AFTERMATH: First football Friday is in the books

dum dum

dum dum

Will definitely reach out next time I'm in town.

Let me know on this thread. Perhaps, we can get a burger.

Fan,
It looks like not right now, but there is always the possibility. I really wanted to but my schedule got turned upside down.

Good luck.

NY,

In town for the big game?

"will" not "with"

Great point about the interior line. They are consumate journeymen. A lazy coach with NEVER have a great line because it is too hard and too boring to nurture. It is a lot more glamorous to hang out with the running backs and receivers and play catch.

when you read comments about kids that want to play but are thrown obstacles and BS by coaches and admin's it sucks. The pressure should be on those going halfway...skipping practice, non-chalantly becoming academically ineligible as far as GPA.....or blowing out the offseason conditioning program. You want committed kids and not whiners. This is where you find out who can hang. Nowhere is this more obvious than the interior line play, where an excellent line coach can meld and fashion together a solid and competitive group from the ground up, starting with what seemed like next to nothing at season start.

Goldenarm,
Very good point. Monrovia actually has Co-ADs...one is the head baseball coach and the other is football's offensive coordinator...

I've never been a big fan of Co-Head of anything.

Somewhere in the leadership chain you need respected AD or a coach who is mutually agreed upon as a cross-sport director. Someone who can be unbiased and lay down the law - and is equipped with a thick skin and large stones. Undoubtedly it will be a battle and compromise situation, but somehow you have to put the kid first and the program second. The line in the sand mentality is a crappy way to lock in a kid...basically requiring him to do something that violates the rules of another program, thereby eliminating him from participating.. At least this set up would put some guidelines around how athletes can shuffle from sport to sport, and minimize one sport from "hoarding" the skills of a player. In the old days you talked it out and found a way, a couple years later you graduated a student athlete and 4 sport letterman...

My pain runs pretty deep with this situation.

NY:

I totally feel your pain bro. As a major baseball guy, I always hated how the Muir football coaches damn near FORCED their guys to run track. It undoubtely helped both football and track, but it's the primary reason why our baseball team hasn't seen the playoffs since 1987.......horrible.

New York: let me tell you, it stems from insecurity on the football program. You cant force a mindset, it comes from hard work. Ive watched them play in baseball and they are mentally tough and play small ball. They are based on fundys and good coaching. The footbal program is based on emotion. That doesnt last

I played varsity football for Garrison and Varsity baseball for Moore as a sophomore.

I'm tired of the bullshit that seems to be keeping these kids from playing for my school. I'm not gonna stand by much longer.

new york: The problem is if the kid plays both sports the football team tells them when their sophomores that they cant make var unless their with them the whole summer. Their not Mater Dei, they need to share athletes. It worked out for Parry, Summerell Ainsworth and so on

I bet he did get pressured. That is one of the major flaws on that campus. I thought Kenny Parry did a great job of playing both a couple years ago. That reminds me, I wonder why David Potts was not out helping the baseball team last year. San Marino in the 1990's was very successful in many sports utilizing multiple sport athletes.

Monrovia High School's enrollment has more caucasians than Temple City HS and more African American's than Duarte HS as well as a large hispanic population (more than Duarte). These are three demographic groups that typically excel at football and baseball. Why can't we make it work? We have a buch of nice, smart, hardworking students who would love to do what it takes to win. That's what makes Monrovia so special. We just need to lead them and equip them and we will be fine. It hurts me to see our kids not get the guidance that they crave.

New york, I heard the lefty qb wanted to play both sports but got pressured to pick one. Hes better at bball

You're right. Dave and Brad have done a great job lately. Truth is, there is absolutely no reason why Monrovia can not be a baseball and football power. We have a strong enrollment of gifted athletes. Why don't more athletes play both sports? What happened to our #2 QB from last year? Is there any infighting among the programs?

I have no agenda, but i wouldnt compare the football and baseball programs at monrovia rite now. Hope the cats do great in this fall but those programs arent even close. The baseball coach and program has taken it to another level

Baseball did not go deep in the playoffs until 1998, when they had some football players. Football revived the athletics across campus. The football program may have plateued and even regressed, but nothing creates momentum on the MHS campus like football.

I'd like to see us stay focused and play more mistake free football sometime soon.

Whats wrong with being a baseball school. If thats the better program. It seems like the football team cant focus on one game at a time. Always worried bout where there ranked, instead of doin their job

Yo dude. Garrison may or may not want Muir, but Monrovia does. We're not a baseball school, but we are definitely not where we need to be with football right now.

Typical Garrison production. Win one game and get unfocused. Those who follow this program have seen it many times. There's no Akil or Ainsworth to save you. Its not really a surprise when a team that went further than you in the playoffs last year whoops you in week 2. Monrovia doesnt want any part of Muir or anyone else that can play in the valley. Face it Monrovia you are a baseball school

"passing conditions" not "passing catches."

MHS Alumn,

No problem. David Jones was actually a sophomore. My brother and his crew were seniors. No need to send the tape. We have a couple different copies at home: the team game tape as well as different angles from the stands.

