August 2009 Archives

Josh Henderson took over the Aquinas program as an ambitious 25-year old. When he left this spring, he had led the Falcons to two CIF titles, several Christian League titles and had established Aquinas as arguably one of the most consistent forces in the county since Henderson's alma mater - Fontana High School - was in the middle of its run under legendary coach Dick Bruich.

Henderson is now at Los Angeles Baptist and Aquinas is going back to the 25-year old Fohi well, as assistant coach Nick Matheny assumed the reigns shortly after Henderson left. And with a Falcon team that has won two Christian League titles at his disposal, expectations are high.

While Barstow got a lot of hype for making it to the CIF-SS Eastern final, Twentynine Palms was doing the exact same thing in the East Valley Division. The Wildcats marched to the CIF finals for the first time in a generation, finally falling to Small School state champion San Juan Capistrano St. Margaret's in the championship game.

Twentynine Palms surged to the final thanks to a loaded roster featuring seven all-CIF players, most notably wide receiver Montreal Harris, running back Jared Demoss and defensive tackle Rusty Tausaga. As the Wildcats try to finish the job, the number of those all-CIF players is reduced to do.

Yucaipa has made the Inland Division playoffs the last three seasons, the second-longest streak in the Citrus Belt League behind Redlands East Valley. But despite that, the Thunderbirds have yet to make any real in-roads toward a CBL title or a playoff run.

Of course, it doesn't help that the Thunderbirds finished fourth in 2006, third in 2007 and fourth again last year, forcing them to go head-to-head with Vista Murrieta twice and Corona Centennial last year. As you would think, there isn't much upside to playing teams of that quality in the first round.

Since opening in 1998, Kaiser has known one football coach - Dick Bruich. The legendary coach quickly turned the Cats into a Sunkist League and Eastern Division power, leading the Cats to two CIF-Southern Section titles and eight Sunkist League titles before retiring after this past season with 292 victories.

So with Bruich riding off into the sunset, does that mean that Kaiser's Sunkist dominance will do the same? While its impossible to tell in the long term, the answer in the short term seems to be no. Kaiser's new coach, Phil Zelaya, was Bruich's longtime defensive coordinator and retaining most of the coaching staff from a year ago, so there shouldn't be much transition.

Two years ago, the Apple Valley football team felt that it was snubbed out of an at-large berth in the CIF-SS Eastern Division playoffs, as the 6-4 Sun Devils were left out for a 5-5 Riverside King team. Last year, however, Apple Valley's exclusion from the playoffs was certainly deserved.

A young Sun Devil squad had its share of ups and downs, eventually finishing with a 4-6 record and a fourth-place finish in the Mojave River League. But the Apple Valley youngsters are a year older and with 16 starters returning, this could be the year that the Sun Devils return to the playoffs.

Last year was about as good as it's ever gotten for the Miller football program since it started in 1991. With a veteran, hardnosed defense and an explosive, multifaceted spread offense, the Rebels cruised to an undefeated regular-season record, a Citrus Belt League title and a playoff win over Corona Roosevelt before losing to Vista Murrieta in the Inland Division quarterfinals.

But things have been a bit tumultous at Miller since the loss to Vista Murrieta. Jeff Steinberg, who led the Rebels from the middle of the CBL pack to the top, left for Corona Santiago right after spring practice in May, leaving Miller to scramble for a new coach late in the game. A hazing incident, highlighted here by J.P. Hoornstra in this morning's Sun, has the status of several varsity players unknown.

The last two years have been storybook for Hesperia, at least as storybook as it's gotten for the Scorpions. With a combined 20-3 record the last two seasons, the second season seeing Hesperia win the Mojave River League championship, life has been good for the Scorpions.

But the 2009 season sees a Scorpions program in a bit of transition. Gone is head coach Robert Kistner, who left for Oak Hills along with former athletic director Darren Goodman. Gone are also 16 starters, especially much of the defense, from last year's league champions. Hesperia will also have to deal with a bit of a talent drain, as Oak Hills will siphon much of the talent that has allowed for the Scorpions' success.

When looking back on Redlands' 5-6 season a year ago, its easy to think of what might have been. While the Terriers finished below .500 for the second straight season, it was a play or two away from changing the result in five of those six games.

Except for a 31-7 loss to eventual Citrus Belt League champion Miller, a senior-laded Redlands team was in every other game. A three-point loss to Vista Murrieta, an eight-point defeat to Clovis East, a seven-point loss to Los Angeles Carson, a two-point loss to crosstown rival Redlands East Valley and a three-point playoff loss to Riverside North all could have gone the other way, leaving the Terriers - one of the CBL favorites a year ago - wondering what might have been.

Four points. That's all that separated the Barstow High School football team from an unlikely CIF-SS Eastern Division championship, as heavily-favored Perris Citrus Hill escaped with a 31-27 win on a frigid, windswept Saturday night at Barstow High School.

With the temperature in the upper 30s and winds blowing in upwards of 40 miles per hour, the Aztecs couldn't quite finish off what would have been a pretty huge upset. But the disappointment of the loss has turned into inspiration in the offseason, as the Aztecs have 32 lettermen returning who are completely set on finishing the job and bringing the title to the middle of the Mojave Desert.

