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Aaron Jamieson has been approved as the new head football coach at Pomona High School, according to athletic director Joe Biagioni. Jamieson was an assistant at Pomona the last two years under Anthony Rice, who resigned Jan. 13.

"Aaron is a good coach with a lot of energy," Biagioni said. "He is also a very good teacher as well. He has the background and experience and is ready to be a head coach. The fact that Aaron has been a part of the staff and foundation that Anthony Rice has established will help make the transition smoother."

Jamieson was an assistant at Carter from 2005-2007 before joining Rice's staff at Colony in 2008 to coach defensive backs and running backs. In addition to coaching the Red Devils, Jamieson has been a teacher at Pomona the last two years.

Anthony Rice resigned Friday after two seasons as the Pomona High School head football coach, opting to focus his efforts on seeking an administrative position. After winning two CIF-SS Central Division championships in four seasons at Colony High School, Rice was hired at Pomona prior to the 2010 season. Pomona went 5-5 in Rice's first season before ending a seven-year playoff drought last season by posting a 6-5 mark good for a third-place finish in the Valle Vista League.

"I think we made good progress, but it was harder than I thought it would be," Rice said. "When I first came on here, my thing was to try and get into administration. I told my wife it would be a two-year thing from the beginning."

Just before Christmas break, Rice told Pomona principal Roger Fasting and athletic director Joe Biagioni he was considering resignation. The two convinced Rice to consider his options over the break, but he returned only to officially resign on Jan 13.

Offensive Player of the Year: Steven Rivera, Arroyo, 12
Defensive Player of the Year: Brett Walsh, Monrovia, 11
Coach of the Year: Ryan Maddox, Monrovia

OFFENSE
Running back
Amjed Aboul-hosn, Village Christian, 12
Sir Darius Yarbrough, Pomona, 12
J.R. Nelson, Hacienda Hacienda Wilson, 12
Marquise Bias, Monrovia, 12
Desmond Reed, Azusa, 12
Quarterback:
Andy Guerrero, San Gabriel, 12
Billy Livingston, Covina, 12

Gone are the days when the San Dimas High School football team won its Valle Vista League games by an average of 34 points. Though it was only two years ago when the Saints mowed down their first three league opponents by a combined score of 126-0 on the way to the schools' first CIF football championship, much changed last season.

San Dimas didn't just lose out on the league title, it finished third in 2010. After dropping a dramatic game to Baldwin Park, the Saints had a chance to earn a share of the league title but fell to Covina, the same team that happens to be currently ranked one spot ahead of them entering Valle Vista League play tonight.

Fresh off a victory over defending CIF-SS Mid-Valley champion Monrovia, San Dimas (3-1) has risen to No. 3 in the CIF rankings, but league foe Covina (3-1) is resting comfortably at No. 2.

"Covina is looking to be a league champion and a CIF champion as well," San Dimas coach Bill Zernickow said. "They're very good and their program has been doing well at the lower levels too."

Imagine beginning the season with a playoff game. Imagine losing that game. Season's over, right?

That's probably what it felt like for the San Dimas High School football team after losing to Bonita Sept. 1 in the annual Smudge Pot game, arguably the most meaningful on the schedule prior to December. Scheduled for Week 0 this year, the rivalry game not only went in favor of Bonita, the Bearcats gave a rude awakening to a San Dimas team with championship aspirations, 40-20.

"With the emotion involved in that type of game, a lot of guys could have thrown in the towel," San Dimas coach Bill Zernickow said. "But there was no complaining, no moping. They just said, `Let's clean this up."'

Shawn Kennedy may have had to recover from a sore neck, too, given the swiveling required to watch the San Dimas High School football team's aerial attack last season.
The Saints senior, who missed 2010 with a shoulder injury after quarterbacking the team to a CIF-SS championship in 2009, will get to partake in the ramped-up passing game when he returns this year.

Well, maybe nobody needed a neck brace, but by San Dimas standards coach Bill Zernickow called for an extraordinary amount of passes last season. As a sophomore, Kennedy's Valle Vista League and CIF-SS Mid-Valley Division championship team had 101 more rushing attempts than last year's team. The Saints team that finished third in league and exited the playoffs courtesy of a 33-point semifinal loss to eventual CIF-SS champ Monrovia last season, had 70 more pass attempts than during Kennedy's sophomore season.

