By Keith Lair, SGVN

Football coach Joe Kanach has been let go at Alhambra High School.
“He is no longer a teacher or a coach,” athletic director Jerry DeSantis said.
The athletic director said he was instructed not to make any other
statements or give a reason for his dismissal. Neither school
principal Brad Walsh nor Kanach returned phone calls on Thursday.
Kanach did not attend last Friday night’s 30-13 Almont League loss
defeat to Bell Gardens and DeSantis said the decision to no longer
have Kanach on staff happened on Tuesday.
DeSantis will coach the Moors for the remaining four regular-season
games, including tonight at Keppel.
DeSantis said the position will open up at the conclusion of the
season.
“The kids took it well,” DeSantis said. “I think we’ll be playing a
good game this week. The boys are up.”
DeSantis was an assistant coach for longtime Moors coach Gil
Ruedaflores and for Lou Torres, who resigned after to seasons last
season.
“I’m going to let the coordinators run the game, but I’ll make the
big decisions,” DeSantis said. “We’ve changed a few things. We’ll be
back to Alhambra football.”
Alhambra, which returned the most experienced team in the Almont, is
2-4 on the season.
DeSantis said that the Moors could have won the league opener at Bell
Gardens. The Moors were stopped at the 1-yard line with Bell Gardens
ahead, 10-7, in the fourth quarter.
“Then the dam broke,” DeSantis said. “If we get into the end zone,
it’s 14-7 with six minutes play.”

TWO IN A ROW: Maranatha’s Omar Younger rushed for 181 yards and two touchdowns to help the Minutemen to their second consecutive victory with a 38-7 win over visiting Desert Christian Thursday night.Staff photo by Keith Birmingham

By Keith Lair, SGVN

PASADENA – Omar Younger admits he’s small. But he’s not miniscule.
The senior is 5-feet, 7-inches and 170 pounds. However, in the first five Maranatha High School football games, that size wasn’t big enough to squeeze through the smallest of holes.
But suddenly, the holes that the Minutemen are creating are plenty big. Younger rushed for 181 yards and Maranatha scored its second consecutive victory, after opening the season with five defeats, with a 38-7 win over visiting Desert Christian on Thursday night.
It was the coldest night of the football season, but there was not a drop of rain during the nonleague game.
“It’s helped me a lot,” Younger said of the newfound holes. “Before there weren’t as many holes. We struggled. We tried to push and power through, but I’m not that big. I gave it my all.”
Younger rushed for two touchdowns, scoring from 62 and 33 yards out in the first half.
“The biggest difference is our offensive line is starting to play really well, which is opening things for Omar,” Maranatha coach Peter Karavedas said. “Omar struggled early, but it is more about our offensive line starting to put it together. Now they’re starting to play together and opening holes.”
It was a season-high rushing game for Younger, who had for 1,300 yards last season but has yet to hit 600 yards this season.
“The line has definitely improved,” Younger said. “We got help from (Blair transfer) Logan (McClain) and everybody else has stepped it up. It definitely has helped getting some lanes to pick and choose so I can get through.”
That was evident on Thursday’s game-changing play.
The Knights, trailing 3-0 after the Minutemen scored on the game’s opening drive, had the ball on the Maranatha 24 after a 48-yard run by Caleb Holifield. But he fumbled the ball and Errick Lee recovered.
On second down, Younger went to the outside, found one of those new holes, did a stutter-step and then a zig-zag on the defenders, and went 62 yards untouched for a touchdown to make it 10-0.
Maranatha scored on its first four possessions and led, 24-0, at the half. The Minutemen took advantage of four turnovers in the game.
Four plays after Younger’s long TD run, Josh Johnson came up with a Kurt Jolin fumble at the Knights 16. Sophomore quarterback Eli Snyder scored on a sneak to make it 17-0. Michael Cornell picked off a Steven Horner pass and two plays later, Younger was in the end zone on a 33-yard run.
Snyder threw two second-half touchdown passes, both 14 yards to Niko Dobbs. Dobbs had five receptions for 69 yards and Snyder completed six of 12 passes for 85 yards.
“When the line is playing as good as it is, it helps our young quarterback, too,” Karavedas said.
Darron McWhorter returned a Horner interception 45 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, but it was called back because of an illegal block. Snyder engineered the final TD drive, hitting Dobbs for the score to make it 38-7.
The Knights only threw four passes, of which two were intercepted. Horner completed one pass for no yardage.

