August 2011 Archives

My favorite time of the year is back. We'll see if I got any smarter from last year.

Apple Valley 28, Barstow 6
Aquinas 28, Desert Hot Springs 21
Big Bear 27, Pasadena Maranatha 20
Bloomington 16, Chaffey 12
Cajon 21, San Diego Torrey Pines 17
Chino 31, Diamond Ranch 17
Chino Hills 34, Lakewood (Colo.) Bear Creek 21
Citrus Valley 28, New Westminster (B.C) 14
Diamond Bar 30, Ayala 20
Eisenhower 35, Alta Loma 26
Granite Hills 17, Lancaster Eastside 14
Indio Shadow Hills 30, Jurupa Hills 12
La Quinta 17, Los Osos 13
Los Angeles Baptist 20, Arrowhead Christian 6
Miller 35, Lake Elsinore Lakeside 14
Montclair 34, Ganesha 12
Ontario Christian 28, Bakersfield Christian 22
Rancho Cucamonga 38, Silverado 7
Redlands 24, Apopka (Fla.) Wekiva 17
Rialto 25, Moreno Valley 9
Ridgecrest Burroughs 28, Hesperia 6
Serrano 16, Paraclete 14
Summit 35, Etiwanda 27
Temecula Chaparral 28, Cajon 16
Twentynine Palms 28, Palm Desert Xavier Prep 14
Upland 49, San Bernardino 6
Victor Valley 21, Riverside Patriot 15
Walnut 33, Don Lugo 16
West Covina South Hills 20, Colony 18
Yucaipa 38, Oak Park 14
Yucca Valley 24, Rubidoux 21

1. Redlands East Valley
The Wildcats had an uncharacteristically early exit from the playoffs last year, but they went undefeated in the Citrus Belt League with a junior-dominated team. Fifteen returning starters, many of whom play in the trenches, and depth at the skill positions made the Wildcats my No. 1 pick. How quarterback Austin Decoud matures could make the difference between a short and a long playoff run.

2. Upland
The Highlanders ran into the Corona Centennial freight train in the playoffs last year, but there is a lot coming back to Upland. Wide receiver Kenny Lawler, a soft commit to Arizona State, is the top recruit in the county while running back Donta Abron is also legit. The Highlanders should also be legit on defense, led by defensive end Christian Pwwell, should be salty as well.

3. Summit
I was tempted to put the SkyHawks No. 1, as they return 13 starters from a team that went to the Eastern Division championship game. Only reason I didn't is because I want to see how the Summit compensates for the loss of Devon Blackmon and Montigo Alford from the offense. That being said, there's a lot of talent here and this may be the year which Kaiser's hold on the Sunkist League is broken.

4. Colton
The one team to win a CIF title last year, the Yellowjackets lose a lot of studs from last year's team, namely RB Tyler Irvin and all-everything LB Devan Hussey. But Colton is well-coached, reloads extremely well and has the size to ram the ball down people's throats as it loves to do. Colton might not play to this ranking early, but I wouldn't want to mess with the Yellowjackets come November.

5. Rancho Cucamonga
They may be three spots removed from Upland in these rankings, but the difference between the Cougars and Highlanders is razor thin. Rancho returns a host of starters and contributors from last year's Inland Division semifinalist. If they can find a workhorse offensively to replace Sateki Finau, they could easily switch spots with Upland in these rankings.

6. Cajon
The Cowboys were a failed 2-point conversion away from possibly being a CIF champion last year, as they lost to Colton in a Central Division semifinal classic. The Cowboys actually won the SAL last year and led by WR/DB Damontae Kazee, have the personnel for a repeat. Cajon tends to start slow but come November, I expect this team to be a beast.

7. Chino Hills
The Huskies gave Corona Centennial a better game than anyone else in Southern California could last year, losing to them in a relatively-close semifinal game. They do lose some big-time players in WR/DB Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, RB Nate Harris and DE Auston Johnson, but Chino Hills has gotten to a point in its program where it just reloads. Don't sleep on the Huskies.

8. Serrano
The Diamondbacks are one of the most consistent high-achieving programs in the county, as they've won 11 Mojave River League championships since 1997 and have been to the semifinals or better the last three seasons. Serrano has a host of RBs and a deep, experienced offensive line. If they can get some typical D-back production out of a young defense, they could be a dark horse CIF title contender.

