UPDATED: Corona Centennial’s coaching staff blows it, opens door for kicker to share blame for shocking, upset loss to Palo Alto in state bowl championship …

EDITOR’S NOTE: I updated the wording of this post to drive home to all of you the magnitude of Corona Centennial’s loss … because God knows you won’t get it put to you like this anywhere else.

The Corona Centennial coaching staff, whose biggest clutch decision this year has been what time to get off the bus, blew it on Friday night at the worst possible time.

Trailing 15-13 to Palo Alto with 35 seconds left, the Huskies’ coaching staff decided to send kicker Ezequiel Rivera out for a 42-yard field attempt on fourth-and-8 from the Palo Alto 25.

Naturally, Rivera’s kick in a driving rain storm, on a rain-soaked field, wasn’t even close. The loss ended Corona Centennial’s bid to be considered the best team in the country after a season in which the Huskies gained the most yardage in California state history.

Following the miss, Rivera was inconsolable on the Centennial sideline and coach Matt Logan came over to hug and try to calm his kicker down. What Logan was hopefully doing was apologizing for shifting all or some of the blame for the loss to Rivera, who he sent out in an impossible situation.

Blame for the loss actually belongs to Logan and what seems like a 30-man coaching staff for being thoroughly out-coached by Palo Alto’s Earl Hansen and his staff.

How many coaches does Centennial have on its staff? Twenty? Thirty?

For the first time all season, Logan and Co. had to coach in the clutch. Centennial’s average margin of victory this season was 37 points per game, so you can understand their deer-in-the-headlights look when they were actually in a competitive game and had to come up with something to pull their kids through.

Instead, what should have been a final drive that put the stamp on one of the best seasons ever ended with Logan essentially deflecting blame by sending his kicker out in a near-impossible situation.

Centennial’s final drive started at the Palo Alto 43 with 2:33 left in the game. To only gain 18 yards in that amount of time with the best offense in state history is an embarrassment.

And for those blaming the rain, let me remind you that Palo Alto QB Christoph Bono, the son of former NFL QB Steve Bono, was able to throw for over 220 yards.

The move for Logan to make was to go for it on fourth down and let his all-everything QB Michael Eubank make something happen. To send Rivera out was tantamount to waving the white flag and letting a player take all or part of the blame for a loss that belong squarely to Logan and his staff.

Did anybody else just hear Matt Millen mention Monrovia? …

I was in a semi-daze, but I swear NFL Network color man Matt Millen just said “Doesn’t matter if you’re Monrovia High School, which just won a championship, Marin Roman Catholic High School, which is about to play for a championship, or in the NFL, you have to be playing your best ball at this time of year.”

This was during the Chargers-49ers broadcast.

West Covina to play Loyola in Week 1 next season …

West Covina will play Loyola in Week 1 next season. That’s after the Bulldogs face Covina in Week 0. As many of you know, Bulldogs coach Mike Maggiore likes to step up and play the big boys because he feels his program is one of the big boys.

With two CIF titles in seven years, he just might be right.

Aram’s take: I’ve always said that WestCo has an amazing talent base, especially if the kids stay home and don’t go to Amat, South Hills or Los Altos, as they’ve done in the past and somewhat continue to still do. Well, you can scratch LA off that list and I’m getting the feeling that WestCo may even start to become the beneficiary of kids from outside its area wanting to come in and play for the Bulldogs. There’s no reason why the Bulldogs aren’t a SoCal power and that’s obviously what Maggiore has them on the verge of becoming. Now, can they beat Loyola? Heck, I’m not even sure they can beat Covina, given that Covina will have one of its best teams in years next season. Should be awesome.

Former Los Altos coach and 2000 Tribune Player of the Year Felipe Aguilar to join coaching staff at Arroyo …

Felipe Aguilar, who resigned as head coach at his alma mater Los Altos after just two seasons, has accepted a teaching position at Arroyo and will join Jim Singiser’s staff as receivers/running backs coach.

Aguilar, a former standout quarterback at Los Altos, was the Tribune’s Player of the Year in 2000. He served as head coach at Los Altos for two seasons, compiling a 4-16 record before resigning last offseason.

Aguilar was an assistant coach at Rowland this past season.

Aram’s take: Could be the just beginning of a dynamite staff being built by Singiser. Stay tuned …

FINAL All-Encompassing SGV(N) Top 25 for 2010 …

Here’s is your final all-encompassing Top 25 for 2010.

1. West Covina (13-1) — Season for the ages ends with thrilling Southeast title. Scary in ’11, too?
2. La Habra (11-3) — Won 9 straight to close year with 4th straight CIF title.
3. Chino Hills (10-3) — Strong close to season ended with giving Centennial a scare.
4. Bishop Amat (9-2) — Took a step back this year, but lots to look forward to in ’11
5. Bonita (12-2) — Bearcats were just under two minutes from being CIF champs
6. Monrovia (12-2) — Resounding win in Mid-Valley final quiets all doubters for good
7. La Serna (11-2) — Old-school tactics led Lancers to best finish in years
8. Whittier Christian (12-2) — Not bad for a school with 650 kids. Sad to see Worthy go.
9. Cantwell (10-2) — Still a great season despite attrition at entirely the wrong time
10. Covina (10-2) — One of the teams we’re looking forward to most in ’11.
11. San Dimas (8-5) — Saints came up huge in postseason to numb so-so regular season
12. Claremont (7-4) — Bad late-season collapse, but still beat Chino Hills and Charter Oak
13. St. Francis (6-5) — Replaced a lot and still had so-so year in rough Mission League
14. Azusa (10-1) — Perfect regular season, but mistake-laded loss to VC stings
15. Arcadia (7-4) — Apaches going in the right direction after ’10 turnaround
16. Muir (7-5) — Finished strong, but got yellow-carded against Bonita
17. Arroyo (9-2) — If Knights get by San Dimas, who knows? But still a solid year
18. Charter Oak (6-5) — Beat who they should, but fell short against the rest
19. St. Paul (6-4) — Record was better than most would’ve imagined back in Aug.
20. Schurr (7-5) — Won the Almont, then gave M-Town its best game in the playoffs
21. La Mirada (7-4) — Disappointing year considering the preseason hype
22. Diamond Ranch (5-6) — Question is, will Panthers be better or worse in ’11?
23. Maranatha (8-4) — Hung tough in great league, will be even better in ’11
24. Walnut (6-5) — Mustangs banged hard in Hacienda, then almost stunned seeded La Serna
25. Rosmead (8-4) — Second in league, but won playoff game