Recently in Miramonte League Category

Diamond Ranch senior-to-be Rouric Bridgewater has verbally committed to Arizona State, who offered him a full scholarship on July 20. The third baseman chose the Sun Devils over offers from USC, UCLA, Oregon, Loyola Marymount, San Diego State and Costal Carolina, which was his second choice, according to his father Steve Bridgewater.

Bridgewater, a first-team All-Valley and first-team all-CIF selection as a junior, batted .580 with 10 home runs and 41 RBIs in just 26 games last season.

BASEBALL
MVPs: Travis Santiago, Pitcher, Sophomore, Charter Oak;
Rouric Bridgewater, Infielder, Junior, Diamond Ranch

first team
Brian Tuttle, Bonita
Adam McCreery, Bonita
Matt Gelalich, Bonita
Derek Goodwin, Diamond Ranch
Robert Mier, Bonita
Joe Munoz, Los Altos
Gio Morales, Los Altos
Aaron Henry, Charter Oak
Evan Highley, Bonita
Joe Reynoso, Charter Oak
De Jon Wallace, Charter Oak
Anthony Ramos, Bonita
Chris Holden, Charter Oak

Inland Division (no at-large entries)
Baseline
Big VIII (4 entries)
Citrus Belt
Sierra
Southwestern
Notes: The Baseline League essentially had four entries for the two seasons it was in the Inland Division, claiming the lone at-large berth each year. Last year the at-large team, Upland, won the entire division. In an Inland Division where it produced one collective playoff victory in its last two seasons there, life is going to be different for a Baseline League that produced six of the last eight semifinalists in the Central Division.

Central Division (no at-large entries)
Mt. Baldy (4 entries)
Desert Valley
Inland Valley (4 entries)
San Andreas (4 entries)
Notes: Colony won this division two years in a row before the arrival of the Baseline and Sierra Leagues two seasons ago. New coach Matt Bechtel, formerly Los Osos High's offensive coordinator, likely won't be disappointed he doesn't have to face his old league foes in the playoffs.

When the new league alignment that begins in September for the Mt. SAC Area was approved last fall, one of the forgotten things was that since essentially the remainder of the Miramonte and San Antonio leagues (plus Diamond Bar from the Sierra) were combined for a 7-team league, what would they call the new league?
I figured they would probably call it either the Miramonte or San Antonio. But no, it's the Hacienda League. A league that predates me (and I've been in the area for almost 15 years), but I am aware of it. Must be some old school principals.

I don't know all the alignments of the Hacienda Leagues, but at least from 1984-85, the alignment was:
Bonita, Chino, Diamond Bar, Etiwanda, Ganesha, Garey, Montclair, Ontario.
In 1986, Diamond Bar left and it was left with a 7-team league I believe, and by 1988, Chino was out and left it a 6-team league. I believe the league ceased to exist around 1991, when Etiwanda left to join the Baseline League, then a year later joined the all-Chaffey district Mt. Baldy League.

The new Hacienda League? It's got Bonita, Diamond Bar, Diamond Ranch, Los Altos, Rowland, Walnut, and West Covina. So I'm guessing it's either Bonita principal Bob Ketterling or Diamond Bar principal Denis Paul at work to resurrect the Hacienda League name, since those are the only 2 schools that cross over from what I have.

Former Pomona High School football coach John Brown's statement that the Pomona administration contacted other coaches about replacing him as early as the middle of his first and only season as the head coach was not substantiated by those he said were contacted.

Brown said Colony head football coach Anthony Rice was offered his job after the season and Diamond Ranch coach Roddy Layton was contacted about his job in the middle of the season. When reached Friday, both Rice and Layton said they weren't contacted about or offered the head football coaching job by Pomona High School.

Both Layton and Rice, who graduated from Pomona Unified School District's Ganesha High and Garey High, respectively, acknowledged knowing many in and around Pomona's football program. Layton was an assistant coach on the 1996 Pomona staff with Brown.

"I never got a phone call from anybody at Pomona and I've never been offered a job at Pomona," Layton said. "I'm sure if my name pops up - I'm a product of Pomona Unified, I coached there for a year and I'd like to think I've had some success recently - it's because my name pops up in a lot of places."