I know Jones became a popular scapegoat but gimme a break. Those balls were not exactly easy catches. Why do you think Paso did not even attempt a pass in the second half? Not ideal passing catches for long balls. Slants and swing would have been good.

Anyway, my point was that teams don't necessarily need the big flashy TD passes. Sometimes taking a field goal or handing it off a few more times to chew clock and rest the defense would be adequate.

Kicking a field goal in the first half with Mr Automatic Seth Lewis would have let us kick another field goal to win the game with time expiring, just like the Diamond Bar game that year. Not taking points early is a very young mistake that happened a long time ago.

And don t give me that "he was a freshman" he was nails all year

hey NY,how many TD'S did the Tight-End drop in Paso Robles that night.I think the answer was 3.I will send you the tape.

Muir was really put out there nationally after its former track coach, clyde turner, was convicted of molestation. He and others where featured on the front cover on US weekly, I believe.

I have been having some fun with this Cal Preps Matchup thing.

At Monrovia
Monrovia 26 Muir 19

At Muir
Monrovia 22 Muir 21

Neutral

Monrovia 24 Muir 20

Although I must admit I'm not sure how accurate it is. I was comparing my old team that I coached up in Gloucester, Mass and matched them up against Oaks Christian and they had Gloucester on top by at least a TD...

Stang Fan,
Ok wow! More people know about Muir than Monrovia I wonder why maybe its because. Pasadena/Altadena is known because you guys are right next door to the Rose Bowl. Or maybe its because theres always something going on outside of athletics that puts your name on the news, what ever it is, pleae dont say that monrovia is scared to play big boys outside of SGV because that is not true. And I mean you go ahead and keep scheduling your OAks Christians get beat by them and then get beat by either Burroughs or burbank. I mean when was the last time you guys won league outright. Muir is no different then monrovia. You guys schedule against the big dogs outside of the SGV, but then you cant even be tough enough to win your league outright, so what does playing against oaks christian prove!!!! Not much really. It'd be one thing if that made muir tough in league and beat the burbank and burroughs but it doesnt even help that. You think muir is the big bully of pasadena but it really isnt win your league outright before you open your mouth. Okay monrovia doesnt schedule against oaks or dominguez, at least we're pretty competitive in our so called weak league. Its either us or T.C. repectfully. theres no three-way ties for first, maybe 2nd or third but not first. I mean of course monrovia's name does not ring, its only 9 blocks wide lol. Thats like comparing San Marino and Los angeles it makes no sense. Now Muir at one time was the big time powerhouse but that was the late 90's I really doubt muir is what it once was and I think you know that but you choose to live in the pass, so go ahead play your oaks and get blown out and then lose to burbank,burroughs or both and flip a coin to see who wins your league, MOnrovia is fine being either the top dog or right behind T.C.

stang fan...no biggie. And just for the record, if Muir and Monrovia met this year I believe it would be a humbling experience for "M-Town."

You know what Anonymous 9:27, I agree. After awhile we're just going in circles. But don't be surprised if this conversation comes up again sometime during the season............I will apologize ahead of time.

Anonymouns, Stay Anonymous

observantcat and stang fan...how about if I beg you to stop boring us all with what moght happen if?

The Stang Fan

You Beg your Coach to schedual Monrovia and I will Beg Garrison to schedual Muir. I would love to make a gentlemans bet on the outcome. I would hope it would become a real rivalry. I hope this doesn't become a Macho Mess on a blog...because Monrovia could be win that war also. As far as a suburb Altadena and Monrovia are very simillar in respects to population and socio-econimics Although a lot of people have opted out of dena because of the cost of living and the rift raft that has been taken Dena down for the past few years. I wish we could allow these two teams to play each other every year and let the best team win. I hope you guys dont think just because the name on your school is John that you are an automatic in any sense of the word.

Mainly to the Stang Fan

You ask people outside of this area about MUIR and the first thing they say is do they still have a good track team. Wearing a Monrovia Jacket in Pasadena should'nt mean anything anyway. But Playing a Pasadena School could prove once and for all that If the time is Right let's play like we did a few years ago. Not only did we play you We KILLED you guys..I was sitting with one of my friends that went to MUIR and he said Damn...I didn't know that Monrovia was this good. He was actually embarrased that Muir did'nt even get a first down in the first half of the game. When the scrubbs came in around 8:minutes of the fourth Quarter Muir tried to make a comeback but ended up loosing the football. Now What does that say about the MUSTANGs...They are very human and very vunerable.

East Valley news...
Fillmore 14
Channel Islands 0

Bishop Diego 21
Nipomo 13

Villanova Prep 27
Western Christian 20

I'm not taking any side here.
During the summer Muir was looking for teams to play in week 0,1,2,3 and their schedule became what it is today. Muir put it out there and I would bet that few teams wanted to play against them.
I would have liked to see Muir vs Birmingham. Youngblood vs Knox.

This dual post bashing between Stang Fan and NY is better than the Dodgers vs San Diego games.

