as Temple City repeated as Rio Hondo League champs and returned to the semi-finals where the were bounced by Napolean Kaufman and Lompoc 48-38.

1990: Temple City 22 Monrovia 0
The Rams shutout out the Wildcats for the third straight year. TC picked off five passes, Bryan Sulpizio and Terry Fesler both scored on short runs and Chris Gonzalez snagged a 31-yard scoring pass from Fesler. No playoffs for the Wildcats and the Rams bid for a third straight semi-finals appearance is ended by a 15-12 loss to Arroyo Grande.

1991: Temple City 28 Monrovia 0
Sophomore quarterback Eric Britten goes 7 of 9 for 184-yards and three touchdowns to lead the Rams a fourth straight win in the series and to their last league title for ten years. TC’s playoff run over by the second round as was Jim Walker’s tenure as head coach. The Wildcats missed the playoffs and finished Rio Hondo League play 0-5.

1992: Temple City 38 Monrovia 8
Roberto Hern rushed for 121-yards and a touchdown, Eric Britten threw for two more to give new Head Coach Gabe Soumakian a win in his first go around in the series. The Wildcats lone highlight is a 96-yard kick-off return by Steve Leslie. No playoffs for Leon Ward in his last year as coach. The Rams are one and done the following week against Century 20-6.

1993: Temple City 14 Monrovia 13
Steve Garrison’s first Wildcat squad closes the gap, but its TC’s Chad Larson that makes the play on a two-point attempt that preserves the win for the Rams. M-Town’s Felipe Rodriguez engineers a 99-yard fourth quarter drive that culminates in a nine-yard scoring toss to Damon Griffin with 15-seconds left to make it 14-13. Garrison decides against the kick and goes for the win.
“Any time I have a chance to beat Temple City,� Garrison says. “I’m gonna go for it.�
Larson picked off Rodriguez on the deuce attempt and the drama was over.
Roberto Hern (143-yards) and Eric McMurtrey (96-yards) key the Rams offensive attack.

1994: Temple City 28 Monrovia 7
M-Towns Mike Waters rushes for 111-yards but it is offset by TC’s Brian Betts’s 160-yards and two scores, and Joey deKarr’s 72-yards on the ground and two touchdowns (one on a nine-yard pass from James Schneider). Down four scores in the final quarter the Wildcats get on the board when Johnie Lopez completes a 14-yard pass to Justin Yuille. October 21, 1994---The last time Temple City has won in M-Town.

1995: Monrovia 34 Temple City 7
Steve Garrison’s troops finally break through and snap a seven game TC winning streak. Justin Yuille rushes for a 147-yards and scores on runs of 55, 3, and 65-yards. DeRon “Blue Collar� Turner also scores on a 10-yard run. Both teams qualify for the playoffs, both teams make first round exits. This is Gabe Soumakian’s last game in the series, Mike DiFiori becomes top man in 1996.

1996: Monrovia 28 Temple City 13
The Wildcats roll to a win and their first RHL title since 1983. It becomes the Chris McNealy game when the fullback moves to quarterback in the second quarter when Calvin Alford is injured and completes sevens passes, one for a touchdown. McNealy also ran in two more as M-Town overcame a 7-0 halftime deficit to get the when.
Monrovia is knocked out in the first round of the playoffs. Temple City draws La Puente wins and moves to the second round before Cabrillo shuts down its season.

1997: Monrovia 21 Temple City 6
Temple City records fewest wins in 40 years, misses the playoffs for the first time in ten years as M-Town routs them and wins a second consecutive league title. The Wildcats Darryl Moore completes six passes for 205-yards and two touchdowns. Both scores go to Akil Harris on plays of 66 and 62-yards. Harris, who rushes for 92-yards, picks up a third touchdown on a nine yard run in the third quarter.
Jamil Frazier paces the Rams with 110-yards.