Pomona High School head football coach John Brown resigned Friday after discovering the school, unbeknownst to Brown, was searching for his replacement as early as the middle of this season, his first as Pomona's head coach. Brown said Pomona contacted Colony head coach Anthony Rice after the season and Diamond Ranch coach Roddy Layton mid-season about the Pomona head coaching job.

Pomona principal Roger Fasting, however, denied that the school contacted anybody about Brown's job.

"None of that is true," Fasting said. "His letter came as a surprise to us because he hadn't talked to us about resigning. I'm not sure where he got his information or how he heard that story."

Said Brown: "I'm telling you he's lying. They interviewed another guy for my job in the middle of the season. They told me the only reason they're doing this is because they want an on-campus coach. And that's fine, but don't go about it like this."

CIF-SS SOUTHEAST DIVISION
Offensive Player of the Year: Adam Muema, RB, Charter Oak, Sr.
Defensive Player of the Year: Keith Smith, LB, Charter Oak, Sr.
Coach of the Year: Lou Farrar, Charter Oak

OFFENSE
Quarterback
Gus Viramontes, Diamond Ranch, Sr., 6-1 190

Running back
Amari Staten, Diamond Ranch, Sr., 5-11 185
Dalton Williams, Burbank Burroughs, Sr., 5-10 205
Ulisies Ochoa, Burbank, Jr., 5-11 190
Terris Jones, California, Sr., 5-8 165
Nick Castillo, Schurr, Sr., 5-8 185

Here are the boys basketball matchups for the Martin Luther King one-day event at Los Osos High School. Tickets are $6 for adults and $3 for students.

8 a.m. - Ontario vs. San Dimas
9:30 a.m. - Bishop Amat vs. Charter Oak
11 a.m. - Serrano vs. Claremont
12:30 p.m. - Diamond Bar vs. Rancho Cucamonga
2 p.m. - Chino Hills vs. Los Alamitos
3:30 p.m. - Glendora vs. Garey
5 p.m. - Twentynine Palms vs. Alta Loma
6:30 p.m. - Santa Monica vs. Etiwanda
8 p.m. - Los Osos vs. Ayala

DIVISION I-AA
1. Mater Dei
2. Long Beach Poly
3. Corona Centennial
4. Upland
5. Rancho Verde
6. Etiwanda
7. Thousand Oaks
8. Montebello
9. Oxnard
10. Los Alamitos
11. Los Osos
12. Redlands
13. Jordan
14. Lakewood
15. Ventura
16. Vista Murrieta

In my recent interview with Upland's Tim Salter for the football Coach of the Year story, I wasn't asking all the questions. Fresh off a CIF championship, the Upland coach, who is one of the most engaging in the Inland Valley, had a question for me.

"Why weren't we in your preseason Top 10?"

A valid question, to say the least, given that the Highlanders lost two games by a total of five points this season on the way to a CIF title. Ironically, with one spot left in my preseason Top 10, I was debating between two teams: Upland and Los Osos - the two that eventually squared off in the CIF-SS Central Division championship game. I gave the spot to Los Osos, which seemed to have lost slightly less from its star-studded 2008 team.

Recalling my preseason efforts, or lack thereof, I thought I'd do final rankings based on all that transpired in the 2009 season. Not just a Top 10 but a slotting of every team in the Daily Bulletin coverage area...

PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Anthony Brown, Senior running back/defensive back, Kaiser High School
The USC-bound Brown missed two games this season but still compiled 1,681 yards and 18 touchdowns on 198 carries in leading the Cats to their ninth consecutive Sunkist League championship and the semifinals of the CIF-SS Eastern Division. Brown, who is talented enough on both sides of the ball that USC hasn't yet determined what position he'll play in college, had 55 tackles and an interception as a cornerback.

COACH OF THE YEAR:
Tim Salter, Upland High School
A season after graduating four players with a collective total of circa 50 scholarship offers, Salter led Upland to its first CIF championship since 2000. With members of an offense that averaged more than 35 points per game gone to Stanford, Northwestern and Arizona State, Salter rode a defense that held opponents under 11 points per game to his third CIF championship at Upland.