9. Redlands
The Terriers lost a heart-breaker to Redlands East Valley last year in what was a prime opportunity to win their first league title since 2006. Redlands will be younger this year, as the Terriers are depending on a host of juniors, but will be physical and hard-nosed as always. Senior WR/DB/QB Mike Stallone is the player to watch for Redlands. If they can keep him involved, they'll be dangerous.

10. Kaiser
It feels weird to put the Cats this low and this is something I could easily regret in a couple of months. But Kaiser was ravaged by graduation after a wonderful 12-1 season last year, losing 18 of 22 starters. The Cats seemed to replace quality with quality and will probably produce another physical, hard-hitting behemoth, but their youth, combined with Summit, puts me in a wait-and-see mode.

As far as teams that barely missed the cut, San Gorgonio was a tough omission. They played as well as anyone in the county last year to finish second in the SAL, but I need to see how Monroe Offield handles things at QB before moving them in. Chino lost quite a bit of talent from its 11-1 season, but returns QB Sean Molles and RB Xavier Browne and looks to be the favorite in the Mt. Baldy League. Etiwanda should be as exciting as ever, with senior QB Larry Cutbirth and senior LB Chandler Scott returning.

When it comes to discipline and doing things the right way, new Arroyo Valley coach Rock San Angelo is as rigid as his nickname. The Hawk players have learned that ever since San Angelo, a former assistant at Colony, Rancho Cucamonga and San Dimas, was hired in May.

"I've kicked a few seniors off this team that didn't want to buy in," San Angelo said. "The first thing the administration told me what they wanted me to do, even before winning games, was to change the culture. There's going to be no more coming to practice whenever you feel like it and playing for yourself on the field. There's no reason why this team hasn't been more than a seven-win team with the talent in place."

San Angelo isn't bashful about his expectations for the Hawks, who have missed the playoffs two out of the last three years. After balling out in the summer passing league circuit, the new coach thinks that the sky is the limit for his new team.

"I don't think anyone is really taking us seriously, and to me that's a mistake," San Angelo said. "There's no reason why we can't be a top team in this league if we play with discipline and purpose."

San Bernardino coach Nick Monica can count the number of returning seniors he has on two hands. In a competitive San Andreas League, that makes for quite the challenge for the Cardinals as they strive to make the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

"We have about 8-10 seniors and roughly 43 juniors and sophomores," Monica said. "Because of that, it's taken a little bit longer than normal to come together and get that camraderie, that family atmosphere. We had a lot of seniors last year and we'll have a lot coming back this year, but we are caught in the middle right now."

Having a lot of juniors isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially when they are guys like quarterback/safety Khleem Perkins. Perkins (6-4, 185) has already started receiving Division I recruiting interest and is rated among California's top 25 for the 2013 class by ESPN.com.

"Khleem is a stud," Monica said. "We are looking for big things out of him, both on the field and as a leader. He's definitely a guy that we are going to lean on both on offense and on defense."

As far as enthusiasm goes, this year's Fontana High School football team is one of the best that Tim Pike has been around. Pike, a longtime assistant who was hired in the spring to replace Lance Ozier, is enjoying coming to work every day and working with his enthusiastic players.

"I have a great bunch of kids," Pike said. "It's just fun sitting back and watching them get after each other and compete. They are great around campus, great in the classroom and really want to learn on the football field."

While the eagerness to learn is a positive for Fohi, the amount of material they have to absorb is one of the more daunting tasks the Steelers - who went winless last year - face in their final year of the Citrus Belt. Of the 75 kids combined between the JV and varsity teams, Pike estimates that nearly half have not played football.

"It's great that they are coming out and want to play, but a lot of these kids haven't played before this year," Pike said. "We are having to go over a lot of basic fundamental things to get these kids familiar with what's going on. But as a staff, we enjoy teaching."

Even though Eisenhower has only won two games in Patrick Lord's first two years as coach, the Eagles are hardly gunshy entering the 2011 season. In fact, Eisenhower thinks that it is in position to turn some heads.

"The number one thing we are thinking about right now is playoffs," Lord said. "We've spent the last two years building up the program and its numbers and we feel that we have a good shot of making a move this year. There's no reason that we can't play at a playoff level."

The genesis of Lord's confidence is based on a couple of factors. The Eagles have 14 starters returning from last year's team that got valuable experience in Citrus Belt League play. But the real ace in the hole for Ike is senior offensive lineman/defensive lineman Lalotoa Laumea, who transferred from Compton High School over the summer.