1998: Monrovia 18 Temple City 13
Jamil Frazier has another big game against the ‘Cats but his 162-yards and two touchdowns aren’t enough. Darryl Moore through the air and Akil Harris (114-yards) on the ground help carry M-Town to the win and its third straight RHL title.
The Rams complete one pass (Joe Oberlander 24-yards to Greg Flammang) but recovers to reach the semi-finals. Monrovia reaches the CIF Finals for the second consecutive year.

1999: Monrovia 13 Temple City 0
Mike Mooney returns as Head Coach, but still can’t beat Steve Garrison. The Wildcats Seth Lewis bombs in two plus 40-yard field goals and sophomore quarterback Ryan O’Hara connects with Chris Johnson for a 34-yard score.
Kevin Brown rushes for 118-yards, but two Ram quarterbacks and an option toss from Brown, net only two-yards through the air.

2000: Tie 28-28 at Monrovia
Penalties, offensive mistakes, and big defensive plays prevent either team from taking advantage of opportunities and the game ends in a stalemate. The biggest star is Wildcat punter Ricky Romero who snares two high snaps, one-handed, late in the game to avert disaster.
Herman Wagner rushes for a 198-yards as the Rams recover to finish the regular season with two wins and advance to the second round of the playoffs.
M-Town stumbles and follows this tie with a 21-21 tie with South Pasadena and then a 36-27 loss to La Canada that ends the Cats four-year RHL title run and shows the first cracks in the Garrison dynasty.

2001: Temple City 52 Monrovia 0
TC goes undefeated during the regular season and has four plus 50 point explosions while shutting out four opponents, and the Wildcats are of little consequence in this blowout as the Rams Legion of Doom (Desmond Reed, Matt Malczynski, Antonio Wagner) has its way.
The Wildcats make the playoffs but get worked, 35-14 by North Torrance. TC hammers Gladstone and Robin Storey in the first round but fall apart in the second half the next week against Inglewood.

2002: Monrovia 45 Temple City 35
The Rio Hondo League comes down to a week 10 showdown at Monrovia. Adam Gabriel, Seth Perez, Kenny Parry, and a young Jesse Canada are just too much for the Rams and Desmond Reed, who puts together an unforgettable performance running, returning, catching, and defending the ball.
“This one is pretty sweet,� Garrison says when asked how it compares to his other titles. Monrovia advances its record to 11-0 before losing to Lompoc in the second round 43-23.

2003: Temple City 28 Monrovia 17
The Wildcats enter league play 4-1, the Rams come in 3-1-1, and uses two fourth quarter touchdowns to pull out a victory. Kenji Morinaga runs for 138-yards and three touchdowns.
Defensively the Rams are led by its linebacking corps: Andrew Arceo and Dylan Doty both pick off Evan Johnson passes, Doty adds a sack, and Tommy Bullock records six tackles and wrecked his usual form of havoc as TC goes on to win its second RHL title in three years.
M-Town misses the playoffs for the first time since 1993.

2004: Monrovia 14 Temple City 10
It’s a down year in the Rio Hondo, and especially down in Temple City which goes 4-7 on the year but it has a chance to get its first win in M-Town in ten years.
The Rams have the ball in the fourth quarter in Wildcat territory with a 10-7 lead when Monrovia’s Jesse Guerrero intercepts a Ricky Arredondo pass and takes it to the house for the win.
Sophomore quarterback David Potts shines by going 11 of 14 for 112-yards and a touchown.
La Canada wins the RHL, both TC and Monrovia lose in the first round.

2005: Temple City 27 Monrovia 7
Mike Mooney unearths the “Ghost Package� which includes moving wide receiver Dwight Broadnax to quarterback at times and the Rams cruise to the win. Tsun Tsai runs for 229-yards and two scores.
The win keys Temple City’s third title in five years.

By Joe Torosian

At luggage carousel in Ontario now. TC's pass rush would concern me more if we were more dependent on the pass.

Remember, it is Monrovia Offense against TC defense and vice versa, not Monrovia defense against Temple City defense. I like our match ups.

