Bluorca....pssssssst... Coach Rollinson laid it down...AGAIN! LOL Any one see the sophomore QB? Is he for real? Anyone impressed? Hey hear the Lancers were in a dogfight, maybe you guys should give that young coach Verti (24) a little slack (time) and see if he puts you back on top, AGAIN! Love the pride, tolerate the bragging but recognize Amat's unquestioned legacy in CIF, SGV and beyond. By the way Coach Rollinson started out at Salesian High School in Boyle Heights (ELA to those less culturally exposed) coaching running backs/DBs and look at him now! But then again our schedule in those days - Pius X, LB Poly, St. Francis, Notre Dame, Crespi, Loyola, St John Bosco, and Cantwell before they "officially" went Co-ed, lol That Coaching staff also included (Alhambra Head Coach Gil Ruedaflores and USC's Chris Chaney (receiver's)and Carson's 12-0 city Champs Head Coach Joe Aguirre)He was the Freshmen Head Coach. Now that's a staff! Great start to what looks to be a great HS football season , stay injury free! Football-the best team sport on the planet! Oh by the way Salesian put it on Bosco Tech 33-14 ! Must be something in the water!

Because you have to schedule top teams in advance, it is almost impossible to know what quality (talentwise) of team you are going to have ahead of time and what kind of competition your team is going to be playing. An athletic director/coach can look at his/her JV teams and make a loose decision based on them but this probably does not help much. The decision has to made based mostly on the strength of your football program, faith, and just straight up iron "footballs." This is why I respect West Covina much more now because I know that they probably did not know that Mater Dei was going to have a good team this year as they are being portrayed as to having. If I had to choose a year to play MD, I would not have chosen this year. I'm not saying that MD is invincible but according to other sources, MD is supposed to make a serious run for the title this year. But MD IS untested. Only time will tell and anything IS possible however improbable. But coaches dont have that luxury of knowing those details 2 years in advanced and WC knew the reputation of MD and yet still scheduled a game with MD. For the record, I hope WEST COVINA POUNDS THOSE SPOILED OC MONARCHS INTO THE GROUND!!! I respect Mater Dei football but Im a Lancer. Lancers dont get along too well with Monarchs! GO SGV AND GO BULLDOGS!!!!

Lets put this AMAT recruits to rest, yes there are players coming from all over to AMAT but most of them come on reputation or are kids of former players. Let me ask you this, how does a player play in 3 different programs in three years. What about a freshman that is from out of the area and playing varsity. As for formerconquerer72, how many of those players that you listed are from the Hacienda Heights area, lets go further how many are from the Hac La Puente School District.

OK now stop pointing fingers on the recruiting side. Now lets look at how many of those players went on to play D-1 college on scholarship, lets look at what those players are doing now. OK, are we straight yet.

I want to see Los Altos succeed, I know kids that play there also and want nothing but good things for them. I just wish that Gano would schedule in advance some top flight teams, its hard for him to schedule top teams in advance because he does not know from year to year what talent he is going to have. I remimber a couple years ago the buzz from Los Altos was that they we going to Lompoc to play because no one wanted to play them. When I looked for Lompoc I found that yes they had been the top of their division but D-10, come on thats not a power house.

As for last years team being the best in a long time at Amat I am not so sure. The 04 team I thought had the best O line that I had seen in many years. I believe all of them are playing college ball still.

This game that we are setting up will never happen unless both booster clubs get all over their coaches and athletic directors to make it happen. I know Bishop would love to travel what 5 miles for a game for a change.