Laumea (6-4, 246) is being recruited by Colorado, Washington, Fresno State and Colorado State, among others and already has been named a team captain, as his hard work has rubbed off on his new teammates.

Gavin Pachot didn't get the Rialto job under ideal circumstances last year, as he was named the interim coach of the Knights last June after Don Markham resigned under allegations of player misconduct. But after a 5-5 record and a full offseason, things at Rialto not only are normal, but feeling pretty good.

"Spirits are pretty high," Pachot said. "Having an entire offseason to work with these kids makes a huge difference. I've had them since January and we've gotten a lot of good work done. We made some strides last year but we have a way to go."

The biggest thing the Knights are working toward in a quest for their first playoff berth since 2001 is closing the deal at home. While the Knights made tremendous strides in going from three wins combined from 2007-2009 to five last year, Pachot believes that squandering their home-field advantage was a big reason why their playoff drought continues.

"For whatever reason we didn't play well in front of our home fans," Pachot said. "I'm not sure if we were nervous or trying to hard, but we went 1-4 on our own field. That's something we need to fix because it's important to take advantage of being at home."

If there was a competitive-eating competition involving high school football teams in San Bernardino County, Sultana would be one of the favorites. While many local coaches have commented on their lack of size, Sultans coach Blake Robbins has a plethora of big guys to lead the way.

"I'm really not sure what it is, but we have a lot of big guys in the program," Robbins said. "I'm not complaining. If they can play up to their potential, we have a chance to be pretty good."

Sultana comes into 2011 with a monkey off its back, as it broke a 23-game losing streak with a win at Pacific last September and prevailed over Hesperia for the first time since 2006 in the "Key Game." While Robbins is happy that those streaks are over, he feels that his team squandered an opportunity to do even more a year ago.

"We went 2-8, but we really felt that we should have won three or four more games," Robbins said. "We played tough in most of our games but we weren't able to make the big play. A lot of times we'd move the ball down the field and then commit a turnover or get a penalty that would ruin it."

The opening of Oak Hills High School in 2009 threw Hesperia High School for a bit of a loop. Going into the third season of coexistence, the schools still haven't found a way to balance each other out.

"We are basically a team full of sophomores and seniors," Hesperia coach Jeremy Topete said. "A lot of the 8th graders that were going to be freshmen two years ago went to Oak Hills and are juniors there right now. Hopefully soon both schools will stabilize a bit."

The Scorpions hope that the stabilization will help the Scorpions get back to where they were pre-Oak Hills, as Hesperia won a combined 21 games in 2007-08, winning the Mojave River League title in 2008. Hesperia has struggled mightily in its first two seasons under Topete, winning only four games, only one of which came last year. And the Scorpions will go to ball-control to try to improve.

"We are going to try to shorten the game and avoid turnovers, especially early," Topete said. "Too many times last year we committed the early turnover, got down real quickly and weren't able to come back. We are going to try to prevent that from happening again."

John Beck's first year at Arrowhead Christian was a harrowing one, as a rash of injuries had him with an 8-man-team sized available roster that was filled with wet-behind-the-ear freshmen who were more suited to playing at the junior varsity level.

"Last year, we had 26-28 guys and I'd guess that 15 of them were freshmen," Beck said. "It was definitely a hard situation and a lot of these kids had to learn on the fly against a really tough schedule. They were a gutsy group last year."

The Eagles are hoping that the desperation of 2010 will speed up the building process in 2011. ACA is still low on numbers in the junior and senior classes, as there are only 13 kids in the oldest two classes on the roster. But a group of precocious sophomores with varsity experience and a large freshman class has Beck pretty excited about the future.

"I think the future looks really bright and I think the guys that had to play last year are really going to benefit from it," Beck said. "If they stick with it, we'll have some fourth-year varsity players in a couple years and that will help us out a lot."

Redlands football has been pretty darn good over the past couple of years, finishing second in the Citrus Belt League. But with crosstown rival Redlands East Valley finishing ahead of them both years and owning a four-game winning streak over the Terriers, Redlands' good has been good enough for them.

"There's no question that REV has had our number and that we have to beat them to get to where we want to go," Redlands coach Jim Walker said. "We've played them well and tough, but it hasn't quite been good enough. This year we are hoping that we can stay healthy, that our junior can mature and that we can have a good season."