New York,

It's funny how you mention "the best pass defense is the pass rush" when talking about Monrovia's chances of shutting down the TC air attack.

I was taking a look at Maxpreps and TC has twice as many sacks as Monrovia. Do you think that's a cause for concern? Just wondering.

Also, how was your flight?

A little rivalry within the ranks isn't always terrible, I agree with catlover. It keeps practice competitive which is essential to success late in the season.

By the way, do hsfootballfan and catlover have some sort of aversion to puncuation???

Fights with the team is just love and frustration between competitors im at every practice and have witnessed them all m town got this its just great players challenging great players it happens m town 70 tc 0

Hey this wildcat team is going to lose they remind me of usc and the hurricanes with players getting in trouble and fights i have seen numerous fights between this team theyre just going to self destruct albert arnold is a trouble maker ive seen him in two and today the running back just kicked the quarterbacks tale its riduculous i want the cats to take it but the only way they can lose is because of them albert has been in two of the fights of the three these are captains

As a long-time Monrovian, if our biggest concern is pass defense, then I feel pretty good. With our athletes, strengthening coverage is a simple adjustment. Furthermore, the best pass defense is the pass rush.

On my way to JFK now. This is getting exciting.

New York why are you so surprised, it is the pasadena star news. muir and temple city are both close to pasadena than monrovia. that like sayin im surprised of the deep tie of monrovians in the monrovia weekly. but about the game i agree with aram. Not with my heart sayin t.c., never that but if broadnax turns into reed it will be too close to call but i feel we have a lot of firepower on offense but im pretty sure that the o-line of t.c.'s plays on the d-line. our kids at monrovia better move those guys and make some holes for our backs if they do that, then we got this game. plus we can throw the ball. but i worry about our pass defens a little much more then our run defense

Back to the Topic..I think you left out Sparks and a few other Cats that could end up player of the Game. Who Knows maybe even player of the year.

That was meant to sound heavily sarcastic...

Here's my analysis,

My heart says TC but my brain says M-Town. If M-Town could bang with a healty/semi-cohesive West Covina team, then they can beat anybody in the RHL handily. I know the Moon Dog and Sgt. Backus will have a good gameplan, but unless Broadnax goes D-Reed on M-Town, the Cats are going to win.

We M-Town folk never would have guessed that the ranks of the Star News are so deep with TC and Muir ties.

Yeah, Aram's a TC alum - we've got four TC alumns on our sports staff...
As for yours truly, I'm from the eastside, anyone remember Edgewood High School? Class of 19xx, lets just say late 80s.
As for my pas connection, both my parents graduated from Muir.

Hey Fred,

No guest analysis from Aram Tolegian, Tribune Prep Editor, about this week's TC-Monrovia game? Wasn't he a Ram or Wildcat alum? It must suck to be over on the East side covering some mediocre football.

Big A,

What is it with you and the rest of the Arcadia fans still talking about that scrimmage with Temple City. We're into WEEK NINE of the Preps season and you guys are still talking about a scrimmage. Personally, I'm not taking sides in the TC-Monrovia game. However, I think you're question, "Is this even going to be a game?" because "Arcadia spanked TC" is completely foolish. What are you going to tell me next- that Nick Ponce had a better passing league then Riley Saxson? Or how about when the Arcadia frosh team beat the Temple City frosh team three years ago.

All I'm trying to say is who cares about preseason. I hope I don't have to hear about that scrimmage again. But then again, you guys always find a way to bring it up.

Capanario,
this game is for the rio hondo league championship. Fred wasn't it a few years back when blair had that guy Sean Smith didnt they upset t.c or come really close. well not saying they will this year but they'll put up fight. but the way south pas is playing this year if we get this game against temple city, theirs no way south pas gets the upset. They got blown out by la canada. and you mean to tell me that the tigers will upset the cats the week after??????!!!! "Get past south pas....." give me a break, I guess you've been sleep the last few league games to think the cats have to actually get past the tigers please.... wake up and smell the league title son. south pas ain't even makin the playoffs and they better not be ranked next week after the sm/sp game because i think that that game is sm's defense coming out party the way they play

TC vs. Monrovia WILL be close, unless one of the teams doesn't come to play, which isn't likely. And Fred, this game is not for the RHL championship. If TC wins, it might be, because they will smash Blair. But if MHS wins, they must still get past South Pas...