Keeping it real ... I completely agree with what you had to say. Bishop Amat is a private school in which anyone can attend (regardless of religion)no matter where that person lives. And recruitment of all types has ALWAYS been a regular hushed practice by ALL football farm/factory high schools both public and private. This is one reason why so many college recruiters (many Div 1) show up at these games. Anyone who has been to a major Bishop Amat game (at least 5+ games/season) knows what I'm talking about. These recruiters are the guys that smell kinda funny, have ink stains on their fingers, drink way too much coffee, constantly take notes or film, and may/may not be wearing their university colors/jackets. There have been sooooo many occasions where I have spotted university recruiters ACTUALLY on the sidelines of an Amat game. Crazy huh! And I'm not confusing these guys with the scouts from other teams that Amat has to play the next week or next. I know one thing for sure...if my child seriously wants to play scholarship football for a major university, has the skills/grades to potentially do so, has parents that can afford tuition, and his family stays in the San Gabriel Valley (or not! lol), I would be foolish not to send my child to Amat.
Because ANYONE can attend Amat, it really is not fair to compare Amat with any other SGV team and I would discourage any Amat person from bragging about any past victories againts any SGV non-private team (unless provoked). There is no honor in it because of the level that Amat plays. This is probably the reason why the most "informed" Amat fans (like myself) never complain when Amat is ranked #4, etc. in the valley. I myself have talked a lot of smack about Los Altos/Charter Oak but I have done so only as a response and in defense of Amat. I dont mean to offend anyone from Los Altos/Charter Oak/Glendora but if someone writes that Amat is overrated because of their win/loss record, or Amat sucks because they are not #1 in the valley, or Amat fans talk too much about tradition....YEAH! IMMA GONNA TALKIE DA SMACK BACK ya know?
I have to disagree with xhlfx when they said, "sgv teams aren't "underrated," they're just not very good." I believe that there are some very good football programs here in the SGV and I believe Los Altos more than any other school has a right to brag about their program because they have dominated the SGV, save Amat, for many many years.
And people, please dont get me wrong, I never said it was impossible for a school like Los Altos to defeat Amat but I do believe that this would only happen if 1. Los Altos had a team like they did in 2002/03 and 2. Amat had a team like they did in 2002/03. I'm not being a smart ass either. Amat does indeed play schools that boast players like Ware, Leinart,Justice, Bing,Brown, etc. game after game and year after year. Yeah..."Gearing up" (love that phrase KeepingItReal) does not exists at this school. Playing teams that are sending 2-4 players on scholarship to universities after graduation is just business as usual. So you have to respect Amat regardless of their record or their history for the past 10 years. Amat players,coaches,students, fans, etc. know this and it brings them pride and sometimes tears when Amat loses.
As far as Orange County is concerned, Aram hit it right on the big toe. The OC boasts more fans, attendance, and most of all the almighty $$$. This is why I'm taking donations so I may finish building my dreaded Death Star. Time is short now because they found out that "Pluto" isnt a planet afterall. And when they take an even closer look they will all say in unison, "that is no moon...its bluorca's spacestation!" ...With the OC vaporized, the CIF will have no choice but to give the San Gabriel Valley the love that we deserve. Have a nice day everyone!

Yes, CIF takes care of The OC first. That's where most of their business is i.e. attendance and fan interest. Sorry, but it's true. Is it fair? No. But that's how it is.

One inquires about why we don't have an all san gabriel valley division, it is because cif uses our area to be a fill-in for other divisions. They take care of orange county primarily.

Difference between Bishop Amat and CO or LA or South Hills is very very simple. You guys "gear up" to play Mater Dei, De La Salle, LB Poly, Loyola, Ect., because you have great players on one or two teams-hell maybe a couple of overlapping classes (read transfers) and get all giddy and "ante up", at least in the papers or with your mouths. But Mater Dei, Amat, Loyola play each other in league every year! All this talk about SH playing LA and what a big game it is, for the private schools it's old hat. Bluntly these schools recruit, subtley or overtly, but they recruit, and are not limited by geographic limitations---THET RECRUIT BY REPUTATION as well! Matt Ware from UCLA, NFL by way of Loyola lived in Malibu and attended Loyola. Their QB from a couple of years back lived in Ventura and rode the train in every day! And still maintained the academic rigors of this top notch academic school. Leinart, Justice, Bing,Brown ect that's the quality of teams and players Amat plays, even when they're having "down" years. Damien was 6-1 and Amat beat them down! They were never the same! That Amat team didn't even make the playoffs! Not to mention LA and CO beatdowns with a "down year" team and a fired "lameduck" coach! Give Amat their due! Love them or envy them,at least give those ballers their due. Amat players -believe they are D1 players, practice like D1 players, play against D1 teams and blow away anyone who ain't! That noise you don't hear is the silence of recognition, lol. Now doesn't that sound refreshing. Opps I hear retorts...to be continued.