While Walker is bullish on his junior class, it's senior Mike Stallone who makes the Terriers go. Stallone (5-11, 180) did everything but sell concessions for Redlands last year, passing for 646 yards and five touchdowns, running for another 614 yards and five scores, catching nine passes on offense and an interception on defense while also recording 20 tackles.

"Mike is probably the best player in the CBL," Walker said. "He's a two-way guy that can do pretty much anything. We'll play him in the secondary, throw him passes, use him as a Wildcat QB - whatever we can do."

Despite having only a handful starters and a small senior class last year, the Apple Valley High School football team was able to qualify for the playoffs for the second consecutive season and for the fourth time in five years. Now that they have 14 starters back, confidence is high for the Sun Devils.

"I'm loving the competitiveness that we have going right now," Apple Valley coach Frank Pulice said. "We have a good senior nucleus offensively and we have some juniors and sophomores that are getting after it. We have some depth issues on the line we have to work around, but all in all I'm pleased."

The Sun Devils will also be getting a shot in the arm defensively with a more aggressive, attacking philosophy. They'll be moving away from a 4-3 to a 3-5 defense to take advantage of the speed they have coming back and to try to improve a unit that gave up 25.5 points per game in 2010.

"We need to get better on that side of the ball and I think we will," Pulice said. "Offensively we racked up a lot of yards and scored a lot of points, but we weren't good enough defensively."

It's been a hard road for Bloomington coach Tom Conner in his three years since taking the reins from legendary coach Don Markham, as the Bruins have yet to make the playoffs or finish with a winning record. Year four might not be very easy either, as graduation ravaged the Bloomington lines.

Add in the transfer of hulking 360-pound junior Napoleon Taufahema, who started at center as a sophomore for the Bruins, to Colton in the offseason and Conner is faced with the uneviable task of being young and untested on the line.

"We are small in general," Conner said. "We were going to have five underclassmen starting on the line even with Napoleon coming back but now we'll really have some young guys figuring it out as they go. We'll see how it goes."

It's not all gloom and doom at Bloomington though. They have good numbers combined between the varsity and JV teams and have a stocked cupboard of position players with the potential to break out and do some things.

In the first five years of the Summit football program, every year has been an improvement over the previous years. Considering that year five resulted in the SkyHawks going to the Eastern Division championship game before falling to Wildomar Elsinore, there's only one thing that Summit can do to continue that trend. Summit coach Tony Barile, for one, enjoys the increased expectations.

"Our kids who are in the program now expect to win in the playoffs, expect to go far," Barile said. "We've won playoff games two years in a row now, so it's what they are used to achieving. These kids now believe that they are supposed to win."

Summit does lose some oomph from last year's division runner-up, namely wide receiver Devon Blackmon - the top recruit in the county and now an Oregon Duck - and running back Montigo Alford. Losing their big-play ability is a blow, but it will force the SkyHawks to beat their opponents in different ways.

"You can't replace a Devon or a 'Tigo, but what you can do is work with what you got," Barile said. "We'll lose some big plays, but we are going to take yards in 10 and 15-yard chunks and be successful that way."

If Twentynine Palms coach Ernie Martinez looked at the number of players he has over their skill, he'd be a bit discouraged, as the Wildcats are in the low-30s - about 10 less than what they normally have. But when he looks at his acutal personnel, the excitement starts to come out.

"I think we have a really good, talented group of kids," Martinez said. "If we can stay healthy, I think we have the chance to compete with anyone. But health is important to us, because we really don't have many guys we can fall back on."

The Wildcats, who won a share of De Anza League title last year for their fourth consecutive league crown, have 12 starters returning from last season. Leading the pack out of those 12 is senior running back Chris Fuifui.

At 6-2 and 235 pounds, Fuifui is a load at both running back and middle linebacker for Twentynine Palms, running for 1,136 yards and 14 touchdowns and adding another five touchdowns receiving en route to second-team all-Sun honors.

It only took one day of working in pads for Rim of the World coach Bob Gradillas to remember how nice it was to have a team full of seniors.

"We are so much farther ahead right now than we were at this point last year," Gradillas said. "Everyone is on the same page and working well together and I think our experience from last year is a big reason for that. Even with the first practice the difference was startling."

