So I’m reading Little Steevie R.’s game story about Charter Oak’s win over Chino on Friday and I see this:
Matthew Takata threw for 409 yards and three touchdowns and Charter Oak got its legendary coach his magic number Friday with a 45-21 victory over host Chino …
WAIT A SECOND, WHAT???? Matthew Takata? Steevie made a mistake. A roster screw up, or something. It happens. Wait nooooooooooooo, this wasn’t a mistake. Charter Oak has another legit QB!!!??? Los Altos head coach Dale Ziola was right, quarterbacks fall out of trees at Charter Oak.
I’m totally lost. I was at the game when Bret Clemetson got hurt. The kid who filled in was Zack Niccoli. And that’s who was under center in subsequent games … until last night. Ya follow? I sure don’t. I’m totally lost. Where was CO hiding Takata?
Before we go any further, let’s rewind. In the early and mid-2000s, I used to call coaches in summer and ask who they got as far as transfers. And ALL the coaches I covered used to rattle off name after name after name. It was almost bragodocious. But then they all started going stealth. “We didn’t get anyone in.” … yeah right. “You’ll have to see in Week 0 … I don’t want to say anything.” … yeah sure … “Don’t print anything, but we got (fill in the blank)” … yeah okay.
But all that stopped in the late 2000s when it became uncool to be Transfer Central. And getting a bunch of guys in drew unwanted scrutiny from CIF and area fans. Now, everyone wants to be stealth. “Coach, who’s that 6-foot-3, 200-pound linebacker I never knew you had?” … “Oh yeah, that’s Jimmy. His dad got a job over here and they transferred in.” SHUT UP!!!
So back to Takata. Where was Charter Oak hiding this guy? He’s a transfer from Santa Fe. I saw it on the CIF website under “approvals”. And why did the CO people act so taken aback when Ziola said what he did about QBs falling out of trees? It’s true! CO, specifically offensive coordinator Dominic Farrar, does a great a job developing QBs. It should be a hot spot destination for QBs.
If Friday’s showing by Takata was any indicator, the Chargers will be just fine whether Clemetson returns or not. And whether O’Leary, the South Hills transfer, gets cleared in time to play this season, or not. That’s because QBs fall out of trees at Charter Oak.