All i can say to the boy boasting about the los altos amat game 42-7 is true you pounded los altos once before but looks at the books los altos has way more titles to prove it wont always be that out come i cant wait to see the game it will be a good one and wait thats right amat is ranksed lower than los altos

you think amat is really scared of los altos? you sound just like charter oak fans 3-4 years ago. they wanted the amat vs charter oak match up and they got it. it shut all of the charter oak fans up real quick because their level of play was nowhere near amat's. just like los altos level of play is nowhere near amat's. sgv teams aren't "underrated," they're just not very good. Its a whole different ballgame when you play teams like valencia, mater dei, and loyola week after week, year after year. bring it los altos. i garuantee you wont like the results if there ever is an Amat Los altos game.

Dan, I have to agree with you about last years Amat team. I guess I was so dissapointed with what was a horror of a rollercoaster of a season last year that I subconsciously refer to that team as inferior. Of course every dog has his day in court. I'm sure Los Altos probably could have beat Amat that one year that everyone and their mothers beat Amat as well but my point is that if Bishop Amat played Los Altos for 10 years, I guarantee you Amat would win at least 8 of those games. Can you imagine how bad Amat would have pounded Los Altos last year or the year before? Its hilarious that Los Altos fans/players wait until they think they have a superior team to start talking trash about Amat or how badly they would beat Amat...lol. All one has to do is look and compare the opponents the two teams had in commmon to draw this very simple conclusion. Formerconqueror72...I admire your support for Los Altos and I wish there were more people like you that actually attended Los Altos games. You talk about pride/tradition yet look how many vacant seats there were at the "big" LA/SH game. I would be pretty embarrassed to even begin to compare tradtions when Los Altos has trouble filling their side of the stands with their "fans" at such a large profiled game like LA/SH. Maybe everyone had to go to the bathroom or get a hotdog more often than not right? haha! I dont know what your coaches told you back in 2002 but games againts schools like LB Poly, Mater Dei, etc ARE NOT scheduled the summer before the season starts but rather year(s) in advanced. The coaches know this so their excuse of "their schedules were full" is just not anywhere close to a legit excuse as to why Los Altos doesnt play higher caliber teams. Besides, that was 4 years ago and all one has to do is look at who Los Altos has scheduled to play these past 2 years to understand and ACCEPT that Los Altos DOES NOT WANT TO PLAY teams that could actually hit harder, hurt, and rout them. I've been following southern section ball for many years now and the one thing I have learned is that you CANNOT take those polls too seriously because most of the people that rate those polls have absolutely no idea what the hell they are doing. This is especially true when ranking teams by the state and nation. ASK ANYONE thats been following football for more than 10 years and they will share my opinion. But, if you want to talk polls,
the 2002 Los Altos team was a talented one but, common man, ya'll would have been smoked by Div. 1 champ Los Alamitos (ranked 7th nationally) that year. And in 2003, there was Mission Viejo and Hart (Div 2) who were both ranked nationally that year not to mention an extremely talented Div 1 Loyola team led by California Coach of that Year 2003 Steve Grady. I did not see Los Altos anywhere in those USA today national polls did you? Your views are admirable but limited when it comes to teams outside the SGV. Amat vs. Los Altos will not happen until the athletic dept. at Los Altos is willing to step up like Glendora, Charter Oak, and Damien (who I respect the most). Sit down and compare the schedules of the past 10 years for both Amat and Los Altos and it will be CRYSTAL clear as to which school not only has the faith in their players but also challenges their players to compete againts higher caliber teams againts all odds and you will see for yourself who is more determined to "rule the sgv." Clash of the Titans ya'll say? YEAH RIGHT!!

Aram...you got it twisted bro! I was a captain of the 02 and 03 Los Altos team, and you have no idea how much we wanted the Lancers! We were sick and tired of Bishop being praised bc they played in Division 1...you cant honestly believe that Bishop could of handled me, Brigham Harwell, Ronnie Rodriguez, Oscar Ibanez, Nathan Yeargin, Thomas Pearson, Armando Soto, Caleb Flores, Ray Martinez, Randal Brown, Travis Brown, Daniel Drayton, Tao Alo, and Jason Estrada! Bro, we ended up at number 2 in California (1st being Harvard-Westlake) and number 5 on the west coast! Year after year, Los Altos is doubted bc of young players, yet every year we bring it! I also see the Bishop Amat fans speaking about tradition and pride...well i would hate to break it to you, but tradition and pride doesn't get any stronger than it does at Los Altos! From our first CIF title in 1972 to the 4 we earned between 1999 and 2003, players at Los Altos have pride not bc they play in D1, but bc the caliber of football teams that come out of there are expected to be great, and have proved nothing less! Hard hitting, what division you're in, who beats who...all that doesnt matter when game time comes around is who wants it more! And it ain't about who's scared to play who, bc thats not the case...we inquiried about playing LB Poly and Mater Dei in 02 and 03, but their schedules were full. If both sides want it, it will happen...and i can't wait! "Clash of The Titans" here we come!