The Fighting Scots did lose some players from their 4-6 team of a year ago - a team that missed the playoffs for the first time since 2005 - namely running back Dillon Pretzinger, who ran for 1,267 yards and 18 touchdowns a year ago. But Pretzinger missed four games due to injury, something that was a bit of a theme for Rim a year ago.

"We got hit hard by injuries last year and for a while, it was hard for us to do much of anything," Gradillas said. "We lost Dillon, we lost some offensive linemen and it was a struggle. But if anything, the experience those kids got will help us this year."

Silverado coach Carl Posey feels like a bit of a lone wolf in the Desert Sky League. After an offseason in which the other four schools in the league changed coaches, Posey returns for an eighth season in charge of the Hawks.

"It's been a pretty strange offseason up here," Posey said. "Usually you hear things about what other teams are doing and have a general expectation based on who is returning at coach, but you can't do that when everyone else in the league is changing coaches. It's tough to really know what to expect."

Posey also isn't sure what to expect from his team. Graduation decimated his 5-5-1 team from a year ago, as only four starters return, and a small senior class leaves the Hawks dependent on juniors and sophomores to mature quickly.

"The thing of it is that when the current senior class was freshmen, it was an extremely big class," Posey said. "We've had a lot of kids either move away or just not continue on with the program. For whatever reason, a lot of kids weren't able to stick it out and make it to this point."

After three weeks of practice, Big Bear coach Dave Griffiths has a very good feeling about the chemistry of his team. It's such a good feeling that Griffiths isn't shying away from comparisons from the great teams of seasons past.

"This senior class is about as close and as good as any that we have had since I've been here," Griffiths said. "They are right there with the (CIF championship) 2006 team. That's how good I feel about this group. Of course injuries will always be a factor on a team with our numbers, but if we stay healthy, I think we could do some things this year."

A lot of Griffiths' confidence comes from the return of senior Zakk Planz at quarterback. A starter since midway through his sophomore year, Planz (6-1, 193) runs Big Bear's option offense deftly, rushing for 745 yards and 11 touchdowns while throwing for another three touchdowns. He may not necessarily be the threat that Kriss Proctor used to be on the mountain, but he's plenty capable of taking over a game.

"Having a three-year starting like Zakk coming back at quarterback means a lot, especially with the type of offense we run," Griffiths said. "Timing means everything and have a talented veteran like Zakk back there helps everything go."

With his first class of seniors finally taking the field in year three of Citrus Valley football, Blackhawks coach Peter Smolin is starting to see his vision for the Blackhawks program take shape. But he realizes that Citrus Valley isn't quite at the "normal" stage yet.

"We are still going to be young," Smolin said. "We'll be pretty junior dominated - I think we only have six seniors that will start this year. But these guys are starting to look like men. Physically the difference between now and two years ago, even now and last year, is significant."

One of the "men" Smolin is referencing is junior tight end Luke Taylor. Taylor (6-5, 240) has already started to create some buzz on the recruiting trail, as he was invited to USC's Invite-only summer camp this year. Starting quarterback Dalton Douglas (6-4, 210) and offensive lineman Nick Hospodar (6-4, 255), also juniors, also pass the looks test with flying colors.

Hospodar is a rarity on the Blackhawks though, as Citrus Valley is low on size and high on smaller skill-position players, something that Smolin hopes his team will be able to work around.

The 2010 season ended about as awkwardly as it could have for Miller, as the Rebels had a senior hazing incident spiral out of control and cost coach Jeff Strycula his job the night before they were going to play for a league title against Redlands East Valley. Predictably, the dysfunctional Rebels lost and were eliminated from postseason consideration despite finishing in a second-place tie in the Citrus Belt League.

But new coach Marcus Soward, who was hired to replace Strycula in the offseason after spending the past three years as Arroyo Valley's head man, hasn't encountered any of the awkwardness and chaos that spelled the end of the 2010 season.

"It's a great atmosphere out here," said Soward, who has also coached at San Bernardino High School. "It's a very family-oriented program and everyone is working well together. There are a lot of high-character kids, which makes it easy to coach."

The Rebels don't have a lot coming back from last year, as the Rebels were full of seniors in 2010. But Miller does receive perhaps the biggest impact transfer in the county in senior linebacker Reshawn Hooker (6-2, 210), who has 14 scholarship offers already after a first-team all-San Andreas League season at Arroyo Valley last year as a junior.