Bigm is right, thier will be no blowout. if you think it will be then you've had too much candy. both teams are balanced i dont know much about t.c.'s defense but both offenses sort of mirror each other when it comes to balance or lack their of. when the games on the line for t.c. saxon comes through. if the run is not working for mhs then potts shows his true colors by passing all over the field i cant wait. ima have my applebee's to-go and get to the game early to get a seat because at homecoming it will be packed

Big M, I agree. This will not be a blow out. TC will be ready to play. Boroadnax at 170 is not by any means a bruiser, but Do at 215 is.
it will be agreat game to watch, the 2 best teams in the RHL battle it out. You gotta love it!

Those predicting an M-town blowout don't understand the power of this rivalry. TC will come to play... Homecoming, for the weakly focused, can be a distraction (Friday is Monrovia's Homecoming... welcome home, NY). Don't try to compare like opponents when predicting this outcome (or any other for that matter).

The Cats WILL win... but a 7 to 10 pt spread is more likely.

trojanator, "t.c. and speed in the same sentence" that was a good one. ill give you that. i feel that monorvia is too fast on the ball for broadnax to break one. it will be up to saxon to do the work but the way defensive back tyler thompson is playing. it will be hard to get an open receiver. i know its a rival game but i see monrovia giving it to t.c with full team effort. monrovia 32 t.c 17. note that it will be close in the first half for both teams to feel each other out. but the second half is the cats half for sure

Sorry New York, didn't do it on purpose. Just like you didn't mean to spell incredible incorrectly. Just a typo, calm down.

The subtle (or not so subtle) favoritisms by the Star News are incredibel. Look above...The RAMS are capitalized AND BOLDED. The CATS is just capitalized. The two ram players' names are spelled correctly. Monrovia's David Potts is listed as Davis Pots. Very interesting Channel 4 news team, very interesting.

Arcadia spanked TC in their scrimmage and Monrovia beat Arcadia. Is this even going to be a game?

TC and speed in the same sentence??? Broadnax a bruiser?? last time i checked 170 pounds isnt very bruising. Monrovia will dominate the game from the get-go and TC will be wishing they had run those sprint drills hard.

The thing that TC will face this year is a Whole team effort that Monrovia has finally bought to the table. If they could stop Peterson, They can stop Broadnax. Monrovia will wear TC down with pure athletic ablity. Dont even compare the QB's, not match. Special Teams Monrovia By far. TC, you do the math. Monrovia 38 TC 7

The thing that TC will face this year is a Whole team effort that Monrovia has finally bought to the table. If they could stop Peterson, They can stop Broadnax. Monrovia will wear TC down with pure athletic ablity. Dont even compare the QB's, not match. Special Teams Monrovia By far. TC, you do the math. Monrovia 38 TC 7

First of all the running back duo of davis and sparks has not produced the big numbers that everyone thought they would. Second sparks is playing great right now which is one reason the backs are not getting as many yards. I see this game pretty evenly matched with team speed, but I think TC may pull it out because they will come out and play right out of the gate and not wait till the second half like Monrovia seems to do. Also TC looks a little more organized overall which is a pro for them.

yea but if davis and sparks couldn't even total 100 yards on the titans, how can you expect them to dominate tc?

Davis and Sparks, how does TC expect to stop these 2 if Lavelle P ran for 202 yards and 3 TD's against them?? Mo-Town 45 TC-0, and thats final!

Hey don't froget to change the Wildcat record..They are 7-1(3-0)....Only loss came to the Bulldogs on the last sec. field goal..

The Whole Wildcat team......Led by David Potts and Co.