I just want to say that you both represent great arguments with a bit of history to support it. Maybe what people say is only that, hear-say. Producing the positive facts of your arguments will determine the outcome at the close of business.

Cant wait to see the next round... ding ding.

DAWWG

Stang Fan,
Good insight about Charter Oak. I beleive it. They have a tradition of NW backs (I've mentioned Graham a few times over the past year. What an athlete!) Why do you think so many kids are drawn to play elsewhere? What about the other schools though? I know Muir played Amat a couple times in the late 1990's. Didn't Amat kick and recover a few onside kicks including the opening kickoff one of those games?

I'd like to see Monrovia push ourselves more and schedule better teams for simple fact that we always play to our competition. I don't think Montclair should be on the schedule. Eventually, Duarte may not do any good to have on the schedule either but that's a different story. I'd like to put Etiwanda back on. Obviously, I would love to put Muir back on. I'm not certain how the outcome would be with a pro-longed series with Muir. All I can go on is the two-game series from six years ago when we split the series. I think it would be good for both schools though. I'm not sure who you consider the "big boys", but Muir really doesn't play any local tough teams either. You have your ESPN game (does Muir share the gate receipt for that or something?) and then the City Section leftovers. Playing big boys is one thing, but playing LB Poly would be stupid.

A lot of people outside of California know what Muir's track team used to do, not its football team.

Poor insight about Monrovia. First of all, who cares what the masses think? Contrarian investors do the best anyway. If you look in the rearview mirror you will crash into a tree. I don't really care what you CLAIM Garrison told the Muir staff. Are you on the Muir staff?

Isn't Pasadena a suburb as well?

this is for thoes haters that think m town is no factor, we already ran threw the muirs and thoes other schools....we will get a ring,

this is for thoes haters that think m town is no factor, we already ran threw the muirs and thoes other schools....we will get a ring,

Monrovia Fans:

Go ahead. Continue to be disilliusioned. But the reality is Monrovia HS is SCARED to put the big boys on their schedule. You blast Muir for scheduling the top notch comp, while MHS trolls around the SGV as the big fish in a little pond. If, as O-Cat so comically mentioned, Monrovia can compete with any team on any Friday....then damnit SCHEDULE them! But no, you guys are content with being the big bully on a small street in the suburbs. You guys have got tons of excuses as to why you have never won a ring, do you know how many I could give you for our loss to you! You know that same team that almost beat Hart in the semi's. Trust me when I tell you, outside of the SGV Monrovia's name does not ring, I PROMISE you. Anytime Socal high school athletics is brought up in casual conversations outside the valley you guys are NEVER brought up, EVER. As a matter of fact when I wear my Muir stuff in Monrovia I have Monrovians stopping and asking me all kinds of questions. But if you wear your M-town gear out in Dena you'll get laughed at. BTW, don't let me get into what Garrison said to the Muir staff at last years playoff pairings.

As I said before, the cats are the Bills of the WSGV....congratulations.

BTW NY, Muir and PHS have tried to schedule Charter Oak and they refuse year after year for fear that once we pop them our kids will stop going there....their best back and reciever are both from Altadena and should be at Muir.

At least PHS can take pride in their volleyball program:
Even with a roster of 18 players, there weren't many fresh legs available Saturday for the fourth-ranked USC women's volleyball team following Friday's five-game triumph over Duke.

Fortunately for the Women of Troy, freshman outside hitter Kimmee Roleder was one of them.

After taking only two swings Friday, Roleder carried a fatigued squad against Mercer in the final match of the USC Classic, recording her first college double-double with 17 kills and 14 digs in a 30-19, 30-14, 30-25 victory at Galen Center.

"I was a little nervous the first few points, but then I got into a rhythm and I felt pretty good," said Roleder, who had seven kills in the final game. "I just had to kick myself in the butt and go out and play. This was my opportunity to show the kind of volleyball I can play."

Roleder, who recorded 14 kills Thursday against Cal State Northridge, made the most of her second start, adding four blocks. Her efforts, along with those of fellow freshmen Mychaela Miller (24 assists) and Geena Urango (two kills, four aces, four digs), enabled Taylor Carico, Diane Copenhagen and Jessica Gysin to rest following Friday's match.

Losing to those teams would not be prestigious enough for Muir.

WOW!!!

Muir vs Charter Oak, that would be a game for the East vs West SGV fans to watch.
Even Muir vs West Covina would be a great game.

DAWWG

New York,

Did you catch any HS school games up in CU?

I was able to catch the Arizona Mojave HS vs River Ranch HS game a couple of weeks ago. Mojave kicked their butt by 40 points.

Them desert schools produce some great linebackers, such as Brian Urlacher type hitters.

DAWWG

Observantcat,

Were you at the Monrovia JV game this last Thurs?

DAWWG

Its cool Stang Fan,

Just giving you a hard-time. I know all about the Stang/PHS talk day in and day out. I've been hearing it since the mid 70's. Anyhow, I wish MUIR luck against OC and represent Pasadena with Honor, Respect, and Pride.

