Star Picks: Sick to my stomach with Week 6 picks

…The Stang Fan and I will go head-to-head this season, though I guess I don’t see what’s the point anymore….

Melendez: 13-4 last week; total 77-33-1
Stang Fan: 15-2 last week; total 83-27-1

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Here’s what Stang Fan proposes our bet should be. What do you guys think?

If I win you’ve gotta replace that picture on the blog for an entire week, and in the new pic you’ve gotta wear USC shirt and a SF Giants hat, OR a silk-screened tee that says Stang Fan>Me.

If I lose, I’ll mail you a gift card to whichever restaurant you choose, for you Freddie J, and Aram.

Take it or leave it?

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I was sick to my stomach. No, really. For the first time in almost five years I actually called in sick thanks to a notoriously bad food poisoning that practically sidelined me for the weekend, and then some. Not calling in sick in years is a streak I was very proud of, but if only I had such an impressive streak when it comes to Star Picks. I guess 13-4 ain’t all that bad, but it doesn’t bode well for me when a blogger is beating yours truly. But I guess you’re not all that surprised, anyway. I lost when I picked South Pasadena, Arcadia, Glendale and San Gabriel. Stang’s two wrong picks came when he selected San Gabriel and Crescenta Valley. This week brings us a Mission Valley League showdown when Rosemead visits Arroyo. No doubt the winner of that game is in the driver’s seat for the league title. Freddy and Aram will have a two-minute drill breakdown later today. I’m interested to see how Maranatha bounces back against visiting Cerritos Valley Christian … and will you look at that, two Rio Hondo League unbeatens going at it when La Canada visits Temple City. Huge wins by both teams this past week.

Friday’s games
Rosemead at Arroyo, 7 p.m. — Melendez (Arroyo); Stang Fan (Arroyo)
Valley Christian at Maranatha, 7 p.m. — Melendez (Maranatha); Stang Fan (Maranatha)
San Marino at Monrovia, 7 p.m. — Melendez (Monrovia); Stang Fan (Monrovia)
La Canada at Temple City, 7 p.m. — Melendez (Temple City); Stang Fan (Temple City)
Arcadia vs. Burbank at Burroughs, 7 p.m. — Melendez (Burbank); Stang Fan (Burbank)
Hoover at Muir, 7 p.m. — Melendez (Muir); Stang Fan (Muir)
Pasadena vs. Crescenta Valley at Glendale, 7 p.m. — Melendez (CV); Stang Fan (CV)
Chaminade at St. Francis, 7:30 p.m. — Melendez (Chaminade); Stang Fan (Chaminade)
Schurr vs. Alhambra at Moor Field, 7 p.m. — Melendez (Alhambra); Stang Fan (Schurr)
Keppel at San Gabriel, 7 p.m. — Melendez (San Gabriel); Stang Fan (Keppel)
Blair at South Pasadena, 7 p.m. — Melendez (South Pasadena); Stang Fan (South Pas)
El Monte at Gabrielino, 7 p.m. — Melendez (El Monte); Stang Fan (El Monte)
Azusa at Duarte, 7 p.m. — Melendez (Azusa); Stang Fan (Azusa)
Kilpatrick vs. Marshall at Pasadena, 7 p.m. — Melendez (Marshall); Stang Fan (Marshall)
Bishop Montgomery at Bosco Tech, 2 p.m. — Melendez (BM); Stang Fan (BM)
Verbum Dei at La Salle, 7 p.m. — Melendez (Verbum Dei); Stang Fan (Verbum Dei)

Saturday’s games
Pasadena Poly at Webb, 2 p.m. — Melendez (Poly); Stang Fan (Poly)
Rio Hondo Prep vs. Flintridge Prep at Occidental, 7 p.m. — Melendez (RHP); Stang Fan (RHP)

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Friday Night Aftermath: Maranatha lets one slip away; Arcadia loses in overtime; Temple City opens Rio Hondo with win; Muir, Pasadena bounce back with wins.

CLICK HERE FOR A PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE WHITTIER CHR.-MARANATHA GAME

CLICK HERE FOR OTHER SAN GABRIEL VALLEY SCORES

Friday’s results
Temple City 31, San Marino 21 — Joshua Simangunsong continues to be the central offensive weapon for the rams, rushing for 112 yards and two touchdowns. He also recorded an interception that set up one of his scores. Temple City won going away, at one point the lead was 25 points before San Marino scored 15 in the fourth quarter to make it respectable. Sophomore Ryan Wood had 30 carries for 128 yards and one touchdown to lead the Titans, whose passing game struggled to stretch the field.

Whittier Christian 31, Maranatha 24 — The Minutemen trailed in the fourth quarter 28-24 and an interception all but sailed Maranatha’s fate as it opened the Olympic League with a loss.

Burroughs 21, Arcadia 14, OT — Arcadia turnovers and penalties derailed its chances to remain unbeaten in the Pacific League. The game was scoreless at the half, and the Apaches got up on a 7-0 lead in the third quarter when Myles Carr connected with Taylor Lagace. Burroughs responded with a 67-yard touchdown pass to tie the game and added another on a 20-yard touchdown pass as time expired in the third quarter. Brian Ponce punched in from 1 yard out to cap a 13-play, 76-yard drive. Arcadia had the ball in field goal territory with 2.2 seconds, but AJ Rail’s 44-yard field goal attempt went wide right. Burroughs needed four plays and scored on fourth and 1 to take a 21-14 lead. Arcadia ran the ball and threw three incomplete passes to end the game. The Apaches squandered two chances in the first half to take a comfortable lead. Penalties pushed Arcadia from first and 10 at the Burroughs 14 to first and 36 at the 40. Three plays later, Arcadia punted. An interception on first and goal a the 3 halted the Apaches long drive.

