Sunkist League prediction: 'Did I catch a niner in there?'
With Sunkist League play beginning on Friday, here is my guess at how the league standings will look in five weeks:
*Kaiser 5-0
*Summit 4-1
*Riverside Norte Vista 2-3
Riverside Patriot 2-3
Bloomington 2-3
Jurupa Valley 0-5
* - playoff team
Yes, Norte Vista (5-0) enters league play undefeated while Kaiser (2-3) and Summit (2-3) sport losing records, but I think the Cats will and take home their 9th straight league title. In this smash-mouth league controlled by defense and the running game, USC-bound running back Anthony Brown and a historically stingy defense have Kaiser the best equipped in both.
A couple of Kaiser's losses were easily more impressive than Norte Vista's biggest win, a 28-21 season-opening victory over Riverside La Sierra. Kaiser lost tight games to Colony and Colton, two legit contenders for the CIF-SS Central Division title both better than La Sierra.
Summit is more of a threat to Kaiser than Norte Vista. With a beefed up nonleague schedule, Summit was a last-minute drive and last-second field goal from defeating Etiwanda and Redlands, each of whom outclass La Sierra in my book.
Leave a comment. Ask a question. Or e-mail me at clay.fowler@inlandnewspapers.com
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About Clay
Clay Fowler has been covering high school sports for six years in California and Texas. He was born in Dallas, attended the University of Texas and worked in Central Texas before joining the Daily Bulletin staff in 2006.
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Harsh, D-Pope!
I admittedly don't know much about La Sierra, or Canyon Springs for that matter. That's why I made sure to slip the word 'guess' into the first paragraph.
Dude. La Sierra is 4-1 after beating a pretty good Moreno Valley Canyon Springs team. No, they are not Etiwanda or Redlands, but not many teams are. Nor do many teams have the talent of Kaiser. The Cats should be embarrassed by the way they've played the last two weeks.
Norte vista is a good team.