Blueorca, Talent wise, last years Amat team was actually the best team that Amat put out in many years, they beat Mater Dei & the D1 champs Loyola. That team could have taken D1 if not for the coin toss, so your point about last year being the best chance for an sgv team to upset Amat is false. In "01" or "02", Div 2 Ayala routed Amat 31 to 6 and Damien also beat them that same year 28 to 20 so that would have been the year for the upset, In another year, Glendora gave Amat a tough game, I think the score was 20 to 10 My point is there are times when a strong
team in the valley can rise up to challenge Amat. Another example, as was stated before was the "03" Los Altos team which would have beaten Amat.

Clash of the Titans? LOL...Jeremy brought up the year before so lets start there... In 2004 Los Altos barely squeeked by Damien 20-18 and Charter Oak 24-21. That SAME year, a 5-5 and overall "poor" Amat squad beat Damien 41-27 and C.O. 28-0. Do you see the difference? Los Altos does go to Orange County but to play whom?...L.B. Wilson who won a grand total of 7 games the past two seasons? lol. Anyone who knows the ol Moore league knows that L.B. Wilson gets spanked by teams like L.B. Poly, Esperanza, and even St. Paul. Or perhaps your talking about Western? I dont recognize almost all the schools Western plays and I do know high school ball. Even with their recent success, I'm willing to bet their schedule and their league is pretty weak and they beat Los Altos the year before last anyways lol. You want respect for playing O.C. teams? Try Los Alamitos, Edison, Long Beach Poly, Mater Dei, etc. LOL@your FYI....FOR YOUR INFO, Carson is a "football factory." Carson has a rich football tradition including 11 City Section Champs as recent as 2003 and they are always cranking out Div. 1 prospects regardless of record. Carson and Amat are old foes and the games are always close ones regardless of records as well. I still cannot believe you called Hart overrated. I almost did not respond to this because I figured that you just dont know much about what you are writing. Hart High has been kicking some butt for quite some time now. They have won 8 div champs as recently as 2003 and won 4 divisional titles in row from 98-2001. They have also beat Loyola the past two years who is the defending Div. 1 champ. I'm sorry but Hart owns my man! And even if Glendora was "WAAY overrated" last year they still managed to beat Damien who managed in turn to beat Los Altos. And we all know what Amat did to Glendora last year right? One of the best teams that Glendora had was the year before last and they still lost to a "crappy" Amat squad. And in case anyone is wondering about Valencia...They also have a very strong football program and played for their division championship as recently as 01 and 04. Hell...they have to play Hart and CC Canyon (Another good program) every year! And yes, this isnt college ball and div. 1 is not the best anymore. But anyone who knows the Southern Section knows that,save an exception here and there, the best high school teams that send the most kids away (per capita) on football scholarships come from the upper divisions. In conclusion, Amat has absolutely nothing to prove to Los Altos or any other SGV team because Amat has time and time again scheduled extremely difficult opponents to play year after year. Not every team mind you but most of them. This is where Lancer pride and faith comes from son. ..win or lose! There is absolutely nothing keeping Los Altos from playing LB Poly, Los Alamitos, or Bishop Amat except Los Altos. I believe John summed it up above stating, "I do not care what anyone says Amat hits harder than anyone in the valley..." Team Amat hits harder not only because they can but more so because they absolutely have to! GOOD LUCK SMASHING THE SLIME BLUE!!!!!

a fan. who the Hell wants to see a SCRIMMAGE with glendora and bonita when Los Altos plays South Hills and Bishop Amat is playing St. Paul? Besides....Bonita will most likely stomp on g-town.

SCRIMMAGE GAME AT BONITA TONIGHT AT 7PM
LETS SEE WHAT OTHER TEAMS GOT!GLENDORA IS IN THE LINEUP AGAINST BONITA *****TODAY SEPT 1 7PM!!