"Last year we threw it the most we've ever thrown it here," Zernickow said. "This year we're going to throw it a lot, too. We've always known Shawn can do it. We wanted to give him the opportunity as soon as we could."

Football coaches around the Valle Vista League take on a certain tone when addressing Pomona High School's prospects this season. As was the case last season, the growing amout of talent at the school is aknowledged but the lack of results rings true as well.

Of course, 2011 will be just the second season at Pomona for head coach Anthony Rice, who won CIF titles at Colony in 2006 and 2007. The results in year two will be a much more revealing indicator of where the Red Devils are headed as they try to break a seven-year postseason drought.

"Our expectations are to be better than last year," Rice said. "We want to make sure we're in the running for the playoffs. I hope we've got a good shot because we've got a pretty good team."

MVP: Courtney Hine, San Dimas, Sr.

First Team
P: Ana Mejia, Northview, Fr.
P: Elizabeth Celaya, San Dimas, So.
P: Anita Llevanos, Wilson, Jr.
INF: Sarina Jaramillo, Northview, So.
INF: Jazmin Chavez, Northview, Sr.
INF: Molly Ross, Covina, Jr.
INF: Miah Fernandez, Pomona, So.
INF: Aleena Avalos, San Dimas, Sr.
INF: Sarah Moore, San Dimas, Sr.
OF: Mercedes Menchaca, Northview, Sr.
OF: Candice Orozco, Covina, Jr.
OF: Blanca Lopez, Baldwin Park, Sr.
C: Janell Wheaton, San Dimas, Fr.
UTL: Erinn Jaramillo, Northview, So

MVP: Matt Lee, San Dimas, Sr.

First Team
P: Jason Martinez, Covina, Sr.
P: Steven Baltierra, Wilson, Sr.
P: Eddie Gutierrez, Baldwin Park, Jr.
INF: Andrew Carillo, Covina, Jr.
INF: Matt Munoz, San Dimas, Sr.
INF: Brandon Yepiz, San Dimas, Sr.
INF: Fernando Gonzalez, Baldwin Park, Sr.
OF: Albert Lemus, Nogales, Jr.
OF: Bobby Fraijo, San Dimas, Sr.
OF: Vinny Venegas, Covina, Jr.
C: Nick Hynes, Covina, Jr.
C: Ryan Dominguez, Baldwin Park, Sr.
UTL: Rames Nava, Covina, Sr.
UTL: Jake Ehret, San Dimas, Sr.

San Dimas offensive tackle Allen Brown committed to Fresno State last weekend during his official visit to Fresno. The 6-foot-4, 272-pound senior also had scholarship offers from UNLV, Colorado State, Montana State and San Jose State. Brown, a first-team All-Valley offensive lineman, helped San Dimas to 407 yards per game. He won a CIF title with the Saints in 2010 and helped the team to the semifinals this season.

Back of the year: Vinny Venegas, Covina, Jr.
Co-Lineman of the year: Allen Brown, San Dimas, Sr; Wardell Crutchfield, Baldwin Park, Sr.

FIRST TEAM
Offense
QB: Billy Livingston, Covina, Jr
QB: Demetrius Counts, Pomona, Sr.
QB: Mario Rodriguez, Baldwin Park, Sr.
RB: Jordan Taylor, San Dimas, SR.
RB: Marquise Thomas, Northview, Sr.
WR: Demetrius Jackson, Baldwin Park, Sr.
WR: Kevin Kolbeck, San Dimas, Sr.
WR: Peter De La Cruz, Covina, Jr.
WR: Vinny Venegas, Covina, Jr.
TE: Samuel Guillen, Baldwin Park, Jr.

Last season San Dimas and Baldwin Park met in the final game of the regular season to determine the Valle Vista League champion, with San Dimas emerging to not only take the league title but the CIF-SS Mid-Valley Division championship as well. The two teams play a little earlier this season and with records not as shiny as the 8-1 mark with which each entered last season's clash, but a league championship could be on the line just the same when they meet Friday at San Dimas.

Schedule changes: San Dimas (3-2) and Baldwin Park (1-4) may not win any beauty contests at this point but difficult nonleague schedules in 2010 may have each playing better than last season.

Pomona isn't usually the subject of the most curiosity in the Inland Valley. Given that it has a two-time CIF champion coach on the sideline this year, the Red Devils might be the most intriguing team in 2009. Pomona appeared on the rise last season, raising the stakes for this year, but consider that the five teams they beat during a 5-1 start averaged 1.6 wins last year.

