Football: Does Monrovia bring home a CIF ring this year?

It may be a lot of pressure to put on Monrovia with three Rio Hondo League games left before the start of the highly-anticipated CIF-Southern Section playoffs. But can you think of any reasons why the Wildcats wouldn’t bring home the school’s first CIF football championship? There’s been a lot of debate about Monrovia quarterback Nick Bueno, whether he can play Division I or II or III. But the reality is, who cares? You think Bueno’s thinking about that right now? The goal right now is win Friday against South Pasadena, etc. You can’t deny the kid’s talent. He’s smart, elusive, poised and a proven leader. Bueno weathered the “pressure” of starting at quarterback his sophomore year, and he delivered. As proven, Monrovia has not thrown the ball because simply put the Wildcats haven’t had to. This is a simple case of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. We must be naive to think that Bueno can’t throw just because he hasn’t as much as he did last year. I thought as much heading into the Temple City game, but the reality is Bueno doesn’t have to throw, and Ryan Maddox knows that. He’s as dangerous on the ground as he is through the air, but so far the ground attack has been excruciating for opposing teams to defend. When talking about a championship you need to have balance, a great defense and a true offensive threat, and Monrovia has all three. Monrovia’s stable of running backs is unparalleled; the defense is as fast as they are physical from Josh Lowden and Ellis McCarthy to Craig Brown, Christian Blanco and Charlie Cimmarusti. Why would you bet otherwise? This is about as good a chance as Monrovia’s ever had in the last 15 years.

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