Marcus Soward resigns at Miller

Miller football coach Marcus Soward announced his resignation on Friday night after the Rebels finished a 1-9 season. He had told the administration on Monday.

“I had no guarantee of a teaching job next year,” Soward said. “I have a 5-year-old son and I had to do what was best.”

Soward said he didn’t know if the poor season was a reason he was not guaranteed a teaching job for next year. He was 6-14 in two seasons at Miller after arriving from Arroyo Valley. Continue reading

Friday/Saturday prep football predictions

Here are my predictions for Friday and Saturday prep football games. All games Friday except where indicated.

AMBASSADOR LEAGUE
Ontario Christian 48, Western Christian 12
Calvary Murrieta 35, Arrowhead Christian 7
Aquinas 34, Linfield Christian 12
BASELINE LEAGUE
Upland 45, Etiwanda 7
Los Osos 41, Glendora 24

Continue reading

How/why Eisenhower beat Redlands

Here are some thoughts as to why Eisenhower beat Redlands 14-7 on Thursday, claiming a share of the Citrus Belt League title, Eisenhower’s first CBL title since 2002.

  1. Turnovers. Redlands turned the ball over 3 times, Eisenhower none. Redlands’ first turnover, when Jerrion Burton intercepted a Jimmy Walker pass in the first quarter, led to the first Eisenhower touchdown after Burton returned it to the Redlands 49. The third turnover was an interception by Niguel Lee of a Walker pass in the end zone in the third quarter. Eisenhower scored on the next drive to take the lead for good. Continue reading

Thursday’s prep football predictions

Here are my predictions for Thursday’s San Bernardino County prep football games. I plan on putting up Friday’s predictions later tonight.

  • BASELINE LEAGUE
  • Rancho Cucamonga 38, Alta Loma 6
  • CITRUS BELT LEAGUE
  • Redlands 24, Eisenhower 14
  • MT. BALDY LEAGUE
  • Ontario 34, Garey 27
  • SUNKIST LEAGUE
  • Summit 48, Colton 6

Week 9 Prep football predictions

Welcome to the new blog site! It looks different, but we at the Los Angeles Newspaper Group are changing blogging systems, so that’s why. It’s still the same Sun prep sports blog.
Anyway, here are Week 9 prep football predictions:
AMBASSADOR LEAGUE
Western Christian 35, Arrowhead Christian 7
Ontario Christian 48, Linfield Christian 14
Aquinas 41, Calvary Murrieta 27
BASELINE LEAGUE
Upland 48, Alta Loma 0
Glendora 27, Etiwanda 17
Rancho Cucamonga 38, Los Osos 10
CITRUS BELT LEAGUE
Cajon 28, Miller 7
Redlands East Valley 24, Eisenhower 21
Redlands 31, Yucaipa 24 (Redlands RB Craig Lee a “game-time decision”)
DE ANZA LEAGUE
Big Bear 28, Shadow Hills 21
Yucca Valley 26, Desert Hot Springs 20
Twentynine Palms 20, Desert Mirage 6
DESERT SKY LEAGUE
Silverado 31, Barstow 21
Ridgecrest Burroughs 27, Victor Valley 14
MOJAVE RIVER LEAGUE
Serrano 48, Hesperia 7
Oak Hills 45, Sultana 14
MOUNTAIN VALLEY LEAGUE
Citrus Valley 35, Banning 32 (Citrus Valley again knocks off a league unbeaten)
Jurupa Hills 42, Riverside Notre Dame 21
Rim of the World 42, Rubidoux 17
MT. BALDY LEAGUE
Chino 40, Colony 37
Don Lugo 48, Garey 20
Montclair 26, Ontario 14
SAN ANDREAS LEAGUE
Carter 62, Pacific 0
San Gorgonio 20, Arroyo Valley 13
Rialto 33, San Bernardino 15
SIERRA LEAGUE
Chino Hills 41, Damien 17
Ayala 27, South Hills 17
SUNKIST LEAGUE
Summit 56, Bloomington 0
Colton 41, Fontana 20
Kaiser 49, Grand Terrace 8

 

Redlands’ Craig Lee OK after leaving game

Redlands coach Jim Walker reported x-rays on the star UCLA-bound running back Craig Lee are negative. His right shoulder only has a deep bruise and is questionable for this week’s game against Yucaipa.
Lee left Friday’s 41-37 Smudge Pot victory over Redlands after falling awkwardly on his arm on a carry with less than five minutes left in the fourth quarter. He did not return to the game.

Error gave Redlands early lead en route to 41-37 Smudge Pot win

There were many reasons why Redlands downed Redlands East Valley 41-37 to win the Smudge Pot for the first time since 2006 on Friday night.
Redlands ran the ball very well, and Jimmy Walker was impressive throwing the ball. Outside of an interception early in the third quarter, Redlands was able to move the ball whenever it needed to, including running out the clock at the end of the game the final 4:38.
It was a mistake early on though, that put the Terriers on their way.
On the game’s second possession, and REV’s first, REV went back to punt. Punter Jonathon Stafford couldn’t handle the snap. If REV was farther back or if Stafford had fallen on it in the end zone, it would’ve been a safety. As it was, Anthony Aguila picked up the fumbled snap and ran it into the end zone from the 1.
Aguila’s touchdown gave RHS an early 7-0 lead.
Although REV answered right back, Redlands never trailed in the game.

Although I disagreed with it at the time, REV coach Kurt Bruich’s decision to go for 2 (when trailing 28-23) midway through the 3rd quarter did not have an impact on the final outcome.
Final box score did not make the paper, Here it is:
Continue reading

Apple Valley’s Tyler Murphy: 316 yards rushing, 5 TDs

Apple Valley’s Tyler Murphy had two good games in one half on Thursday night.

The senior, 5-foot-9, 165-pound running back finished the night with 16 carries for 316 yards and five touchdowns, all in the first three quarters of Apple Valley’s 49-3 Mojave River League win over Sultana.

But Murphy had 12 carries for 268 yards and four touchdowns in the first half alone, when Apple Valley took a 28-3 lead at intermission.

Murphy was extremely modest after the game, wanting this reporter to interview his offensive line instead. Of course, Murphy can give credit to his o-line, but people really want to hear what he has to say after that kind of performance.

San Bernardino football will forfeit

San Bernardino High School’s football team will forfeit this Friday’s San Andreas League opener against Carter as a result of its brawl last Friday.
The brawl against Palm Desert will result in each team forfeiting its games this week.
The CIF-SS announced Wednesday that the number of player suspensions would be too great to allow either team to play this week.

REV takes another tough loss

Redlands East Valley football has now played three teams currently ranked in the top 10 in the state, according to Cal-Hi Sports: No. 3 Vista Murrieta, No. 6 Mission Viejo, and No. 9 Ventura St. Bonaventure.

The first game was promsing, an 18-7 loss to St. Bonaventure.
But the second was a Vista Murrieta blowout, 59-14 blowout.
The third, on Friday night, was a 52-21 blowout at the hands of Mission Viejo. It was 28-0 in the second quarter, 35-14 at halftime, and 52-14 until REV scored on the final play of the game.

Coach Kurt Bruich wants his team battle-tested for the playoffs, so whether this helps REV in the long run, won’t be known until we get to November.