DAWWG

Fan,
I wonder if they charge extra for court-time, towel service. I'm sure they have a lucrative pro shop as well.

Muir, Muir, Muir... scheduling OC hurts you guys more that anything because OC will pull there starters after a quarter and a half. If you played a good SGV team like South Hills or IE team like Redlands, you'd be better prepared for what you'll see in the central div.

NY,

$40 a month x 1000 members=
$40,000 a month. Man, the overhead is probably very low. With the strong asian base in the SGV, it will do very well.

Regarding the arcadia posts, all I can tell you is that we look much better than last year. But, we have to wait and see until we play monrovia and SF. Stopping William Do in his tracks was good news though.

I must admit that Muir does have a very rich Hall of Fame. The school was very eclectic prior to La Cresenta splitting off. It's amazing that Muir was home to Jackie Robinson, David Lee Roth, John Van De Kamp, and many others. Rich history is just that.

You will notice that I did not suggest Canyon Country (another state champ).

Stang Fan,
I posted one to you back on the Player of the Year thread. As I've mentioned before, I have a pretty good guess as to why Muir doesn't schedule top SGV teams. Muir has too much to lose. If you lose to Monrovia, Los Altos, Charter Oak, etc. then your talent base would be even more prone to transfer away. Losing to Oaks Christian is expected. It's easy for the community to point to OC's recruiting base, their facilities/resources etc and just say, "Oh well. At least we had the guts to schedule them." But coach Howard would get run out of town (like past coaches since Brownfield) if he were to schedule and lose to local teams. If you guys are so dominant, why did you scrape by an average Arcadia team last year? If Muir doesn't want to play Monrovia because we don't have any rings (whatever), put Los Altos, South Hills or Charter Oak on the schedule. It would give Muir's players a chance to play against some of their childhood friends who transferred out because they want a ring. If those teams are not good enough for Muir, then maybe Muir would want to play Hart, Valencia, or even lowly Rancho Cucamonga or Los Osos...

O-Cat...

I don't know yet if Thropay is a legit back-up...I don't think anyone does. And just because he had some success Thurs afternoon doesn't mean it will translate to Friday nights...

Just ask Haggard after this last Fri...

Besides...WAY TOO SOON to canonize or condemn...

Big A, Fan, Frank P:
Did you read this article?
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_6787998

$40 sounds like a good deal, huh? I don't think Monrovia will be able to join the Pacific anytime soon. I don't think our school plays badminton yet.

Stang Fan

Here we go again...I guess its that time of the Month again for you. Remember WE BEAT MUIR in its hayday. Now what more do you think we have to prove to U inparticular?..... You havn't been past thanksgiving Dinner with your team in over 20 years....enjoy Holloween fest and come check out some of the Monrovia Games maybe you to will become a fan. Until then Stick with trying to not look like Blair to Us. Monrovia is probably the only team in the San Gabriel Valley who would confidently Put a Whoopin on the Mustangs and nobody would be surprised but A couple of Fans like yourself. Now the Jokes on you. I Personally dont understand your rational for breaking out your old school mentality, remeber I would rather drive a couple of miles and win than to take a vacation in the ventura county and get my A..ss Whipped. But if thats your teams mentality keep doing it lets see how far you go in the off season.

Stang Fan...

Again, you're forgetting that we're talkin bout THIS team, THIS season. Past championships, or lack there of, are just that...the past. And what's wrong with scheduling West Cov, Charter Oak, Bonita, etc? They all play good football, eh? Just because we haven't scheduled a Oaks Christian to remind us that we aren't CA Bowl-ready doesn't mean our games are meaningless...

What does losing to Oaks Christian by a few TDs mean, anyway?

NY:

You see this is exactly why Muir rarely schedules teams in the SGV. When teams, like Monrovia, schedule predominantly SGV teams, the unfortunate result is that the fans become absolutely DELUSIONAL! O-Cat, you're a complete joke. For a team that has NEVER won CIF you sure do sit on a pretty high horse. I could care less how many Final appearances you have. BFD!!! COngratulations on being the Buffalo Bills of the WSGV.

Win a D-10 championship or two, then maybe, maybe I'll give credence to your assinine commentary.

Monrovia has the potential to beat any team on any given night? Man, puh-leeeeeeeeeeze!

Gloucester coach:

I know, 24 kids is pretty sad considering they have over 2400 kids.

Actually when you do the math only one in every one hundred kids at PHS plays football. (I know that the girls obviously comprise half of the school's pop. but that stat is still intriguing.)

Sorry Dawwg, my Stangs haven't played yet so I've got to talk about something.

Big M

It's just good to know that we do have a legitimate Back-up this year, I think Haggard has Way more potential than he showed in Game One. A few Line Adjustments and He's off to the races with his passing. The recievers are there and the Backs coming out of the backfield are have pretty good hand. As a field General he is in a pretty good position. I think the comment from GlouserCoach about Arcadia needs to be addressed as well. Arcadia may look decent this year but do you think they looked better last year?.... I think Morovias D will be up for the challenge of running down the Qb.