Due to a slightly deceiving 6-4 record in 2009, I think a lot of people expect coach Anthony Rice, who won a pair of CIF Central Division titles in four years at Colony, to step in a lead Pomona to its first playoff appearance since 2003. That's a pretty tall order, especially considering he lost his best player a couple weeks ago when running back Taj Teague transferred to Claremont.

"It's a work in progress," Rice said. "We want to pick up where they left off last year when they took a solid leap forward. We want to work hard, add a little more discipline and focus on the little things to win games."

Bill Zernickow sounded practically as happy a few days ago as he did through the press box wall at Citrus College on Dec. 12 - only a little less muffled. Winning the first CIF championship in school history will do that to somebody, muchless if you defeat the No. 1 seed in a dramatic six-point, rain-soaked victory. "It's something you can take to your grave," Zernickow said.

Fortunately for San Dimas, the Saints can probably afford to be a little fat and happy considering they return 14 starters from the team that went 13-1 in 2009. The entire offensive and defensive lines are back as are playmakers Jordan Taylor and Dillon Corona.

But it's not all gravy for San Dimas. One of those returning starters, junior quarterback Shawn Kennedy, is out until midseason with a shoulder injury suffered playing baseball. In Ryan Kohler and Tre Evans, the Saints graduated 2,374 rushing yards and 37 TDs.

After Pomona received a few incoming transfers from Colony this year, now the school is experiencing a significant one of the outgoing variety. Fred Robledo of the San Gabriel Valley Tribune got comfirmation from Pomona coach Anthony Rice that Pomona running back Taj Teague is transferring to Claremont, the school he attended as a freshman.

Teague, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound senior already with a few scholarship offers, could be the missing piece to a Claremont team with plenty of talent on offense everywhere except running back. Claremont was prepared to shift their best receiver, Tanner Kuramata, to tailback in obvious running situations before Teague's transfer. Already with the best quarterback and one of the best receivers in the area in addition to a senior-laden offensive line, Claremont is loaded.

Pomona will not challenge the transfer, according to Rice. "Let him play," Rice said. "I don't challenge anything, if he wants to go to Claremont so be it. I wish the kid the best of luck and hope he has a great senior year. You hate to lose a kid of that caliber, but it's his choice."

San Dimas head football coach Bill Zernickow, among others, provides some education on the Smudge Pot... and I don't just mean the annual rivalry football game between defending 2009 CIF champion San Dimas and Bonita that will be played Sept. 3 this year. That's 24 days from now!

As long as the two football players who transferred from Colony to Pomona High School were unaware at the time of their transfer of former Colony coach Anthony Rice's impending move to the Pomona sidelines, their transfers are legitimate. Both Makale McCobb and Gerald Kough, who played at Colony last season, transfered prior to Rice being hired as the head football coach at Pomona. Demetrius Counts, however, was ruled athletically ineligible for his senior year likely because Colony's second-leading rusher last season transferred to Pomona in June after Rice was hired in May.

"It would have to be proved that the 2 players in question knew Anthony (Rice) was going to be hired at Pomona prior to their transfers, in any event," CIF director of communication Thom Simmons said. "Had the two players transferred after Anthony was hired at Pomona, the office could possibly make a reasonable assumption that of prima facie evidence of a athletically motivated transfer. The same assumption is much more difficult when the transfer happens before."

Second-team all-Mt. Baldy League players in 2009, McCobb and Kough had their transfers to Pomona approved March 26 and Feb. 5, respectively. Rice resigned from Colony Feb. 3, accepted Pomona's job offer Feb. 25 and was hired in May.

Three players who were part of Colony High School's Mt. Baldy League championship football team last season have transferred to Pomona High School but one of them isn't eligible to play his senior season, according to the CIF Web site. Anthony Rice, who coached the Colony football team to two CIF championships during his four-year tenure that ended last season, took over as Pomona head coach in May but CIF rules prevent players from transferring to the same school as their coach.

Demetrius Counts, the second-leading rusher for Colony last season, transferred to Pomona June 14, per the CIF Web site, which states that he is denied eligibility in all sports for his final year of high school. Counts was also a starting guard for the prolific Colony basketball team. Rice was unavailable for comment.

Before transferring to Pomona, Makale McCobb, a second-team all Mt. Baldy League receiver as a junior at Colony last season, transferred to Ontario Christian in April or May, according to Colony athletic director Jaime Sandoval. The 6-foot-1, 170-pound senior-to-be is eligible for the upcoming season, according to the CIF Web site, due to a valid change of address and perhaps because McCobb didn't transfer directly from Colony to Pomona.