San Dimas' Bill Zernickow finished a close second after guiding the Saints to their first ever CIF championship this season. After taking Diamond Ranch from its second consecutive 1-6 start to a second consecutive CIF championship game appearance, Roddy Layton was under consideration along with Los Osos' Tom Martinez, who led the Grizzlies to the school's first-ever CIF championship game after losing 38 seniors.

Will Lester/Staff Photographer
Upland head coach Tim Salter celebrates the Highlanders' 19-7 win over Los Osos in the CIF-SS Central Division championship game on Dec. 11.

With re-leaguing taking effect next school year, here are the 2010 leagues:

Baseline League:
Alta Loma
Etiwanda
Glendora
Los Osos
Rancho Cucamonga
Upland

Citrus Belt League:
Eisenhower
Fontana
Miller
Redlands
Redlands East Valley
Yucaipa

Not surprisingly, repeat CIF-SS Southeast Division champion Charter Oak dominated the awards. Wide Receiver/defensive back A.J. Powell was named the Miramonte League's player of the year with numbers (26 receptions, 390 yards, 58 tackles, 4 interceptions) that must not have told the whole story. Teammate Adam Muema (1,938 yards, 23 TDs) claimed offensive MVP for his exploits at running back and linebacker Keith Smith (132 tackles) defensive MVP.

In all, Charter Oak, which didn't allow a sinlge point to Miramonte League team this season, including its second meeting with Diamond Ranch, a 21-0 win in the CIF championship game on Friday, landed a league-high 12 people on the All-Miramonte League first team followed by Diamond Ranch's 10.

Bonita senior wide receiver Codey Sykes caught seven passes for 170 yards, including the 18-yard game winner with 27 seconds left in the Bearcats' 26-20 victory over Los Altos on Friday.

Colony running back Jamil Austin gashed the Garey defense for 268 yards and six touchdowns on just 12 carries in Colony's 55-7 win on Friday.

Leave a comment. Ask a question. Or e-mail me at clay.fowler@inlandnewspapers.com

With Miramonte League play beginning Friday, here's how I think it will turn out:

Charter Oak: 3-1
Diamond Ranch: 3-1
Bonita: 3-1
H.H. Los Altos: 1-3
H.H.Wilson: 0-4

Defending CIF and Miramonte League champion Charter Oak not only has all the hardware but its current 5-1 record is a stark contrast to Diamond Ranch and Bonita's 1-5 and 1-4 respective marks. This league's title appears a forgone conclusion, right?

Wrong... Charter Oak is not the juggernaut it was a season ago. Both Diamond Ranch and Bonita played better nonleague schedules. While DR and Bonita were dropping winnable games to Glendora, Chino Hills, Claremont, and San Diego Westview, Charter Oak was eeking out a 3-point victory over an unproven Damien team and putting together a miraculous comeback win over Etiwanda. But the biggest difference was the two gimmies on the defending champ's slate - Bonita and DR didn't have those luxuries.

Diamond Ranch High School football coach Roddy Layton has gained a reputation for his ridiculously difficult nonleague scheduling habits - as in Oaks Christian-three-years-in-a-row ridiculous. BUT after a 1-7 start last season, that philosophy landed Diamond Ranch in a CIF title game.

Even Layton might have a hard time topping Damien's slate this year. The nonleague schedule coach Greg Gano inherited in his first year at Damien included not one, but two defending CIF champions.

Though Damien emerged from its nonleague murder's row with a 1-4 record, anybody who takes a closer look knows the Spartans are vastly improved from their 3-7 team of last year. I promise the rest of the Sierra League has taken notice.

Outside of the playoffs, neither Bonita nor San Dimas hide the fact that their game with each other is the most important of the season. After Bonita won the Smudge Pot five out of six years, the cross-town rivalry game has gone to San Dimas the last two. Fresh off its first loss of the season, San Dimas, the No. 4 team in the CIF-SS Mid-Valley division, enters with a 3-1 record while Bonita, having won its first game last time out, is 1-3.