Anyone see the La Canada scrimmage?? How did they look??

Stang Fan...

What does Science have to do with the subject matter. I think and your fans should focus on your up coming season and enjoy hopefully a Pacific Championship. We wont even go into the Oaks Christian Game. You may want to resort to so science books to score in the first half this year.

Glouster Coach

Speaking of Akil Harris. He was a great running back but WE have had Better and still didn't get the Big One, but at the same time just because you have One great back that doesnt mean you can get to the promised land. Look at La Salle for example...they went to the Finals with virtually little or nothing and beat teams they were not supposed to beat in the minds of most fans. Given that Monrovia has the Talent it can sort of fine tune the areas that have been hinduring them the most and that has been the DEFENSE And the Passing Game. I think We posses both this year and for years to come. TC Had a good Running Back last year and a Line that believed in him whole heartedly that is simply not the case this year...and their passing game is going to go through More than Monrovia's will, I gurarntee you that. As far as going to the CIF Champion ship games. Face it Monrovia is All this area had for a While to get that Far so with that said I see the positive side of the picture and I believe these guys have the chance to Bring back that glory. By the Way if Smith or Williams were on the Other team (TC) then I would be worried.

Big M,
If you look at my initial post I was referring to how all of these scenarios are familiar to last year. I was just pointing out my observations. One of them being that the passing game was not solid last year from Monrovia and it didn't start out too strong this year. You are right though. It was his first game as a Varsity starter and we need to give him some more games to prove what he's got.
Please understand I am not doubting the talent that Monrovia has, nor the fact that I think they will win the RHL, but CIF Championships is what you guys talk about and I would like to see the RHL finally get one.

NY,
I know we have talked about this game in the past and I'm sorry to keep on bringing it up. Thank you for you insight on that game. Sounds like you should probably pick up a clip board and give Coach Garrison some help. I don't doubt you have tried though.

O-Cat:

And with 21st century science, my aunt has great potential to be my uncle.

Glou Coach...

I know you're smart enough realize that O-Cat's observation of TC being "more one-dimensional than Monrovia" referred to THIS year, THIS team...not last year, as your reply would suggest. We are nursing along a new, varsity QB...and he's going to have his stumbles. But he's 1-0...perfect in a QB's most important statistic: winning percentage.

and O-Cat...

As far as looking over his shoulder at a freshman...Haggard commands the respect of his team right now, and they all have to prepare for a trip to higher-ranked Duarte. I'm sure the coaches are keeping the boys focused on the task at hand...and not playing into some mythical QB controversy.

GloucesterCoach,
From one coach to another, our inability to win a CIF championship against Paso Robles in 1998 had nothing to do with player personel and everything to do with gametime coaching. We had opportunities to kick field goals but got stalled on fourth downs instead. Paso gave us the middle of field all night (typical in cover two and cover fours) but we insisted on throwing fade routes. Akil had far fewer touches than he should have. The grass was long and wet but we kept trying to run outside rather than spread the field and run inside. A quick adjustment of telling our QB to run it himself once in a while would have kept the clock rolling enough to keep Paso out of the endzone.
Defensively, our allignment screwed us all night. Paso had what they called a "Wildcat Shift". Essentially, they alligned in a power-I with the two full-backs set directly in a whole created by our allignment against their double-tightend set. The two upbacks would literally shift to the opening and we would not adjust. Our defense did not have a chance based purely on allignment. Combine that with the fact that Paso's linemen were complete monsters (they beat TC the week before by over 40 points) and you end up with frustrated fans several years later.
I could go on for a while about that particular game.

Long-story short: You're right. It would not matter what type of talent is on the field if we don't learn from mistakes. Incidentally, TC simply outnumbered us based on allignment last year and we did not seem to adjust. Their lineman and receivers always block with great technique as well, but they simply had us outflanked most of the night too. So there you go.

Observant,

"TC on the other hand is even more One dimensional than the Wildcats."

So one dimensional that they beat you last year...

"This QB Matt Haggard will gain confidence in himself and his recievers as the year go's on."

I'll take your word for it. I'm just observing that this team reminds me a lot of last years team. Speed at the RB position but shaky through the air. If you want to win a CIF Championship you have to have both. Look what happened to TC against Verbum Dei? Like you stated One Dimensional. They could not run and they lost.

Also I'd like to make the point that if you had a back like Akil Harris and you couldn't go all the way ,what makes you think you can ride Smith and Williams to the promise land?

I think we will be able to see how good Monrovia is this year when you guys play Arcadia. I will admit that I didn't think that they could pull that off last year but they did.