BASEBALL
MVP: Derek Penilla, Senior, Pitcher, San Dimas

first team
Pitcher: Jason Martinez, Covina
Pitcher: Eddie Pedroza, Northview
Pitcher: willie Gomez, Ganesha
Infielder: Shawn Kennedy, San Dimas
Infielder: Nick Hynes, Covina
Infielder: Fernando Gonzalez, Baldwin Park
Infielder: Bobby Ramos, Northview

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.

After his name has been linked to the job for weeks, Anthony Rice was hired as the Pomona High School head football coach on Thursday, pending school board approval.

Following two CIF championship seasons in four years at Colony High School, the Pomona native will be the fifth coach in seven seasons for a program that hasn't made the playoffs since winning the Valle Vista League in 2003.

"When people think of Pomona, they shed a negative light on it," Rice said. "But that's not how I think of Pomona because that's where I'm from. These kids are in the same boat I was in when I was growing up and I want to turn this program back into what it used to be."

Unlike when Rice was a record-setting running back at Garey High School, the Pomona Unified School district is saturated with new schools. The dispersed talent is the reason for Pomona football's lack of recent success but the Red Devils have the talent to end their playoff drought, according to Rice.

After two CIF championships in his four years at Colony High School, head football coach Anthony Rice resigned Tuesday, with his sights set on the head coaching job at Pomona High School.

Rice, 35, desires an administrative position, something that appears difficult to obtain at Colony amidst the financial crisis. His Jan. 25 application for the Pomona head coaching position isn't Rice's only link to the job, according to former Pomona head football coach John Brown.

After one year as coach, Brown resigned Jan. 8 on the premise that Rice was offered the Pomona head coaching position behind Brown's back, a claim Rice and Pomona principal Roger Fasting denied. Rice said he was never offered the head coaching position, but shortly after the season ended in November, Pomona athletic director Tom Sweeney contacted him about an offensive coordinator position under Brown.

Brown's resignation and Rice's application for the Pomona head coaching position are not related, according to Rice.

"It's very much a coincidence," Rice said. "Everybody can say what they want, but I have to go through the same process as everybody else that applied for the job. Let the naysayers fall where they may."

Pomona High School football coach John Brown resigned Jan. 8 on the premise that the school offered his job to Colony fourth-year head coach Anthony Rice soon after Brown's first and only season head coach. Rice said that in a conversation about two months ago with Pomona athletic director Tom Sweeney, Rice's friend and former colleague, Sweeney floated the idea of Rice joining Pomona's coaching staff as the offensive coordinator under Brown.

"I was never offered (Brown's) job," Rice said Tuesday. "Tom (Sweeney) was talking to me about being the offensive coordinator and I just laughed it off. It was kind of a joke... I'm already a head coach, so why would I go be an offensive coordinator? He was kind of serious about it but I just laughed it off."

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."

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

EASTERN DIVISION
Co-Offensive Players of the Year: Michael Karls, QB, Palm Springs, Sr. & Nephi Garcia, RB, Palm Springs, Jr.
Co-Defensive Players of the Year: Josh Shirley, LB, Kaiser, Sr. & Christian Spears, LB, Palm Springs, Sr.
Coach of the Year: Steve Fabian, Palm Springs

OFFENSE
Quarterback
Nigel Barksdale, San Jacinto, Sr., 6-0 180 12
Derrick Dison, Ridgecrest Burroughs, Jr., 6-0 175

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

Juston Winrow, who fittingly sealed San Dimas' first ever football CIF championship on Saturday by leveling Monrovia QB Nick Bueno in the end zone for a safety, was named the Valle Vista League's lineman of the year.

The 6-foot, 205-pound outside linebacker had 70 tackles and 18.5 sacks, including, of course, the one that punctuated San Dimas' rain-soaked 12-7 win over top-seeded Monrovia in the CIF-SS Mid-Valley Division final. As a tight end, Winrow was the Valle VIsta League champions' leading receiver with 20 receptions for 531 yards and four touchdowns.

Perhaps due in part to the evenly distributed carries in San Dimas' Wing-T offense, Baldwin Park senior Christian Lazaro was named the back of the year.

