Casual Fridays on Thursday: That's how I roll
Above: Chase Rettig is ready to lead La Salle against Maranatha on Friday.
Week 1 descends upon us and getting the nudge for "Game of the Week" is the highly-anticipated La Salle-Maranatha game that'll pit two of the best quarterbacks in the area.
There is a lot of intrigue for a few reasons, the obvious being two top quarterbacks on display. But this is a matchup that has been building up over the years. The Lancers and Minutement have not played each other since 1997. Think of Maranatha as the long lost son, bouncing from campus to campus throughout Pasadena. The Minutemen now are proud to call their campus on St. John their home. The campus is beautiful and the field is breathtaking.
Sure, La Salle lost last week but that was a very close game. Rettig completed 18 of 37 passes for 237 yards and two touchdowns in the Lancers' tough, 21-18, loss to Village Christian.
"I just hope we finish with one more point than them at the end of the game," joked Maranatha coach Joel Murphy.
And if you haven't gotten a clue yet, I'm covering this game.
Contrary to popular belief, I've never been a fan of covering a football team back-to-back, which is why I'm not going to St. Francis, though the matchup is intriguing as well. Besides that, it's a 7:30 p.m. start and there is more to my job than just covering a game. I need to get back to the office to knock out my story, update the scores/blog and make sure all our correspondents get their stuff in by deadline. With a full slate of games scheduled, Friday night will be the whole dog and pony show, meaning I'm better off covering a 7 p.m. game rather than 7:30 p.m.
Game of the Week B : Arcadia at St. Francis, 7:30 p.m.
Golper vs. Riley? C'mon! I heard through the grapevine that the Golden Knights are going to have three guys on Golper when he's running the ball and they'll try to isolate him at linebacker. St. Francis is going to make the rest of the Apaches beat them so this is a game Garrett Tuck, Brian Rambeu and others will have to step up and help carry some of the load off of Golper.
Game of the Week C: Oaks Christian at Muir, 7 p.m.
I know I predicted Muir to lose last week against Diamond Ranch. I didn't think they had it in them and there was all this talk about this Spirlin kid at D-Ranch. The Mustangs proved me wrong, but I don't think they can do it again, not against a very talented Oaks Christian team. For the record, I doubt Joe Montana, Wayne Gretzky and Will Smith will make the trip to da hood. Where would they park their Bentleys? But seriously, Oaks Christian will prove to be too much and they'll run away with this game. Sorry, Stang Fan.
So this is what it came down to:
Arcadia at St. Francis? - Great game, nice matchups but a 7:30 start would put me behind.
Oaks Christian at Muir? - I hear what you're saying loud and clear. But it's more likely that Oaks Christian will hand it to the Mustangs. Sure, there's also the potential of an upset but I'm going with what's more likely ...
... and it's more likely the La Salle at Maranatha game will be closer since they're evenly matched and will put on display two great quarterbacks.
Coming in Friday's newspaper: a feature on St. Francis' linemen and a tradition that started four years ago.
Friday's Game of the Week: La Salle at Maranatha
Friday's Video Highlight Game of the Week: Duarte at Monrovia (Be sure to check back Saturday morning for the highlights)
Thursday Night Live (7 p.m.): Northview vs. Los Altos at Covina District Field. Be sure to visit our Web site at 7 p.m. tonight to watch the action.
Back by popular demand is the Star-News' Football Scoreboard.
Click here for quarter-by-quarter updates!
Tonight's Games
South Pasadena at San Gabriel, 7 p.m. -- Melendez (San Gabriel); Lair (San Gabriel)
La Canada vs. Crescenta Valley at Glendale, 7 p.m. -- Melendez (C. Valley); Lair (C. Valley)
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About this blog
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Melendez worked as a correspondent for the San Gabriel Valley Tribune for three years and later landed a job as a freelance writer at the Los Angeles Times before accepting an offer at The Orange County Register covering high schools. Melendez covered Major League Soccer at The Register for three years before being promoted to report on the Lakers, Angels and Dodgers for the Web. Melendez also worked for the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Fresno Bee, Oakland Tribune and The Boston Globe. E-mail opinions, suggestions and tips to miguel.melendez@sgvn.com. |
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La Salle vs Maranatha: GRATS to Maranatha for the win and La Salle for a great game! What an unbelievable end to an unbelievable game... Classy fans, field, players, and all around play on BOTH sides of the field. The duel of the #7s at QB was a shootout and well worth the hype. The wide out for Maranatha, #4, was a stud and tipped the scales. (CIF blunder??? With Oaks Christian beating up on Muir, how can La Salle be in the same league? What was CIF thinking?) Pasadena football fans sure got a phenomenal game.
One odd point of the game had to do with the time keeper for Maranatha. Multiple times throughout the game, the clock seemed to run after the whistle favoring Maranatha. The refs actually had to stop the game 3 or 4 times to correct the time keeper.
As it stands, in terms of game quality, La Salle/Maranatha turned out to be all that.
just a fan,
disagree with the score you predict....but that line about the extra point is HILARIOUS!!!
PHS BULLDOG OFFENSE CAN KEEP SAUGUS RB(ZIRBEL)ON THE SIDELINE.EAT-UP THE CLOCK.ALLOW THERE DEFENSE TO REST!!