Glouster Couch

Just a couple of Clarifications. Monrovia is simply not the same team it was last year by the mere fact that the players are almost completly different. The Passing game will grow and the Difference of having a QB like David Potts is that he himself was going through a real developmental change His throwing was sometimes much too hard at times for some of the players to catch and he was not very accurate Most of the time. What saved him was his ability to learn the game and by his Senior year he was Much improved. This QB Matt Haggard will gain confidence in himself and his recievers as the year go's on. TC on the other hand is even more One dimensional than the Wildcats. They will have a real test against teams like Alhambra, That will be as close too the Monrovia stle of play than they get before the league finale. Being that I was a running back I can say that Do is not going to be the Answer for TC..they are going to need a complete game this year to survive not just the Wildcats but everyone they play. It may not come down to TC and Monrovia at the end of the regular season. Monrovia has probably the best young QB in all of Southern California waiting in the wings to stepp up if need be, Currently he is starting on the JV team and suites up for the Varsity.. He proved himself to me and other Wildcat Fans by coming in the last minutes of the JV game down 14-0 and posting a 20 point effort with three td passes to win that one....So Let's wait a couple more weeks and then we will really see some of the weakness of these two teams...I think that the Cats have the potential to beat anyone on any given Friday.

Dawwg:
First of all, no, I'm not from the 70's, and no, I have absolutely no idea what it feels like to lose to the dogs.

Any negative comments about the dogs however, are simply said in jest and just some good 'ol fashion ribbing.

This is all sounding really familiar.
Let's run through it shall we?

TC gets whooped by Arcadia in their annual scrimmage (check)

Monrovia has a descent game but passing game is sluggish (check)

San Gabriel cruises in it's first game with a brilliant Air Attack (check)

So what did we learn from last year?

TC: Probably nothing to worry about. When the real games start they will be ready to play. BUT...we will see with Backus

Monrovia: Didn't we wait all season for Potts to "Break Out"...you better get that passing game going because we know how far a one dimensional offense will get you.

As far as PHS goes. 24 kids were dressed??? 24! I'm sorry but you guys are going no where with those kind of numbers.

As for the rest of area we will see.

Any stang that graduated in 1980 has no recollection of their class ever beating PHS in football. Why? They never did. I don't know what it's going to take to get competitive. But the talent pool has been vastly diluted. Fight on Pasaddena.

Eagle Rock looked great on Saturday. La Salle seemed less enthused, though I did see/hear some good plastic collisions on both sides.
I also appeared that La Salle had some kids suspended for the game, or something. 23 kids were suited, and about 10 on the sideline were in shorts and t-shirts. (unless they were jv guys...)

Stang Fan,

You must hate dem dogs...I know being a stang is one thing, but smashing HS daily must make your life bitter sweet. Were you one of those mustangs who lost to PHS in the 70's and now have all this rage built up the last 30 something years or does it make you a better person to smash on HS? Im just wondering why so much hate toward a Rose City school. I may be a bulldog, but I dont have any hate towards the stangs, In fact, I almost coached there about 4 years ago.

DAWWG

Lavelle Peterson LCHS RB has been cleared through the NCAA Clearing House to play division one football. Lavelle is going to go to Utah to play football and will be a student this year and on scholarship. Because the University of Utah started school in mid August it's to late for Lavelle to play in 2007. He is enrolled in school this fall starting this week and will start playing in 2008 - starting with Spring football.

Dawwg:

Um...........I was speaking facetiously in regards to your comment that people who used "Anon" had, as you bravely acknowledged, "no heart."

Hence, after numerous losing seasons and a twenty point opening-game loss to an average team, I recommended the new name:

Pasadena "Anons."

You know....................................becuase they have no heart.

Thanks Stang Fan,

I needed to clarify the original DAWWG for this blog. I dont want bloggers to confuse me with the other dogs.

"Atomic DAWWG," those were the tunes!

DAWWG

Dawwg:

What a great new name.

Now introducing the PHS "Anons."

ya, arcadia looked pretty good last night... TC started out slow and never really did anything impressive... it seemed they only ran a couple of different plays though... deffensively, they were starting kids as linebackers that have never even played there before i guess because their starting linebacker crew were benched due to small injuries! Im not really gonna put down TC though because look what happend last year!! they didnt do that well against arcadia but yet came out and proved alot of people wrong... as one of the coaches said last night after the game to me, why bust out all the cards in front of people that want to see our plays.. why risk injury over a dumb glorified practice... one thing remains the same at TC, they are always quiet and stick to themselves... haha... time will tell though if they are the real deal this year... i guess we will see this fri night huh?!!

La Salle Afficiando....correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Eagle Rock play the game in the same afternoon heat La Salle was "forced" to play in? Where was the advantage for Eagle Rock?

Hey Lancer video I also heard about the La Salle v. Eagle Rock game and it actually appeared they played better than anticipated. Word was Beier did not get enough touches though and no team speed. Verben Dei is young but fast. It appears that Monrovia and Village Christian are the teams to beat in the Division at this point.

Anon 09-02-07, 08:56AM,

Have the huevos to talk about PHS loss, but you dont have the huevos to show your name... No need to spend blog time with Anons. Aka: No heart.

Go Dogs!