A season after snapping a state-record 49-game losing streak on the field (the Giants won twice via forfeit during a stretch that began in 2002) the Ganesha High School football team ended a 35-game Valle Vista League losing streak on Friday with a 16-10 victory over none other than defending league champion Covina Northview.

After not only breaking a streak that was cutting into its seventh year last season, but winning TWO games in 2008, even considering Friday's victory it would appear Ganesha is taking a step backward this season.

That's not the case.

Here is my guess at how the Valle Vista League will look at the end of league play:

San Dimas: 5-0
Covina: 4-1
Baldwin Park: 3-2
Pomona: 2-3
Covina Northview: 1-4
Ganesha: 0-5

It was a one-point loss to Northview that cost San Dimas the Valle Vista League championship last season. Judging by Northview's nonleague performance, that surely won't happen again.

I think San Dimas (4-1) actually had a better team last season, but the rest of the league hasn been far from impressive thus far. Covina (2-3) played Walnut close but that's about the only thing on its nonleague resume worth mention. Pomona (4-1) and Baldwin Park (4-1) played such soft nonleague schedules that they're difficult to gauge. Although both of their losses came to below average teams.

After considerable progress last season, Ganesha (0-5) has fallen off again. And Northview (1-4), last season's undefeated league champ, has only a victory over hapless Nogales through five games.

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

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

• I think Rancho Cucamonga High School's Greg Watson inspired me to believe he could play quarterback in college more last year than he is this year. The primary reason for that doesn't have much to do with Watson himself. Rancho Cucamonga is truly a running team this season; plus the Cougars graduated their two track-star receivers (No, seriously... Charles Saseun is at Cal on a track scholarship and Irshad Stoden is playing football at UNLV), in the process losing much of the opportunity to utilize Watson's most obvious passing strength, the deep ball. The reigning CIF-SS Central Division MVP hasn't had enough opportunity to find a passing rhythm, averaging five less attempts per game this season than he did last year. He is throwing for less than 150 yards per game whereas he averaged 189 last season. The good news is Watson's team appears it will have him on a big stage again this year but if he is to secure a Division I scholarship to play quarterback (in a quality program) some things are going to have to change.
• I think Kaiser cemented the fact it has successfully made the transition from legendary coach Dick Bruich to his longtime defensive coordinator Phil Zelaya with a 20-0 win over Cajon on Friday. The Cats' defense may not have produced a more impressive performance under Bruich than holding a Cajon team, then-ranked No. 2 in the Central Division, 50 points below its average. Yes, Cajon was averaging 50 points. Granted, Kaiser appears to have as much talent this season than it has had in recent memory (USC-bound RB Anthony Brown, touted LB Josh Shirley, etc.), but its hard to say Zelaya isn't maximizing it. It doesn't get any easier for Kaiser, who has Colony and Colton next on the docket before delving into an improved Sunkist League.
• I think I'm more than a little surprised Pomona is ranked No. 3 in the CIF-SS Mid-Valley Division. I realize the Red Devils are 3-0 but I think Pomona coach John Brown would agree that doesn't tell the entire story. Brown, in fact, was nothing less than disgusted with his team after a sloppy 14-0 victory over Alhambra Keppel on Thursday. Pomona's three opponents thus far have ratings on calpreps.com of -6.4, -13.2 and -24.2. Pomona's rating is 3.9 while the top-rated team in the Valle Vista League, San Dimas, is 16.6. Of course, San Dimas was voted into the No. 4 spot in the Mid-Valley Division behind you know who. The good news for Pomona is five of their final seven opponents have negative ratings on calpreps.com, including three Valle Vista League teams.

• I think Etiwanda QB Angel Santiago is ready to lead his team to contention for a Baseline League/CIF title (they're comparable accomplishments in the Central Division). Though this is his third year as a starter, I wasn't drinking the Kool-aid until I saw Santiago play Friday in a 37-27 loss to a Norco team anybody in the Central Division would have a tough time with. His numbers the past two seasons have been great but whenever I saw Santiago play, I was less than impressed. This year, not so much. He's got more zip on his passes, he's quicker to make decisions running and throwing and he's a better leader. Norco coach Todd Gerhart readily admitted nobody is going to stop Santiago for four quarters.
• I think Pomona has a realistic shot at the playoffs this season. The Red Devils liked to talk about the playoffs last year but really weren't terribly close to beating any of the three playoff teams in the Valle Vista League - their average margin of defeat to San Dimas, Northview and Covina was 17.7 points. Pomona has more visible talent this season than I can remember in my three years here. San Dimas will probably win the league but last year's champ, Northview, is having a rough season, to put it lightly. Pomona has a fightin' chance with Covina and Baldwin Park for those final two postseason berths.
• I think if Rancho Cucamonga beats Charter Oak in a battle of defending CIF champs, it could have the first real shot at a bowl game since California started the state-championship format. The odds are against Rancho running the table in the Baseline League with Etiwanda improved and Upland and Los Osos still strong. But they did it last year. Now they've got the star power to gain consideration for a bowl game. A win over a Charter Oak team that could win a second straight CIF title coupled with a second consecutive CIF championship for Rancho... there's a long way to go but for the first time the Inland Valley has a chance to land a team in a state championship game.

