Mojave River League cross country results

I haven’t posted other league finals results on the blog, but I’ve written stories about several of them.
For Mojave River League, I’m not writing a story, so here are just the results. First the girls, where Serrano’s team and Stevie Gaskell of Sultana have the best chance to go to state. On the boys side, Sultana dethroned defending league champ Serrano.

MRL girls individuals

MRL girls team

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A look back at Serrano-Oak Hills football

I love games where there’s a lot of extra stuff to talk about afterwards.

Oak Hills- Serrano had stuff that was fun to talk about, but also had plenty of stuff you hate to have to talk about.

First, the fun stuff:

  • Great crowd at Oak Hills on both sides. It was THE game in the High Desert on Friday and fans from all over brought a great atmosphere.
  • Serrano’s win was well-deserved with a defense that has been solid all year.
  • What is the fallout of the game? I haven’t seen newest CIF-SS football polls, but I know San Gorgonio is very interested. San G. should be the new No. 1 in the Eastern Division. Oak Hills was No. 1, San G. No. 2 and San G. is the only remaining undefeated team in the division. San G. will likely need to remain undefeated to earn the No. 1 seed for the playoffs.

Now, the not-so-fun stuff:

  • Oak Hills star RB De Zhontaey Flecher was injured on the first play from scrimmage with an apparent season-ending ankle injury. It was a blow to Oak Hills, certainly, but also affected Serrano. The Diamondbacks’ victory will be discounted by some because Oak Hills was missing its biggest offensive weapon. But Serrano still deserved to win. After the injury, Oak Hills rallied to take the lead, only to see Serrano rally for the win.
  • Penalties, penalties, penalties. Each team had over 100 yards in penalties. I spent a half on each sideline, and I can tell you neither coach was happy with the officiating. The call that drew particular ire of Oak Hills coach Robert Kistner was an unsportsmanlike conduct call that went against his team in the fourth quarter. The player had just recorded a sack that (I believe) would’ve ended a Serrano drive. He celebrated, but officials thought it was taunting. It did not appear so to this observer. The drive continued and while Serrano didn’t score on the drive, it limited the time Oak Hills had to try and score in the final minutes.

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Football league predictions, then and now

OK, here we go, as all the remaining football leagues in the area start league play this week.

I will revisit my predictions in all the leagues. I predicted at the beginning of the season, and revising my predictions from what I know after 5 games.

AMBASSADOR LEAGUE
Before the season prediction
1. Ontario Chrisitan, 2. Aquinas, 3. LInfield Christian, 4. Calvary Murrieta, 5. Western Christian, 6. Arrowhead Christian.
Prediction now
1. Ontario Christian, 2. Western Christian, 3. Arrowhead Christian, 4. LInfield Christian, 5. Aquinas, 6. Calvary Murrieta.
Why the change: Western and ACA are better than expected, both at 5-0, but I don’t think they can knock off the experience of Ontario Christian.
BASELINE LEAGUE
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New league alignment for 2014-16 for Citrus Belt Area

At Monday’s meeting at Arroyo Valley, proposal No. 19, one submitted by Riverside Norte Vista, was the winning bid.

Here’s a look at how the leagues will look for 2 years beginning in the fall of 2014, beginning with leagues that have San Bernardino County schools. New schools in that league in bold:

CITRUS BELT LEAGUE
Cajon, Carter, Citrus Valley, Eisenhower, Miller, Redlands, Redlands East Valley, Yucaipa.
DE ANZA LEAGUE
Big Bear, Desert Hot Springs, Desert Mirage, Rancho Mirage, Shadow Hills, Twentynine Palms, Xavier Prep, Yucca Valley.
DESERT SKY LEAGUE
Adelanto, Barstow, Granite Hills, Silverado, Victor Valley

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Serrano looking to win one more

The past four seasons have seen the Serrano football team progress an additional step toward a CIF championship. The Diamondbacks have gone from losing in the first round in 2006 to the quarterfinals in 2007 to the semifinals in 2008 to the Eastern Division championship game last year. Serrano fell in that game, 24-14 to Palm Springs, but logical progression suggests that the Diamondbacks will win a CIF championship this year. Don’t expect Serrano coach Ray Maholchic to subscribe to that line of thinking though.