The Serrano High School football team seemingly had Perris Citrus Hill right where it wanted it during their CIF-SS Eastern Division semifinal matchup last December, up 15-11 with just under three minutes left. But unfortunately for the Diamondbacks, that scenario didn't treat them well in 2008.

Citrus Hill, which had been throttled by Serrano's physical, aggressive defense for the first 45 minutes of the game, deftly marched 80 yards in two minutes to score the game-winning touchdown, grabbing an 18-15 lead and providing the Diamondbacks with a rallying cry for the 2009 season.

The process of restoring Eisenhower High School to its status of Inland Empire football power has been an ongoing one, dating to the early parts of this decade. The Eagles haven't been to the playoffs since 2004 and quite frankly, it would be an upset if Eisenhower got close to making it back to the postseason this year with another new coach at the helm.

Gone is John Rice, who resigned after the Eagles went 5-5 for the second straight year. In his place steps Patrick Lord, who played for Eisenhower in the mid-1990s and moves over from Jurupa Valley High School, where he was an offensive line coach.

The breakdown of Silverado's 2008 season was unique to say the least. An 0-6 start with a brutal nonleague schedule turned into a 3-7 Desert Sky League co-championship regular season, which subsequently turned into a run into the Eastern Division semifinals.

As 5-8 seasons go, the one the Hawks had was pretty darn good. And with another extremely difficult nonleague slate featuring the likes of Gardena Serra, Silverado, Quartz Hill, Palm Desert and Summit in the works, don't be surprised if Silverado has another seemingly slow start followed by another bang-up finish.

Ten seasons of four wins or less is something reminiscent of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers circa the bright orange uniforms. Ever since Granite Hills High School opened in 1999, the Cougars have had a hard time stringing together any success whatsoever, as losing has invaded the program at every level.

"It's not just the players who had the low expectations, it is the fans as well," Granite Hills coach Justin Price said. "It had gotten to the point where everyone just wanted us to be competitive and weren't necessarily concerned about winning. However, we aren't going to settle for that - it's time to win some games."

If there's one thing that you can say about the Redlands East Valley football team, its that it's consistent. Since Kurt Bruich fully implemented his program earlier this decade, the Wildcats have been near or at the top of the Citrus Belt League and a constant contender for the Inland Division championship.

This year isn't any different at REV. After losing three games in the past two seasons, grabbing a CBL title in 2007 and finishing behind Miller last season, the Wildcats are expected to be among the elite teams in the Inland Empire again in 2009. Esteemed colleague J.P. Hoornstra assisted in the compliation of the below info.

The 2007 season was a pretty darn good one for Arroyo Valley High School. The Hawks, led by smooth quarterback Robert Fuller and a bevy of quick, talented receivers, passed their way to a 7-3-1 record and advanced to the second round of the CIF-SS Central Division playoffs.

After a 4-6 hiccup with a young team a year ago, second-year Hawks coach Marcus Soward sees a lot of parallels between his 2009 squad and the team that was setting school records left and right two years before. And he's pretty sure that the end result will be just as good, if not better, than what the 2007 Hawks authored.

The 2008 season was the best season that the Cajon High School football team had in two decades. An undefeated San Andreas League championship, an 11-2 overall record and advancing to the Central Division semifinals between a talented cast that featured UCLA-bound cornerback Marlon Pollard and two-time all-Sun Player of the Year Walter Kazee made for some lasting memories.

But those are memories that Cowboys coach Kim Battin hopes that his team forgets. While 2008 was a great memory, Battin wants to nip any sense of entitlement that could come from that success in the bud.

Ron Gueringer has seen quite a bit of success during his last six years as an assistant at Corona Centennial, helping the Huskies win two consecutive CIF-SS Inland Division championships and a large-school state championship in 2008. He now brings that winning aura to San Gorgonio High School, replacing Randy Stevens.

Gueringer, who was the head coach at Centennial, Moreno Valley Valley View and Encino Crespi from 1995-2002 before rejoining the Huskies as an assistant coach in 2003, is happy to be a head coach again.

On the surface, Pacific High School's 24-19 victory over San Bernardino Oct. 24 doesn't look to be a big deal, as one struggling high school program defeated another. However, that victory was huge for the Pirates, as it broke a 26-game losing streak that dated back to 2005 and gave some legitimacy to first-year coach Oscar Torres' program.

As Pacific prepares for 2009, Torres is well aware of how important the victory over the Cardinals was to the landscape of his program.

These previews will be sporadic - pretty much done right after I talk to the coaches. Just got off the phone with San Bernardino football coach Nick Monica, who took time out of a lovely Thursday evening at the Cheesecake Factory to talk shop. Hopefully his wife wasn't too annoyed.

Anyway, the Cardinals, after a pretty solid 4-5 record in Monica's first season in 2007, slipped a bit in 2008, registering a 2-8 record which saw them lose to Pacific, giving the Pirates their first victory since 2005. Needless to say, the San Berdoo brass are happy about putting 2008 in the rearview mirror.

First of all, I apologize for the extended break between posts. Between vacations and the general slow nature of the summer, I haven't been on here in a while. But with football season coming up, I plan to make up for that a bit with some team previews.

I'll first start off with Colton because, quite frankly, Harold Strauss was the first coach I was able to get in contact with today. Strauss, as you guys probably know by now, will be coaching his final season with the Yellowjackets, as he has been named to replace David Drake as Colton's athletic director.