As first years on the job go, Justin Price's at Yucaipa ranks pretty high. The former Granite Hills coach led a senior-dominated team to its best finish in the Citrus Belt League since joining the league in 2006, as the Thunderbirds tied Redlands and Miller for second place in league, making the playoffs after missing the postseason a year before.

"I thought we did some great things last year," Price said. "We were playing REV in week nine for a chance to win the league title, which is a huge step for this program. We were a coin-flip away from hosting a playoff game for the first time in a long time. We are pretty proud of what we did, especially we didn't have a full offseason to work together."

While Yucaipa loses 12 of its 22 starters along with several key contributors, Price is hoping that having a full offseason will compensate for any lack of experience and keep 2010's momentum going. Having three of those returning starters coming on the offense line helps even more.

Yucaipa is bullish on its three senior returners on the offensive line - Matt Parrish (6-5, 300), Tyrin Loya (5-10, 250) and Andrew Clarey (6-2, 290). Parrish and Loya started every game last year, with Parrish receiving interest from Division I schools.

The best part of being in the second year of a new program is that the first year is over. Jurupa Hills coach Edward McMillon definitely agrees with that point of view.

"It's a lot different this year compared to last year," McMillon said. "The kids have been in the program for over a year and know what to expect, which allows us to work on some more things and really concentrate on getting better rather than teaching. Having juniors and sophomores gives you more options than having sophomores and freshmen."

While the Spartans are a year bigger, a year smarter and a year more mature after their 1-7 debut of a year ago, size is still a bit of an issue at Jurupa Hills. The Spartans are pretty deep at the skill positions, but they are lacking for size in the trenches.

"We just don't have that many big guys," McMillon said. "We have a lot of athletes, but they all seem to be a little small. Hopefully we'll get some bigger guys in time, but we are a pretty small team right now."

Cajon High School has 32 seniors coming back from a team that went through the San Andreas League undefeated for the second time in three years en route to a berth in the Central Division semifinals. But there isn't much satisfaction among the Cowboys, who still remember the painful 42-41 overtime loss to Colton in the semifinals.

"We hope that having 32 seniors that have played in some big games and have been to the semifinals will pay off for us," Cajon coach Kim Battin said. "We look at what we have this year position-by-position compared to last year and we feel pretty good about how we stack up."

Leading the way for the Cowboys is defensive back/wide receiver Damontae Kazee. Kazee (6-0, 175) was an all-CIF performer on defense and the leading receiver for the Cowboys offensively. He verbally committed to the University of Washington over the summer but is still receiving interest from all over the Pac-12, namely Arizona State and UCLA.

Kazee will combine with senior tight end Taylor Moore (6-2, 215) to give new quarterback Edwin Martinez (6-1, 215) some elite targets. Martinez has huge shoes to fill, as the former linebacker replaces All-Sun Player of the Year Thomas Carter.

If there's one thing that Serrano has had during the last four years, where it has won three Mojave River League titles and has gotten to at least the CIF semifinals the last three seasons, it's been a workhorse running back. Be it Cory Diederich or Dionza Bradford or, in last year's case, Taylor Ruize, the Diamondbacks have been able to run the ball.

This year, the Diamondbacks have three tailbacks that they have faith in. Senior Darius Hogan (5-10, 170) is more of a scatback, while fellow senior Zak Tuman (5-9, 190) adds a physical element. Junior Michael Hawkins (6-0, 190) may be the best of the three eventually, as he has the size-speed blend that Bradford possessed. Add that to a solid fullback in senior Nick Heftman (5-10, 195) and an experienced, physical offensive line and confidence is high in Phelan for the upcoming season.

"We have three running backs that I feel can do the job," Maholchic said. "We can mix and match them and play them more on defense because I have faith in all of them. It's a good thing to have."

Three of Serrano's five returning offensive starters are senior o-linemen, with Mark Knapp (6-4, 300) receiving Division I interest and Anthony Mackesy (6-2, 230) in his third year as a starter. Tracy Costello (5-10, 220) also returns.

Being as good as Kaiser was last year, as the Cats won 12 games in a row by at least 12 points before being upset by Wildomar Elsinore in the CIF-SS Eastern semifinals, allowed the Cats to play a lot of backups and young players late in games. With 18 of his 22 starters from last year having graduated, Kaiser coach Phil Zelaya hopes that the "garbage time" playing time of last year pays off this year.