HEATED HISTORY:
The singular devotion to this game is apparent on both sides. Each takes its bye week before hand, so as to allow more time for the hype to build. League play and the playoffs are obviously important but neither side of the rivalry veils the significance of this series that San Dimas leads 20-16-1.

"League still matters," Bonita running back Deron Holmes said, "but this game is on top."

"When you're drawing up plays in the summer," San Dimas head coach Bill Zernickow said, "you think of the Bearcats first."

• I think Kaiser's Anthony Brown (above) should play running back in college, as opposed to cornerback. I saw the USC-committed senior play for the first time in Friday's 19-14 loss to Colony, during which he rolled up 199 yards on 27 carries with a pair of touchdowns. He plays a lot bigger than 5-feet-11, 180 pounds and I have no doubt he would make a fine cornerback given his athleticism and fondness for contact. USC has yet to indicate where it would like him to play but he has an ideal skill set to play running back: vision, burst, aggressivness and flat-out play making ability. Brown is one of those players too electric not to play offense.
• I think teams with difficult nonleague schedules are going to find themselves in much better standing when things get tense in about a month. Now, this depends on the difficulty of a given team's league but a team like Colony (4-1) needs to stack its nonleague schedule given the lack of playoff success of its own Mt. Baldy League. But a team on the rise like Damien (1-4) runs the risk of being so beat up after taking on four top-notch teams, including two defending CIF champs, that it may not have enough left for Sierra League play. I'm curious to see how Ayala, which has faced one high caliber team, will stack up with Chino Hills, which scheduled a much more difficult slate. Nonleague scheduling is a delicate thing given the fact it is done well in advance and there is plenty of unpredictibility involved. It'll be interesting to see how different philosophies effect the rest of the season.
• I think the Bonita-San Dimas game, being played on Friday, creates one of the two best atmosphere's I've seen in California high school football. Only the Redlands-Redlands East Valley game is comparable in my mind. I haven't covered a state championship game but Bonita-San Dimas is a more charged atmosphere than any of the CIF championship games I've been to. Both schools have bye weeks before the game so as to create as much hype as possible. They participate in non-football competitions leading up to the game, for example, seeing who can raise more money for charity. It's just a good old-fashioned rivalry that lives up to the billing.

Leave a comment. Ask a question. Or e-mail me at clay.fowler@inlandnewspapers.com

Charter Oak coach Lou Farrar joked that he used to refer to nonleague games as practice games. With the Fox Prime Ticket cameras encircling the field tonight, Farrar allowed "they don't feel like practice games anymore."

When defending CIF champions Rancho Cucamonga (3-0) and Covina Charter Oak (3-0) clash tonight, it could have state-championship implications. Though neither of these teams, who tied 14-14 last season on the way to identical 13-0-1 records, is proclaiming it'll march to consecutive CIF titles, the significance of tonight isn't lost on either side.

"It may be just another nonleague game but it feels more like a CIF championship game," Rancho Cucamonga coach Nick Baiz said. "I don't know if it's because its on TV or its two defending CIF champions, but it feels big."

Bonita High School head football coach Eric Podley after his team's 31-28 loss to Claremont on Friday, which included a 24-point halftime deficit:

"We were misinformed about the game today. We thought it was a flag football game in the first half and didn't show up to play tackle football until the second."

The loss dropped Bonita, a playoff team the last three years, to 0-2 while Claremont moved to 1-0 after compiling a 2-18 record over the past two seasons.

It was announced Tuesday that a matchup between defending CIF-SS champions will be televised at 7:30 p.m. by PRIME TICKET on Sept. 25 when Rancho Cucamonga visits Covina Charter Oak to settle a score.

A meeting between these two eventual undefeated CIF champions ended in a less than satisfying 14-14 tie in Week 3 of last year. That, it just so happened, turned out to be the lone blemish on each team's schedule the rest of the season.

Who could have imagined what a colossal game the rematch would turn out to be?

Brandon Sermons woke up Wednesday morning knowing he would sign a national letter of intent, he just didn't know with whom.