SMALL CHANCE,ONCE AGAIN SMALL CHANCE THEY CAN PULL OFF THE UPSET.REMEMBER SAUGUS IS REPLACE THERE WHOLE DEFENSE TEAM.YES SAUGUS GOT GOOD QB AND RB,BUT THEY CANNOT HURT YOU IF THEY ARE NOT ON FIELD.
IF MILLS CONTROL THE CLOCK, IT MIGHT GIVEN PHS BULLDOG A CHANCE TO WIN.
AFTER ALL PHS BULLDOG DID PULL A UPSET OVER CIF RANKED NUMBER TWO TEAM(CHAFFY) IN THE CIF PLAYOFF LAST YEAR.
ANOTHER PLUS ON THERE SIDE IS THAT THIS IS SAUGUS FIRST GAME OF THE SEASON,WHILE PHS BULLDOG PLAY A GAME LAST WEEKS AND THAT GIVEN THEM A CHANCE TO TRY TO CORRECT THINGS.I STILL WILL BE HAPPY IF WE LOSE A CLOSE GAME AND DON'T GET BLOW OUT.!!!
ANY GIVEN DAY A UNDERDOG CAN WIN!!!
JUST ASK U.C.L.A OVER TENNEESE,NO BODY GAVE THEM A CHANCE!!! GO PHS BULLDOG,WIN,WIN!!!
Oaks Christian: 51
Muir: 6 (missed extra point)
CV beat Muir once in the last 10 years . That was 2004 when CV had Philp S at QB..... Muir controls the league!
I am impressed with the CV win over La Canada. CV had a JV team that went 10-0 & their team has many seniors. They might be a sleeper in the Pacific. From what I remeber CV has been a solid team in the pacific for many years but has been struggling since 2004. They used to always beat either arcadia or muir.
....Sticks and stones....lol
ScottG ,
whe you cooming back home? this new guy is off the wall!Atleast 1 reporter knows the truth.... ( not miguel)
ScottG ,
whe you cooming back home? this new guy is off the wall!Atleast 1 reporter knows the truth.... ( not miguel)
Hey, I grew up in da hood. Believe me, I can hang.
Muir has gotten PLENTY of love as have St. Francis and Arcadia. To say Muir "never gets any love" is completely off base. Never?!?! REALLY?!?! lol
And if "da hood" is good enough for Stang Fan it's good enough for me. Stang Fan's got my back. I roll three deep like Kanye West at LAX.
0-1 La Salle vs. 1-0 Maranatha should be the B game. If you're not going to pick the Muir game as Game of the Week, do you have any idea how many people are going to be at the St. Francis-Arcadia game? That, by far, should be the next choice. No offense to La Salle and Maranatha, but let's give the larger schools some love.
since muir is so hood, miguel you should stay away so you dont get hurt! Thats just disrepectful to me, Muir's football progam and the city of pasadena.
Its O.k. we know that Muir never gets any love because of the area that we live in. But everyone in Pasadena knows that the Mustangs are the best team in the SanGabriel valley. Bring on any Private school in Pasadena and we will show you who is the best school,.
To King -
If Schilz leads "that wideout" over the middle, how could his head end up missing? Who is there to do it to him? Also, Schilz has many weopons for LS to worry about not just "that wideout they have". Good luck La Salle. You'll have your hands full. Should be a great game!! I can't wait. No Basketball or Baseball anymore (Thanks for that La Salle) but the rivalry is alive with Football!!!
"On any given Friday".
Good luck Stangs...don't listen to the bullshit, just play hard.
"or as Miguel so eloquently called it, "da hood."
Classic.
If Joe Montana does indeed show up I'll go buy me a football some yall can take it for me and get it signed. Even if I did show up to the Muir sidelines who would recognize me? I get recognized more when I go grab lunch than when I've gone to a football game. Then again, I've been to only one game so far.
I MIGHT head over to San Gabriel tonight just to check it out.
If Muir did pull it out I would be a little upset because as a reporter I just want to cover the best game with the best storyline, and Muir winning would be the better storyline.
But I doubt it'll happen. Don't hate.
Congrats LS an "Natha" fans!!! I'm sure the game will be an exciting one. If my Stangs weren't battling it out with OC I would certainly have to come by and check the game out. Good luck to both teams!!!
Muir fans,
At least we can't say we didn't try. Rumor has it both Joe and Will will be attending the game, so other than the game there will be other reasons to come out to NW Pasadena, or as Miguel so eloquently called it, "da hood."
Miguel,
I don't blame you for choosing LS and "Natha," honestly I don't. But if the Stangs happen to pull off a miracle and pull this one out, how PISSED will you be that you weren't there? Btw, if the football gods bless us and we happen to have a lead heading into the fourth quarter, I don't want to see you sprinting from the parking lot onto the sideline, alright. LOL!!!
Miguel: Good choice !!
I know I'm loooking forward to the game Friday
Miggy you have made a wonderful selection for Game of the Week! now lets sit back and enjoy the show that Mr. Retig and Mr. Schilz are about to put on...Schilz better not lead that wideout they have to far over the middle or his head might be missing by the end of the night
Thats WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT Miguel!!!