DAWWG

La Salle Afficiando here (formerly LancerVideo)

Here is some info for all you Mid Valley Division fans: In week zero, La Salle got beat pretty good by Eagle Rock, and Verbum Dei traveled out of the area and was beat up by a team from San Francisco.
This is exactly how last year started, and by the end these two teams were in the Mid Valley Division finals.
However, I would not be surprised if this was a rebuilding year for both. They lost a lot of top quality players.

I did not attend the La Salle at Eagle Rock game Sat. afternoon. My son has chosen to give up football for Club volleyball, so I am no longer a football parent. Also, I am just getting over something, and sitting in 105F sun was not a good idea. I will be going to a lot of the games.

Thanks to Rudy J. Ramos, Correspondent, for going to the game and writing it up in today's Star News.

The irony is that La Salle now has lights, and I was thinking "how can Eagle Rock force us to play in that afternoon heat?", when La Salle has done that to Temple City, Verb, and other schools the last few years.

La Salle will be going to Verb again, the game has been changed to a night game at Compton Centennial, where Temple City, Duarte, and La Salle ended their seasons last year against the Eagles in the playoffs

For all of you who have questions about the schedules, results, and matchups, maxpreps.com is where you want to go and bookmark your team's page. This is where you can get a lot of info about your team's next opponent, also.

Scott, thanks in advance for putting this blog together again. It was a great site last year, and I am looking forward to reading all the comments from "fanatics" about their or other teams. Let's keep it clean and fun, and good luck to all your teams this year, and hopefully one or two will bring CIF football championships to the West San Gabriel Valley.

new york

arcadia plays st francis on sept 7th and its a game not a scrimmage. SF looked far from impressive against valencia friday. the offense had very few big plays and the defense had trouble stopping the run and riley looked liked he wasnt ready for varsity yet. a lot of hype for this kid.
arcadia last night, though, looked very impressive. their defense was swarming around william do of TC and the offense looked explosive with walker calling the signals. this kid walker has some amazing speed he definitely got faster than last year and i didnt know he had the arm that he does. there was one play where it was a playaction and he bombed the ball at least 40 yards downfield perfect spiral.

so yes september 7th should be a great game and i believe arcadia wins a close one

Why do some schools choose to play a zero week game and others don't?

Arcadia was impressive vs TC yesterday night. Arcadia was all over William Do. He had one nice run but that was it. Again, arcadia looked good, but it's possible they lost their returning 2nd team all valley safety due to a injury.

if you went to the phs game . you would know that westlake tried to give the dawgs the game again. so nither school was impressive. and nobody wants to play for mills. 24 players & no line ! dawgs here is your pridiction score for the
dominguez/PHS game .
dominguez 49 - PHS 0
glendale , hoover , & C.V make sure your lines are good and you will beat the dawgs this year fo'sho. get a tape of the HW game agaist phs.

Dawgs house 07? Dawg 87 style? Huckster? Dawwg? Where are you guys? Let us hear the chant! Oh and three! Oh and three! Oh and three!

Great quote from the Waterboy PHS ALUM, because you guys do suck again.

BigMLover:
I wasn't saying that HWHS is a terrible program, but its not a top notch program either. Remember HW was blown out by Oaks last year, so don't make it seem like they were competing for a championship. HW lost to a 5-5 dawgs team last year...I don't think that supports any thoughts that this is a dominant program.
My main point was to stress that PHS is a basketball school and any comments that the dawgs will be good in football any time soon is a joke. THEY HAD about 160 YARDS! definately not impressive. Stick to the hardwood dawgs because it doesn't seem like they are ready for the grass.

Hi Scott, just wondering if there is going to be any cross country coverage this fall? There were some local teams that were amongst the best in the state last year and hardly any coverage. This year the Pacific League has been tabbed the toughest league in the state for boys cross country

When is the Arcadia-SF scrimmage?

JV update: On Thurs, 08-30-07

"They (JV-Montclair) started the party without the JV Wildcats with 7 minutes left in the 4th."
A perfect example that the game is not over until the game is over.

Josiah Throwpay played QB for the M-Town JV team who was down 14-0 with a little over 6 minutes left in the 4th quarter and threw for 2 TD's to come out with a WIN 20-14. How do you like them apples?

The entire JV team played with heart and played as a team to get the win.
Who let dem cats out???

Congrats MEN.

DAWWG

Would PHS have a better program if they had fired Mills? Would more kids have come out for the program without Mills? With a new coach, would more kids play for PHS instead of going the private school route?
Scott is right about Harvard Westlake- they are a solid program, but I see them as a Pacific League caliber team. I also have no doubt that Monrovia would beat HW.

EX-Falcon

I am a Duarte supporter but when it comes to the Wildcats I have to say that I am not an ex-Wildcat but a Wildcat for life....I graduated from that school with honors. I'm really just giving props to the guys who stepped up on their first game of the preseason. And Warning all teams that there will be quite a few surprises if they take the Wildcats too lightly especially on the Defensive end. Yes the Offense needs some jellin but like BigM said we were missing half of the offensive line due to injury and other reasons. Duarte will by no means be a pushover and may become the game of the year for some of us in the SGV. I just think that We didn't get the best out of our offense from all of the running backs...Dwight Smith could be a real sleeper.

observantcat,
dont start talkin yet, i heard the offense was that impressive but the defence was soild. game are played on fridays. Please beleave me Monrovia does not have a line like Ayala line. Period.