"The good thing is that we have guys that have gotten some time at the varsity level," Zelaya said. "The bad thing is that most of those guys don't have the experience of playing four quarters. That what we hope they'll be able to adapt to."

Where Kaiser was decimated more than anywhere was along their defensive line and defensive backfield. The Cats lost Division I talents in defensive backs Desman Carter and Davonte Manning, defensive linemen Walter Earnest and linebacker Dennis Taylor. In their stead are players that Zelaya is curious to see how they'll pan out.

"I know they are going to play hard and play physical, I just don't know if they are as talented as the guys we had," Zelaya said. "I hope playing last year as a bit of a shock to the system and that it'll help this year."

This offseason should have been a celebration for the Victor Valley High School football program, as the Jackrabbits completed a three-year ascent from Desert Sky League doormat to champion, winning the league and advancing to the CIF-SS Eastern Division quarterfinals under first-year coach Eric Perry.

But the Jackrabbits were turned upside down in June, when Perry's contract was not renewed due to teaching credentialing issues. That caused him to take an assistant job at La Quinta and prompted Leland Eudy, who had spent 18 years as the head man at Victor Valley before serving as defensive coordinator a year ago, to return for his third stint of coaching the Jackrabbits.

"I quit coaching altogether in March but when this all went down in June, they wanted me to come back and I agreed," Eudy said. "I've been coaching this group of kids since they were freshman, so that should help us move past this and build on what we've done these past few years."

The Jackrabbits will lack the explosive passing game they've had in recent years, with all-league quarterback Zeke Julien and explosive receivers Isaiah Kepley and Traevon Beddard having graduated. Marcus Zamora (5-10, 170) is the only returning receiver.

Year three is when many new schools start to be innudated with veteran leaders. That's not the case at Oak Hills, which is suffering a pretty severe senior shortage after making the playoffs in its first two seasons of play.

"We knew this was coming," Oak Hills coach Robert Kistner said. "A lot of the sophomores from a couple of years ago stayed at their school rather than coming over to play for us because they felt they could get on the field quicker. So we knew that this year was going to be shorthanded as far as seniors go. But we really like the seniors we have."

Leading the way for Oak Hills' senior class is running back Marshaun Coprich and cornerback/wide receiver Garrett Reece-Scott. Coprich (5-5, 180) led the Bulldogs in rushing last year, running for 1,150 yards and nine touchdowns, while Reece-Scott (5-9, 170) was a lockdown corner for Oak Hills along with being the team's leading receiver.

The Bulldogs will need junior quarterback David Richardson (6-2, 220) to take a bit of the heat off Coprich and an offensive line that has three new, underclassmen starters. Richardson threw for 835 yards and eight touchdowns last year, five to Reece-Scott.

San Gorgonio coach Ron Gueringer openly admits that his Spartan team caught people by surprise last year. After going 2-8 in his first year in 2009 and opening last year 0-4, San G won seven games in a row before falling to Moreno Valley Rancho Verde in the CIF-SS Central quarterfinals.

The Spartans ended up defeating and finishing ahead of eventual CIF champion Colton in the San Andreas League, finishing second behind Cajon. So the element of surprise for San G has completely disappeared.

"There's going to be no sneaking up on people this year," Gueringer said. "Last year people overlooked us and didn't expect much so we were able to work out way in there. But there's going to be a target on our back this year."

San G returns five players that Gueringer says could receive Division I scholarships, led by senior linebacker Ryan Hunter-Sims (6-0, 225). Hunter-Sims, a captain last year as a junior, is moving from defensive tackle to linebacker, a position that San Diego State is interested in him playing.

Things were going swimmingly for Aquinas heading into the playoffs a year ago, as a fourth consecutive league title and a 9-1 record had the Falcons ranked No. 2 in the East Valley Division going into the playoffs. But maybe they were going a bit too well.

"I'm not going to say that we overlooked Yucca Valley, but I think we got a little too proud of ourselves," Aquinas coach Nick Matheny said. "Yucca came and knocked us in the mouth and shocked us a bit."

The Trojans scored 21 unanswered points in the first half and pulled off the 21-14 upset, as the Falcons ended their season before Thanksgiving for the first time since 2003, when they didn't make the playoffs at all. That's disappointment has served as fuel for Aquinas in the offseason.