RIGHT MAN FOR THE JOB: La Salle quarterback Austin Wallis has
passed for 805 yards and nine touchdowns this season for the Lancers.
(Keith Birmingham / Staff Photographer)

PASADENA – When the 2012 football season began, who the starting La Salle High School quarterback would be was very much up in the air.
Russell Gordon could stick with Austin Wallis, whose 2011 season was tenuous. Or the new coach could install Man Berg, who came to the Lancers from Campbell Hall, where Gordon was the coach last year.
“When I first looked at Austin, I did not know if he could be my quarterback,” Gordon said. “All three of my previous quarterbacks eventually played in college. But Austin taught me again to not judge a book by its cover.
“He’s a smart kid. He understands that he learns from his mistakes.”

Continue reading “” »

La Salle coach Russell Gordon, “We feel like we can play with anyone in the San Gabriel Valley.”

Opening: La Salle coach Russell Gordon and quarterback Austin Wallis. The Lancers are 6-0 after winning one game in two previous seasons. Gordon’s thinking big, hoping to schedule the area’s best next season, and that includes anyone, including Monrovia, St. Francis, Muir or even some of our heavyweights on the East side.

18:30 mark: The Scouting Guru joins us to talk about the Serra League, plus two-minute drills on Bishop Amat-Alemany, Bonita-West Covina, South Hills-Charter Oak and Gladstone-Duarte. In the segment Aram tells you why Bishop Amat and Charter Oak are so much better than everyone else, and I tell you why El Monte should let QB Brandon Martinez chase every record imaginable.

STAR-NEWS FOOTBALL RANKINGS
1. Monrovia (4-2) — The Wildcats are back in their comfort zone, showing their might with a 53-14 victory over previous No. 7 South Pasadena. It’s the first of what should be a sweep through the Rio Hondo League and perhaps the CIF-SS Mid-Valley Divsion.
2. San Marino (6-0) — The Titans, off to their best start in recent memory, move up a notch after another blow-out win. They should continue their march until a late-season showdown at Monrovia at the end of the month.
3. Rio Hondo Prep (5-1) — The Kares also take advantage of St. Francis’ loss and take the No. 3 spot. This is another team that might not lose the rest of the way. It’s Prep League title and Northeast Division championship for bust for Rio Hondo.
4. St. Francis (3-3) — The Golden Knights could easily be 6-0, instead they are 3-3 and now in danger of missing the postseason, sans upset wins over Serra and Chaminade in the next few weeks. It’s time to worry in La Canada.
5. La Salle (6-0) — The Lancers’ turnaround just keeps getting better every week. They’ll likely play for the eventual Del Rey League title next week. But first a battle at Mary Star (2-1 in league) awaits.
6. Gabrielino (6-0) — The Eagles continue to fly, beating Mountain View convincingly last week. Will it continue against South El Monte?
7. Muir (3-3) — The Mustangs continue to climb the ladder after opening the season with consecutive losses. They get Burroughs this week before a Pacific League showdown against Burbank next week.
8. Duarte (4-2) — The Falcons long road back to the top of the Montivew League rests with a first-place showdown against Gladstone on Friday.
9. South Pasadena (4-2) — The Tigers were no match for Monrovia, but who is? They will be back in their realm this week, and still have a shot to finish in the Rio Hondo League’s top three.
10. Pasadena Poly (3-1) — The Panthers, who were idle last week, need to take care of business agaisnt rival Flintridge Prep on Saturday. But the Prep League showdown agaisnt Rio Hondo Prep looms.
The rest: 11. Arcadia (2-4), 12. Rosemead (3-3), 13. Pasadena (2-4), 14. Temple City (3-3), 15. *San Gabriel (1-5), 16. Alhambra (2-4), 17. Flintridge Prep (3-3), 18. Maranatha (1-5), 19. La Canada (1-5), 20. Bosco Tech (1-5), 21. Marshall (3-4), 22. Keppel (0-6), 23. Blair (0-6).