What happen with SF last night?

Valdez wrote his name in SHARPIE! for that starting spot. sorry varelas but it looks like the littlest varela will continue his brothers legacy by punting only!

I expected better from the dawgs too, at least on the offensive side of the ball. But I don't see how an objective observer could have picked PHS to win that game.

To All of the DuRock Fans...If your'e listning!

If Duarte thought that Ayala's Defense was tough wait until they face there cross town rivals Monrovia. They have three of the toughest Linebackers (Only Sophmores) that I have seen in a long time. They threw Montclairs running backs like door mats practicaly every single play. And as far as the offense goes..Monrovias secret weapon has been revealed...#2 he is built like a ford truck about 5'10 195 and has speed to match. From the great state of TX.(Jr.) and lets not forget about the #1 tailback Marquise Williams and his 160 yrd debut. And last but not least...the Freshman phenom made his first high school appearance with 4minutes left in the 4th quarter..(6'3 190lbs Qb) Johiah Throplay who if Bishop Amat had their way would be their Starting QB. Showed signs of his greatness to come. So I think that DuRock should get mentally prepared for a good old fashion A....s Whoopin!

Haggard and the rest of the 'Cats will be fine. The O-line...which did struggle at times last night...were playing short-handed and still managed a 150+ yd.-runner last night. Once the injuries settle, they'll be fine. Haggard had the first night jitters...no question. But, he has great talent around him and that always helps. Fernando Gonzalez caught a ball while diving to horizontal...3 yds OB! It isn't on the stat sheet, but it was one helluva catch.

Hats off to the D-line last night...they brought their briefcase and went to work. Two fumble recoveries in the first 2 min...one returned for a TD and the other setting one up...set the tone. Young Josh Lowden had two sacks as well. This unit played lights out...

Darwin Winfrey - 1 FumRec
Francisco Luna - 1 FumRec, 1 TD
Josh Lowden - 2 Sacks

Look out!

Rationale: I'll be the first to admit I was wrong picking Pasadena to beat Harvard-Westlake.
Perhaps not having some of the players from last year will hurt the Bulldogs this season. But to discount Harvard-Westlake as a lowly program doesn't make sense to me.
Pasadena needed to come from behind against that team last year for possibly its best quality win of the season.
Harvard-Westlake was a semifinalist last season with close losses to Pasadena and Burroughs and a blowout loss to Oaks Christian.
From what I hear, this is a team that believes it can compete with Oaks for the Division title this year.
So while Pasadena may not have looked that good and might struggle this season, perhaps Friday's game may have had something to do with the competition.

Negative yardage kills. I'm glad Coach Bell will work with Haggard to teach him how to not lose yards. Stats like that will kill us against better teams.

one more thing scott , you forgot the dawgs has 13 returning starters on the team and most of them been on varsity
since the 10th grade. so , how do you loose 26-6. i will tell you. no armon the tall flanker last year , no line ! when does bulldawg basketball start ?

this paper always takes up for the dawgs.
if anybody was at that harvard-westlake game. you would see a pasadena team with no line at all. the QB ran for his life all night. so, scott you were saying westlake is good because they had to play
oaks last season ? to let you know they
did not look good either and they still won
26-6 !!! be fair. and the dawgs only have 24 kids on the team. did you write that in the paper ? how can they beat anyone ?

Ok, I'm really going to try my best not to pile on here.............but 26-6.......are you frickin kidding me? And no New York, H-W is not that great of a program, remember they did lose to the dogs last year. BTW, I did pick the dogs to win this game, who slipped the kool-aid into my drink?

PHS Fans:

Your season is over before it even started (wait I guess I am piling on now), all that talk....for what. I tried to tell you that your O-line was VERY suspect. I thought that the overall team talent and speed would be able to compensate a little, but I severely guessed wrong.

OUCH!!! This "L" really hurts for you guys. I know it does. Sorry Huckster, but its going to be ANOTHER long, long season.

this paper always takes up for the dawgs.
if anybody was at that harvard-westlake game. you would see a pasadena team with no line at all. the QB ran for his life all night. so, scott you were saying westlake is good because they had to play
oaks last season ? to let you know they
did not look good either and they still won
26-6 !!! be fair. and the dawgs only have 24 kids on the team. did you right that in the paper ? how can they beat anyone ?

When teams schedule games against superior programs it is tough to gauge where they stand. HW is usually a contender and Domingez is a state power. Getting worked over by those teams doesn't do any good nor show anything other than the ability to take a beating.

Scheduling cupcakes wouldn't do any good either, but an evenly matched first game would be appropriate.

how are thw dawgs gonna beat Dominguez and they can't even compete with Harvard Westlake? Looks like it's time for Dawg fans to start looking forward to basketball season!