La Canada 28, South Pasadena 21 — Kevin Stoner rushed for 131 yards and Daleep Sandhu rushed for 51 yards and two touchdowns and Scott Gray passed for 161 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Spartans. The game was close. South Pasadena was at the Spartans 2, but a false start moved them back a bit, to the 7, and the Tigers never recovered. Two rushing plays and an incomplete pass was all South Pasadena could muster. Patrick Martin rushed for 145 yards and scored two touchdowns in the losing effort.

Muir 39, Crescenta Valley 16 — The Mustangs’ defense was on. Four of CV’s first five possessions resulted in punts. The one that the Falcons didn’t punt away resulted in a fumble which the Mustangs recovered. Muir’s Traveion Yates carried the ball four times for 28 yards, more than the Mustangs’ 14 yards rushing in the first half. Jeffrey Davis completed 12 of 21 passes for 235 yards and three touchdowns and one interception. Muir’s defense recorded six sacks as well. Way to bounce back, ‘Stangs.

Pasadena 26, Glendale 13 — Cleo Bates rushed for 111 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs. As a team, the Bulldogs ran for 279 yards, and sophomore QB Brandon Cox contributed with 96 yards rushing.

Alhambra 45, Keppel 0 — Defense, defense, defense. The Moors defense forced five turnovers, an interception and a fumble, and held Keppel to 100 yards of total offense. Alhambra’s Demetrius Russell had an awesome 70-yard interception return for a touchdown, including stopping on a dime and jogged into the end zone.

Rosemead 42, Gabrielino 6 — Rosemead’s Matt Fregoso rushed for 136 yards and QB Matt Macias completed 11 of 16 for 139 yards. Two blocked punts resulted in touchdowns for the Panthers. There was a scary moment

Rio Hondo Prep 27, Village Christian 26 — Charles Quintero scored all four touchdowns for the Kares, who improve to 4-1. Village Christian scored on a 1-yard run with 35 seconds to go, and decided to go for two. The ball was just out of the receiver’s reach. Village Christian attempted an onside kick, but the ball went out of bounds. Rio Hondo Prep went into victory formation to end the game. Village Christian scored on its first possession of the second half to take a 20-7 lead. Huge win for the Kares, going up against a Mid-Valley Division.

OTHER SCORES
Montebello 27, San Gabriel 26
Chadwick 33, Flintridge Prep 19
Sierra Canyon 56, Marshall 7
Bosco Tech 45, St. Bernard 44

Saturday’s games
Viewpoint at Pasadena Poly, 2 p.m. — Melendez (Poly); Stang Fan (Poly)
Serra at St. Francis, 7:30 p.m. — Melendez (Serra); Stang Fan (Serra)

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Football: Monrovia is untouchable in 57 win over Blair

CLICK HERE FOR A PHOTO GALLERY FROM FRIDAY’S BLAIR-MONROVIA GAME

By Keith Lair, Staff Writer

PASADENA – It’s supposed to be tackle football, but what Monrovia High School witnessed in its Rio Hondo League opener against Blair on Thursday night at Muir High was more like touch football. Only the Wildcats were never touched the entire first quarter.

The first five times Monrovia (4-2 overall) had the ball, the Wildcats scored untouched en route to a 57-0 victory. The entire second half was played with a running clock.

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Continue reading “Football: Monrovia is untouchable in 57 win over Blair” »

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Football: Monrovia forced to move final two home games

Monrovia athletic director Randy Bell is working on finding the Wildcats football team a neutral site for their final two home games of the season because of on-going work that needs to be done at the new stadium. The football portion of the newly renovated stadium — the artificial turf field, stands and scoreboard — were complete in time to play Arcadia, but the all-weather track and weight room (under the stands) was not.

“They told us it’d be ready for the Arcadia game, which it was,” Bell said. “But we all thought the stadium mean the football field and the track. Well, the track wasn’t done by them and the track company needs an 18-day window to get it done, and they’re not available til late October.”

This means work will begin on Oct. 25 to install the all-weather track, pushing Monrovia’s final two home games against Temple City (Oct. 29) and La Canada (Nov. 12) to what Bell hopes will be a neutral site. That’s proving to be a big hurdle, however, and so far Bell’s had little to no luck.

“I’ve been busting my butt to get a neutral site; there’s pressure from (Monrovia) parents to do that,” Bell said. “They don’t want to go to Temple City and give them a home game. It’s not that easy because there are other things to consider.”

Pasadena High?

“Not getting anywhere there,” Bell said.

PCC?

“They already told me they’re not available.”

Citrus?

“It’s not available for the date we need. It’s difficult.”

Monrovia’s worse case scenario is giving Temple City and La Canada home games, meaning concession money would likely go to those schools.

As for the gate money?

“The difficulty is that you keep the gate receipts for your home games,” Bell said, “then when you play (somewhere) else what do you do?

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