Aquinas will also get fuel from its array of skill-position players it has returning, namely senior running back Burrell Handy (5-8, 165). Handy led the county in scoring as a junior, rushing for 1,377 yards and 22 touchdowns while serving as the workhorse of the offense.

Carter's run to its first winning season since 2006 and its second straight playoff berth last year was predicating on a stifling defense that held opponents to a scant 11.9 points per game. So the Lions' opponents should be a little worried about Carter coach Alex Pierce's thoughts on that unit heading into his fourth season at the helm.

"We were one of the best defenses in the division last year, if not the best," Pierce said. "And we're going to be better this year."

The reason for that confidence is eight returning starters to a swarming, relentless unit that almost held Arroyo Valley to negative yards in a win-or-go-home regular-season finale last year. Leading the way is junior defensive tackle Kenny Clark (6-2, 278), a national-champion heavyweight wrestler and a starter on the offensive line as well.

"If there's a better defensive tackle in the county than Kenny, I really hope we don't have to face them," Pierce said. "Kenny is quick, strong, relentless, never gets tired. He's got very good grades and is going to be a big-time recruit."

Tim Cannavo was an assistant coach at Yucca Valley in 1996 when the Trojans won their last CIF title. He almost broke that streak last year, as Yucca Valley took out Ambassador League champion Aquinas and Mountain Valley League champion Rubidoux on the way to the CIF-SS East Valley Division semifinals.

24 seniors depart last year's team, but Cannavo believes that his remaining lettermen can build on what Yucca Valley accomplished a year ago.

"I remember the 1997 season after we won the 1996 championship," Cannavo said. "We lost a lot but there was that desire to continue what we had done the previous year and it helped us reach the semifinals. All summer long we've been telling kids to start at the same level they finished last year."

Despite its small size and the large number of seniors that departed, Yucca isn't lacking returning talent. The offensive backfield and the line headline the 2011 Trojans, as their top two running backs and their interior linemen return from last year.

Confidence has never been a problem for Redlands East Valley coach Kurt Bruich, who is entering his 10th season as head coach of the Wildcats. But that confidence is running over after two straight league titles, the second from which he returns 15 starters.

"After back-to-back league titles, the road to the Citrus Belt League title runs through us," Bruich said. "I don't care if you print that. If you want the title, you have to come through us and we are ready to defend it."

While winning the CBL in undefeated fashion with a roster full of juniors and sophomores is a point of pride for REV, not everything last season was kosher. The Wildcats were eliminated in the first round of the Inland Division playoffs, as Etiwanda strolled into the University of Redlands and defeated the Wildcats. That's something that's been a point of emphasis throughout the offseason.

"We are going to finish the way we want to finish this year," Bruich said. "Last year we didn't control the finish and we stopped playing way before we wanted to. We are not going to let that happen this year."

Except for an unnecessarily dramatic renewal of head coach Rick Bray's contract for this upcoming year, the last nine months have been bliss for the Colton High School football team, as the Yellowjackets won their first CIF-SS title since 1978 and have been on cloud nine riding the wave of congratulatory back slaps ever since.

But Bray knows that all the accolades that his team has gotten won't help it this year. And he knows that a 2010 CIF title puts a big target on his team in 2011, even if he is trying to get creative in deflecting that target.

"The way we see it, Cajon High School should have the target because they were the San Andreas League champs last year," Bray said. "They have a title that we want. But we do know that teams are going to be shooting for us this year."

Colton loses several star components from last year's squad, as all-CIF players Rodney Hardrick, Tyler Ervin, Devan Hussey and John Taylor are currently on college campuses. But the cupboard is hardly empty at Colton, as the Yellowjackets return starters on both lines and a talented secondary.

San Bernardino middleweight boxer Edgar Alvarado improved to 2-1 in the double-elimination U.S. Olympic Trials in Mobile, Ala. Tuesday with a 26-24 victory over D'Mitrius Ballard. Alvarado, a graduate of Arroyo Valley High School, will face Luis Arias, the No. 1 ranked boxer coming in, at 4 p.m. today. Alvarado and Arias have split their previous two matches, with Arias defeating Alvarado 20-16 Sunday.

To get to today's match, which is a semifinal in the Challenger bracket, Alvarado defeated Demarius Russell 17-14 Monday before his victory over Ballard, who was the United States' representative at the most recent Pan Am games. Russell was the National Police Athletic League champion, so Alvarado is doing some work.