“We haven’t talked about the CIF title game since it happened,” Maholchic said. “That’s not something we are thinking about. It takes a lot of good fortune to get to that point once you get in the playoff. We talk about winning the league title first and then worry about the other stuff when it comes.”

Serrano lost two Division I athletes in defensive end Everett Beed (San Diego State) and running back Dionza Bradford (UNLV) from last year’s CIF runner-up, but the Diamondbacks won’t be hurting for experience, as they return four-fifths of their starting offensive line, their quarterback and their leading tackler.
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Citrus Belt Area releaguing is in

Got back from the releaguing meeting at Norte Vista High School a couple of hours ago and here are the new leagues. A detailed story of the proceedings can be found in Saturday’s paper.

Here are the schools that moved:
Banning – Mountain Pass League to a brand-new league
Carter – Citrus Belt League to San Andreas League
Hemet – Sunbelt League to Mountain Pass League
Hemet West Valley – Sunbelt League to Mountain Pass League
Menifee Heritage – Mountain Pass League to Sunbelt League
Rialto – Citrus Belt League to San Andreas League
Rim of the World – Mojave River League to a brand-new league
Riverside Notre Dame – Mountain Pass League to a brand-new league
Riverside Rubidoux – Mountain Pass League to a brand-new league
Temescal Canyon – Southwestern League to Sunbelt League

Brand-new schools:
Citrus Valley – brand-new league
Jurupa Hills – brand-new league
Mesa Murrieta – Southwestern League
Oak Hills – Mojave River League

And now, the actual leagues:

BIG XII (remains the same)
Corona Centennial
Corona High
Corona Santiago
Eastvale Roosevelt
Norco
Riverside King
Riverside North
Riverside Poly

CITRUS BELT LEAGUE (drops from 8 teams to 6)
Eisenhower
Fontana
Miller
Redlands
Redlands East Valley
Yucaipa

DE ANZA LEAGUE (the same)
Big Bear
Desert Hot Springs
Desert Mirage
Twentynine Palms
Yucca Valley

DESERT SKY LEAGUE (the same)
Barstow
Granite Hills
Ridgecrest Burroughs
Silverado
Victor Valley

INLAND VALLEY LEAGUE (the same)
Moreno Valley Canyon Springs
Moreno Valley High
Moreno Valley Rancho Verde
Moreno Valley Valley View
Moreno Valley Vista del Lago
Riverside Arlington
Riverside La Sierra
Riverside Ramona

MOJAVE RIVER LEAGUE (Oak Hills for Rim)
Apple Valley
Hesperia
Oak Hills
Serrano
Sultana

MOUNTAIN PASS LEAGUE (8 teams to 6)
Beaumont
Hemet High
Hemet Tahquitz
Hemet West Valley
Perris Citrus Hill
San Jacinto

NEW LEAGUE (6 teams)
Banning
Citrus Valley
Jurupa Hills
Rim of the World
Riverside Notre Dame
Riverside Rubidoux

SAN ANDREAS LEAGUE (6 teams to 8)
Arroyo Valley
Cajon
Carter
Colton
Pacific
Rialto
San Bernardino
San Gorgonio

SOUTHWESTERN LEAGUE (Mesa Murrieta for Temescal Canyon)
Mesa Murrieta
Murrieta Valley
Vista Murrieta
Temecula Chaparral
Temecula Great Oak
Temecula Valley

SUNBELT LEAGUE (Temescal Canyon and Heritage for West Valley, Hemet)
Lake Elsinore Lakeside
Menifee Heritage
Menifee Paloma Valley
Perris
Temescal Canyon
Wildomar Elsinore

SUNKIST LEAGUE (same)
Bloomington
Kaiser
Riverside Jurupa Valley
Riverside Norte Vista
Riverside Patriot
Summit

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