Is this a church or a football school?
Big time recruits, flashy skill players and championship fever are what Monrovia fans have to look forward to this season.
I did some calling around because Monrovia is not a team in my coverage area. I do follow the Cats nearly as close as I do my core schools because Monrovia is one of the schools discussed on a TV show I am a part of.
I made an interesting comment about Monrovia athletics during our final show of last school year. I said the school is experiencing a sports renaissance. No disrespect to Ms. Gates/Mrs.Sumulong, but the biggest renaissance taking place on campus has to do with the football and baseball programs. The baseball team just won a CIF title and now many people feel it’s the football team’s turn.
The excitement leading up to this season went from palpable to hysterical when the Wildcats got two skill position transfers that, when added to what was already returning, give the team one of the best offenses in the SGV.
QB David Potts is one of the top weapons around and is fully experienced entering his senior season. He gets Los Altos transfer James Davis at running back to hand the ball to and a speedy target in Damien transfer Tyler Thompson.
Potts arguably benefitted most of any player in the program by these two arrivals. As good as Monrovia will be offensively, the only thing tempering my optimism is the defense. M-Town’s 20 points per game allowed last season looks OK on paper until you see what quality teams did to the Cats’ stop unit. West Covina put up 42, Charter Oak 34, Rosemead 27, Temple City 27, Crespi 32.
If Monrovia wants to take the next step, it must prove capable of making stops against good teams. This isn’t exactly breaking news, so one would have to assume that improving the defense is Coach Steve Garrison’s biggest concern given how good/reliable the offense looks right now. Here’s the sked:
at Montclair (win)
Duarte (win)
at Arcadia (toss-up)
West Covina (loss)
La Salle (win)
La Canada (win)
at Blair (PCC) (win)
San Marino (win)
Temple City (win)
at South Pasadena (win)
Projected record: 8-2 or 9-1.
Rio Hondo League: Overwhelming favorite.
Playoffs: Yes, championship game contender.
The newly added game against Arcadia appears to be the acid test that will tell everyone just how real the Cats are. If Monrovia rolls thru the Apaches, they’ll probably give West Covina a better game than I currently envision. Don’t sleep on Arcadia, however. From what I’ve heard, the Apaches have gotten some ringers of their own.
The game against West Covina, if M-Town somehow wins, could propel the team to a No. 1 seed in the playoffs because I just don’t see the Cats being touched in the Rio Hondo League.
Coach Steve Garrison turned around Monrovia’s program in the 90s, but the fun has kind of stalled in recent years. That’s about to change and M-Town fans can get ready to see some primetime football again.