The Diamond Ranch High School senior, ranked the 33rd best cornerback in the country by rivals.com, verbally committed to UCLA way back on Oct 21. But in the three weeks before signing day was wavering enough to visit hard-charging Oregon State and Washington.

These weren't just courtesy trips.

"Three days ago he was leaning Washington," Diamond Ranch football coach Roddy Layton said Wednesday afternoon. "Two days ago he was leaning UCLA. Yesterday he didn't know."

Sermons and Layton had a four-hour dinner Tuesday night, during which Sermons was leaning in so many different directions it's a good thing he was sitting down.

With the myriad rules concerning CIF playoff pairings - keeping first-place teams from playing anybody that finished higher than third place, preventing potential second-round matchups between teams in the same league, etc. - the top four teams in each bracket are the only ones CIF can truly seed.

Despite facing No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, respectively, Norco and Diamond Ranch advanced to the second round of the playoffs Friday night.

Norco, the Inland Division's at-large team, handed undefeated Rancho Verde a 19-9 loss Friday night while Diamond Ranch, whose record is still under .500 even with the playoff win, showed third-seeded Pacific League champ Pasadena Muir the door with a 21-7 victory in the Southeast Division's first round.

Diamond Ranch (5-6) is the equivalent of the 13th seed while Norco (7-4) is the 15th.
In my estimation, these were the two biggest upsets of the first round of the playoffs.

At stake tonight when Bonita hosts four-time defending Miramonte League champion Charter Oak is Bonita's first league championship since 2004, when it was a co-champion.

With both teams undefeated in league, there will be no shared title this season when CIF-SS Eastern Division No. 2 Charter Oak (8-0-1, 3-0) squares off with No. 8 Bonita (7-2, 3-0). The winner will take all. Here is a breakdown of the matchup

Diamond Ranch offensive lineman Graham Vickers verbally committed to Navy on Monday, according to Diamond Ranch coach Roddy Layton.

The 6-foot-2, 262-pound senior also had scholarship offers from from Air Force, Army, Portland State and New Hampshire.

Vickers projects at any of the interior line positions in college. He also plays defensive line for Diamond Ranch and has collected 15 tackles and four sacks thus far.

After weighing circa 20 scholarship offers, Diamond Ranch cornerback Brandon Sermons verbally committed to UCLA Tuesday, Diamond Ranch coach Roddy Layton said.

Sermons, a 6-foot-1, 188-pound senior ranked the 27th best cornerback in the country by rivals.com, had recently narrowed his list to schools including UCLA, Oregon, Colorado, Oregon State and Arizona. USC, where Sermons' his older brother and Layton both played, expressed interest but hasn't offered.

"USC is USC and they think they can swoop in late and get some kids," Layton said. "It might be a possibility they could get him to switch but I think (Sermons) is pretty comfortable with UCLA. We've had some pretty serious conversations, so by now he's probably 99 percent sure. I don't think he's waiting on USC."

Four Diamond Ranch High School football players have received scholarship offers.

Cornerback Brandon Sermons from most of the Pac-10 including UCLA, Oregon, Arizona State, Arizona and Oregon State. USC has expressed interest but is yet to offer. Sermons, a 6-foot-1, 188-pound senior, is beginning to narrow his list to schools that include UCLA, Colorado, Arizona and Utah.

"Pete Carroll asked for film on him (Monday)," Diamond Ranch coach Roddy Layton said. "Rick Neuheisel calls every week and (Sermons) likes what they're doing with the
defense at Arizona, but now that USC has entered the mix that could change things."

It's too bad my top two teams in this league will settle their score in seemingly anticlimactic fashion. Charter Oak and Diamond Ranch meet in their Miramonte League openers Friday night in what many perceive as a lopsided matchup.

Diamond Ranch won all of one game on its nonleague schedule while Charter Oak went undefeated. No contest right?

Wrong.

Friday night's meeting between Diamond Ranch and Bishop Amat is Fox Sports West's high school football game of the week.

It'll be televised at 7 p.m. Check out the Fox broadcast team.

