Upland holds, goes 3 and out

Los Osos got the first down after the recovered fumble but the Highlander D bowed up, forcing the Grizzlies to punt. Los Osos QB Blake Loncar was sacked by a host of Highlanders led by Marcus Gluck on a 2nd-and-5 from the Upland 45, killing whatever momentum the Grizzlies had built up from the turnover.

Upland is now punting on its 2nd possession. Scoreless tie, 4:44 left in the first.

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Almost kickoff

I published my first entry a little late – must be having pre-game jitters of my own. Anyway, the national anthem was just sung by some Upland student and the teams are about to do the coin flip.

The student doing the national anthem had a good voice, but she seemed to miss a line near the end. We’ll see if that’s karma for the Highlanders. Kickoff to come in about 5 minutes.

Crowd is kind of sparse, leaving Lou Brewster to chime in with a quote from former Riverside Poly coach Mike Churchill – “Got to wait until cocktail hour is over before they show up.”

Well, Grizzly and Highlander fans, its time to start chugging, as this one is about to get going.

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20 minutes until Los Osos-Upland

Just got situated here at Citrus College, where it’s perfect football weather – if you are from the Midwest. Its about 50 degrees with a light mist/fog and you can see your breath. I like seeing my breath, so its all good – though I wish I had remembered that Citrus had an open-air press box.

Anyway, according to esteemed colleague and boss Louis Brewster, there was a mini-trashtalk brouhaha at midfield between the two teams about 20 minutes ago. No punches or pushes – just good, old-fashioned woofing for a good old-fashioned Baseline League game.

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Championship predictions

Well, we are down to the nitty gritty here. The Central and Inland Divisions have blown up on me, leaving Serrano and St. Margaret’s as my only chances to predict champions (though with St. Margaret’s, getting that prediction right is akin to pick the Lakers to win the Pacific Division). Let’s see how we do in the final week.

Central Division
Los Osos vs. Upland
Really tough game to figure out. On one side you have the Grizzlies, who have won seven games in a row and are exploding scoreboards with their point totals. No brainer pick, right? Not exactly. The last team they lost to was, drumroll please, Upland, and in shutout fashion no less. The Highlanders can choke out even the most explosive offenses, giving up only 27 points in three playoff games.
So do you go with the hot team? Or with the adage of defense wins championships? I’m going with the second, as Upland will finish the job this year after losing in the finals last season.
Upland 17, Los Osos 13

Eastern Division
Serrano at Palm Springs
I proceeded to pick against Palm Springs last week in their matchup with Kaiser, only to see the Cardinals destroy the Cats 41-0. I also caught some guff about it from Palm Springs coach Steve Fabian. Either he’s got some moles in San Bernardino County or we have some readers in the Low Desert. Either way, I’m going back to the well. I picked Serrano when the playoffs started and nothing since has convinced me to back off that pick. If anything, watching them score 49 points against Norte Vista reaffirmed my faith in the Diamondbacks.
Serrano 27, Palm Springs 21

East Valley Division
St. Margaret’s at Ontario Christian
The Knights have been an awesome story. Veteran coach Laing Stevens comes back from retirement and does his thing, getting Ontario Christian back to the finals unexpectedly. It’s not like the Knights are getting lucky either, as they just blasted Grace Brethren 45-0 last week. OC is peaking and looking good. However, St. Margaret’s is the gold standard of small-school football. Three CIF titles in a row and a state championship speak for themselves and while I expect OC to come out swinging, I think the fairy-tale run comes just short.
St. Margaret’s 26, Ontario Christian 14

And just because I can…
Inland Division
Vista Murrieta 38, Temecula Chaparral 31

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All-star roster moves

The first of what likely will be many were announced today, as Granite Hills tight end Bryce Quigley is replacing Rancho Cucamonga tight end Randal Telfer while Redlands linebacker Cole Gridley replaces Kaiser linebacker Josh Shirley. Telfer is out with an injured shoulder, according to an e-mail sent by San Bernardino coach Kurt Bruich, while Shirley will be playing in the U.S. Army All-American game in San Antonio instead.

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Los Osos-Upland live blogging

Just to let you guys know I’ll be blogging the Central Division championship game from Citrus College. I’ve done this in the past, but I keep forgetting to let people know about it. So if you can’t make it out, you can get real-time updates on this blog tomorrow starting around 6:30 p.m.

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