TJ Berka: September 2011 Archives

Before I get into the predictions, I will take a little time to say farewell. This is my last week at The Sun, as I am leaving the paper for another job. I have enjoyed covering high school sports for the Sun/Bulletin for the past five years and thank the readers for reading my material and giving me feedback, the coaches and players for providing me with gobs of writing material and my co-workers for making the work environment a fun one. Pete Marshall will assume this blog starting next week and will do a great job with it. Show him the same courtesy and support that you guys have shown over the years.

Now to the picks, as I try to end with a bang of some sort:

Alta Loma 28, Montclair 17
Apple Valley 24, Palm Desert 20
Aquinas 27, Twentynine Palms 23
Banning 21, Bloomington 18
Brethren Christian 35, Arrowhead Christian 20
Cajon 48, Eisenhower 15
Carter 20, Chaffey 6
Chino 35, Pomona 13
Chino Hills 28, Corona Santiago 24
Citrus Valley 30, Xavier Prep 17
Coachella Valley 26, Yucca Valley 21
Colony 28, Ayala 20
Don Lugo 24, Ontario Christian 17
Downey Calvary Chapel 36, Western Christian 13
Granite Hills 23, Hesperia 0
Jurupa Valley 20, Pacific 12
Kaiser 38, Barstow 6
La Quinta 18, Rialto 14
Littlerock 28, Fontana 9
Miller 35, North Hollywood 6
Nogales 30, Jurupa Hills 14
Oak Hills 27, Desert Hot Springs 10
Orange Lutheran 38, Los Osos 24
Palm Springs 20, Arroyo Valley 14
Rancho Cucamonga 33, Great Oak 17
Rancho Verde 38, San Gorgonio 19
Redlands 21, Summit 20
Redlands East Valley 31, Compton Dominguez 17
Rim of the World 24, Victor Valley 22
Rio Hondo Prep 28, Big Bear 22
Riverside North 21, Colton 14
Rubidoux 30, Ontario 12
Serrano 20, Silverado 0
Sultana 28, San Bernardino 25
Upland 34, Tustin 28
Vista Murrieta 42, Etiwanda 30
Yucaipa 38, Canyon Springs 12

Colton defensive coordinator Chris Mailo has been named the interim coach of the Yellowjackets according to a press release sent out by the Colton Unified School District. Colton athletic director Harold Strauss confirmed Mailo's appointment in a phone interview Wednesday.

Mailo has been the defensive coordinator for several years, serving under Strauss and Rick Bray, who resigned at halftime of Friday's 35-7 loss to San Diego Torrey Pines after his son, assistant coach B.J. Bray, was pulled off the sidelines in the second quarter. Richard Bray Jr., Rick's other son and also a Colton assistant, resigned after the game after serving as the coach in the second half.

Besides the Brays, the rest of the exisiting Colton staff remains, according to Strauss. The Yellowjackets will play Riverside North Friday at 7 p.m. at Riverside Community College.

Sun Top 10

1. Redlands East Valley (0-0)
Previous ranking: 1. Last week: idle. Up next: Friday vs. Compton Dominguez (0-1).

2. Upland (1-0)
Previous ranking: 2. Last week: def. San Bernardino, 63-14. Up next: Thursday at Tustin (1-0).

3. Rancho Cucamonga (1-0)
Previous ranking: 5. Last week: def. Silverado, 52-0. Up next: Friday vs. Temecula Great Oak (1-0).

4. Cajon (1-0)
Previous ranking: 6. Last week: def. Temecula Chaparral, 30-14. Up next: Friday vs. Eisenhower (1-0).

5. Serrano (1-0)
Previous ranking: 8. Last week: def. Paraclete, 7-6. Up next: Friday at Silverado (0-1).

6. Redlands (1-0)
Previous ranking: 9. Last week: def. Apopka (Fla.) Wekiva, 21-7. Up next: Friday vs. No. 8 Summit (0-1).

7. Etiwanda (1-0)
Previous ranking: NR. Last week: def. Summit, 49-36. Up next: Friday vs. Vista Murrieta (0-0).

8. Summit (0-1)
Previous ranking: 3. Last week: lost to Etiwanda, 49-36. Up next: Friday at No. 6 Redlands (1-0).

9. Kaiser (0-0)
Previous ranking: 10. Last week: idle. Up next: Friday vs. Barstow (0-1).

10. Yucaipa (1-0)
Previous ranking: NR. Last week: def. Oak Park, 52-0. Up next: Friday at Moreno Valley Canyon Springs (0-1).

Just missed the cut: Chino (1-0), San Gorgonio (0-0), Chino Hills (0-1).

Dropped out: No. 4 Colton (0-1), No. 7 Chino Hills (0-1).

Thanks to a very good San Diego Torrey Pines football team and a bizarre set of circumstances that led to the halftime resignation of head coach Rick Bray, Friday was a very bad night for the Colton High School football program.

Any lasting satisfaction left from last year's CIF-SS Central Division title disappeared in the span of two quarters, as the Yellowjackets were whipped by Torrey Pines 35-7 and might have lost their coaching staff in the process.

Bray, last year's All-Sun Coach of the Year, left the game at halftime after addressing his team in response to his son, assistant coach B.J. Bray, being pulled from the sidelines in the second quarter by the Colton High School administration. Another one of Rick Bray's sons -- Richard Bray Jr. -- led a shaken team in the second half.

"They pulled my brother off the sidelines and my dad isn't going to allow one of us to be treated like that, so he left too," Richard Bray Jr. said after the game. "He talked to the kids at halftime and asked the rest of us coaches to get the kids through the second half."

According to Richard Bray Jr., B.J. Bray was disciplined Friday as a response to his actions at the Colton Joint Unified School District's school board meeting May 5, the one where Rick Bray's contract to coach the Yellowjackets was renewed after a lengthy soap opera in which the school district opened the job because Bray, a campus security officer, is not a credentialed teacher.

At the meeting, B.J. Bray emotionally defended his father, yelling at the parents of former CHS running back Tyler Irvin, who criticized Rick Bray during the open forum session.

When asked why the Colton adminstration waited until Friday to mete out punishment, Richard Bray Jr. didn't have an answer.

"I'm really not sure what to say and what I can say," Bray Jr. said. "All I know is that this team might not have a coaching staff. I really don't know what the next move is. This is a tough night for all of us."

Colton athletic director Harold Strauss did not comment when asked about the situation.

Legendary San Gorgonio baseball player Tim Miner, who pitched all but one inning in San Gorgonio's run to a CIF championship in 1977, will be honored in a special ceremony Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Sportswatch Bar and Grill by the Hampton Inn in Highland. The Spartans' championship run, which ended with a victory over Lakewood in the CIF title game, has been dubbed "The Miner Miracle", as the pitcher guided the Spartans, who finished third in the San Andreas League, to glory, pitching every inning but the first inning of San G's second-round win.

Miner is being celebrated separately from the other inductees in the San G Hall of Fame, who will be honored in October, because he currently lives in The Netherlands and is currently making a rare trip back to the United States. Several notable former teammates - including Ted Rozzi, Tim Mead, Don Parnell, Tony Curtis and Tim Burroughs - will be in attendance along with Dennis Rogers, the manager of the 1977 championship team.