Diamond Ranch is 1-3 but don't let that fool you. The combined record of the three teams to which it has lost is 12-1. The team it beat 21-0 is Colony, a two-time defending CIF champ. Head coach Roddy Layton has put together a brutal nonleague schedule each of his three seasons at the helm.

After missing the playoffs the last three seasons, Bishop Amat (3-1) seems to have the program headed back in the right direction.

Kyle Skipworth, catcher for the Riverside Patriot team who was eliminated from the CIF-SS Division IV playoffs by Diamond Ranch on Tuesday, was named the 2007-08 Gatorade California Baseball Player of the Year on Wednesday.

The 6-foot-4, 200 pound senior, regarded by many as a first-round draft pick in the Major League Baseball first-year player draft on June 5, went 2-for-3 against Diamond Ranch but second-seeded Patriot (27-3) lost 5-3 with a trip to Friday's final at Dodger Stadium on the line.

As National SIgning Day approached, Diamond Ranch safety Shelton Miles was wavering between scholarship offers from The University of Idaho and The University of Texas-El Paso.

Tuesday the 5-foot-10, 180-pound safety said "it would take a lot" to sway him from UTEP. By Wednesday morning he had been swayed. Miles signed a national letter of intent with Idaho.

"I've never seen him as troubled as he's been the past few days," Diamond Ranch football coach Roddy Layton said. "I think it was one of those situations where the last coach he talked to, that's where he was going to go."

Diamond Ranch High School safety Shelton Miles has narrowed his potential college choices to UTEP and Idaho.

The 5-foot-10, 180-pound senior has taken recruiting trips to each campus but says he likely won't make a decision until Feb. 6, National Signing Day.

"It's pretty much split right down the middle right now," Miles said. "I love both programs but I haven't made up my mind."

Player of the year: A.J. Springer, Miller QB
Over 2,200 passing yards, over 1,700 rushing yards, 45 combined touchdowns, a completion percentage of 71. His team went 10-2, would have made the semifinals if the D hadn't given up a devastating last-minute touchdown drive. This was an easy choice.

Coach of the year: Tom Inglima, Ayala
0-10 in 2006 to 7-4 in 2007. From last place to second place in the Sierra League and a playoff berth in his second year at Ayala. This one was easier.

Best game of the year: Chaffey 30, La Quinta 28 (Week 4)
Keep in mind, this was the best game that I personally witnessed, not necessarily the best game of the year. Deveion Bauman (4 TD's - two receiving, one kickoff return, one interception return) dueled with La Quinta RB Kamani Harper (223 yards, 3 TD's), eventually catching the winning touchdown over Harper as time expired. Doesn't get a whole lot better than this.

Play of the year: Diamond Ranch QB Joe Carrillo's 83-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Sermons with 26 seconds left to give the Panthers a 28-24 win over Los Altos. Sermons, a 6-foot-4 speedy cornerback rarely plays offense. He was only needed for one play in this game, the only play of Diamond Ranch's final possession. He ran a go route down the right sideline, made a leaping catch over double coverage and ran the final 40 yards into the end zone.

Most clutch performance: Colony QB Jeff Ginolfi's 16-for-21, 326-yard, 5 TD performance in the CIF-SS Central Division championship game, a 41-14 Colony win. This was extra sweet for the senior considering he was the second option on a team that ran the ball 66 precent of the time.

An error with the paperwork of a Diamond Ranch football player that transferred to the school this year may cost the team all five of its wins this year.
Here is the story I wrote today.

Admit it, you thought that I either (a) forgot about the Miramonte League, or (b) thought I'd let the fact that I hardly know anything about three of the five teams stop me from making a prediction. Turns out you were wrong on both accounts. Apology accepted.

Roddy Layton is the type of coach I'd like to play for.
The second-year Diamond Ranch head football coach comes off first and foremost as a fiery motivator. It's apparent in his voice how much he cares about football and it's fast becoming obvious how contagious that is within his team. It beat the Daily Bulletin's then No. 1 team, Chino Hills, on Friday.
While Layton walks the line between cocky and confident - for example, he skipped past the scoreboard that read Diamond Ranch 28, Chino Hills 14 with his index finger aloft heading into halftime - he almost always falls on the correct side of it.