Besides making the playoffs, the Pomona High School football team has some lofty goals.

After a 29-0 win over Duarte Thursday night, Pomona's first-year head coach John Brown stated his desire for one player to give a college commitment every three weeks. Athletic quarterback Darrian Lewis has already committed to Eastern Michigan, where Ganesha HS grad Ron English is in the midst of his first season as a college head coach.

Next on the list, hopefully, is Pomona's 6-foot-6, 250-pound defensive end Deron Jefferson, said Brown.

Last year the Red Devils graduated cornerback Titus Teague to Louisville (where English was the defensive coordinator last season). His younger brother, Taj Teague, a promising looking junior, is hoping to continue the family tradition... and help build one that is apparently gaining steam at Pomona.

"A lot of people don't know about Pomona," Brown said, "and how we do things here."

Upon first glance, the San Dimas High School football team appears to have missed its best opportunity (by a single excruciating point, no less).

The Saints graduated 320 rushing yards per game and the entire offensive line from a team that rolled up 46 points per game... but lost a 40-39 heartbreaker to Covina Northview for last season's Valle Vista League title (before surprisingly dropping out of the playoffs in the quarterfinals).

Head coach Bill Zernickow believes he's reloading this season. The new backfield running his Wing-T is even bigger that last season's talented trio of Nico Barbone, Daniel Joseph and Erek Brown.

Football coach Dave Fleming's first season at Ganesha was a rousing success.

It consisted of two victories.

But when you haven't won a game on the field since the 2003 season-opener, winning not once but twice represents a mammoth leap. The former Diamond Ranch assistant ended a state-record losing streak on the field at 49 games (Ganesha won a couple of forfeits since the '03 season opener).

Had he switched the 6-1, 250-pound Justin Goytia from offensive line to fullback before the season, Fleming believes Ganesha could have improved exponentially.

"If I would have used Justin at fullback last year, we could have won six to eight games," Fleming said. "I'm not kidding, this kid has a chance to be special. It was my first year and that was a big mistake I made, not realizing that he could have helped us so much more."

This is a Thanksgiving themed story that ran in Thursday's paper... Many football players claim their team as family but San Dimas sophomore Cawatas Brown actually had to choose between his real family and his football team.

Pomona High School running back Titus Teague didn't say anything for about five minutes. He was stunned to silence when Pomona head football coach Don Cayer told him Louisville was going to offer him a scholarship.

Wednesday night the senior was offered by Louisville defensive coordinator Ron Engish, a Ganesha graduate. He verbally committed on the spot, according to Cayer.

After a co-championship last year, I think this is the year San Dimas will emerge as the clear class of this league... and with the Saints' move to the Mid-Valley Division, maybe as the class of that too.

San Dimas' nonleague schedule isn't particularly revealing. The Saints rolled over inferior opponents with the possible exception of a good Bonita team than only lost by 17. But then, there are plenty of good teams capable of being blown out by San Dimas; it didn't schedule giants, but it handled inferior teams the way it should have.

The Ganesha High School football team halted its California prep football-record losing streak at 49 tonight.

Ganesha alum, and current Diamond Ranch head coach, Roddy Layton left me a message late Thursday night informing me that the Giants had toppled Covina Gladstone. I haven't been able to track down a score yet.

It took first-year head coach David Fleming just two games to end a losing streak that began after Ganesha won its 2003 season opener (the Giants did win two games via forfeit during that stretch).

I was present during Ganesha's 40-13 season-opening loss last Thursday (during which the Giants showed some promise, trailing just 21-13 at the half) but, of course, was not around to see what was undoubtedly a raucous celebration tonight. Congrats on the victory Ganesha.