I heard it a couple years ago from a coaches mouth. Gano said that he could compete in a game vs Amat but his boys would get physically beat up which would effect his plans of D-6 titles. Such as the last time the teams played, I do not care what anyone says Amat hits harder than anyone in the valley, just get out and see for yourself.

Yes, Damien and Charter Oak beat them LAST YEAR, but NOT the year before, and LosAltos goes to Orange County quite often and WINS!! FYI Carson and Hart are consistantly overrated!! Glendora was WAAY overrated last year. Please, don't forget many of these schools over look our area programs, espeacially the "mid-division" programs. Many programs, fans, staff, etc. forget that this isn't college, in other words Division I DOESN'T mean superior, nor does Division(or did)VI to Divsion VII, with few exceptions. Example, in my opinion Division III and V were cupcake compared to VI. Be honest we all know that our area is overlooked and underrated as well, so how easy could it be for Gano or DeSpain to schedule Los Alamitos or LB Poly??? by the way that is a legit question, maybe I am mis-informed.

So tell me: Why did Bishop Amat schedule Charter Oak and not Los Altos??

P.S. Could we all agree that, that game would be the SGV's "Clash of the titans"?

The whole preview was fair, the top ten teams have some question marks and to much hype about these qb none of these guys have won anything except munoz and he really didnt do crap when he won anyways come on he was a sophmore your supposed to get better not worse meaning his jr yr and by God quit taking about amat number 4 lol aram did yu go to this school or what lets get this dam season started and we will see.

Jeremy...I would love to see an Amat/Los Altos game as well. That way people like you would stop claiming that Amat is "scared" to schedule your school. You confuse cockiness with pride,faith,and strong tradition as well. Amat has never been afraid to schedule anyone. Amat is NOT the only team in Div 1 or 2 that Los Altos can schedule right? It's Los Altos that schedules L.B. Wilson instead of L.B. Poly or Los Alamitos. Its Los Altos that schedules St. Francis instead of Loyola,Mater Dei, or even Amat. If anyone in the valley could have beat an Amat team...last year would have been the right time. For those that don't know, that Amat team did not even make the playoffs. Three brave and honorable valley teams (Charter Oak, Damien, Glendora) stepped up, played valiantly, and were all soundly defeated by this "losing" Amat squad by a combined score of 96-16. Didn't Damien and Charter Oak beat Los Altos last year??? And what about the year before? Given this information which is obviously new news for you, can you explain to me why in the world Amat would be afraid to schedule Los Altos??? haha! The funny thing is that if Amat loses to Hart, Valencia, and/or Carson, people like you will claim that Amat is not only "overrated" but that your high school would have beat Amat. This gets me chuckling every time. Do a little research next time you make a claim that Amat is avoiding Los Altos LMAO!

Johnny J. hey bro i think you got it mixed up it ain't AMAT who is scared its los altos because we've wanted to play them and they continue to say no so remember that AMAT WILL ALWAYS BE THE POWERHOUSE NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS... so maybe we should have a game because we all know what will happen AMAT WINNING ANOTHER SGV GAME LIKE WE HAVE DONE IN RECENT YRS...
AMAT 42- LOS ALTOS 7

The Mission Valley League preview is in there. It's on Page 14, which is in the continued preview section located directly behind the cover section. It starts with an Ed Butts ad. It's there.

"Hmmm"...it's called being a smart ass, way to catch on quick!

Why was the Mission Valley League preview missing from the print version. Also no team by team breakdown.

I believe the overrated teams are CO and Rowland but we will see.

Bonita should also crack the top 10.

I-Scream- Coach Thomas probably did tell his team who is in there division but who tells there team they have no chance to go 14-0? "We can at best go 13-1 this year.. Let's do it!" You obviously don't coach.

Rich, I also would like to see more local matchups. How come there can't be just a SGV division, is it that hard?

I would love to see local teams play one another. I believe it would be something special for the area along with being special with the players, parents, fans. Alot of the players from our area played together on youth teams. For example, last year

Covina's players Combest, Clark, Sutton, Williams, Diaz, Shorts, Olivas

Upland's Marc Goodlett

Amat's players Robles, Calderon, Neely, McNeil, Fletcher, Valdivia, Frank, Austin, Davis

West Covina's G. Munoz
Diamond Ranch's Donte Smith

all played on the West Covina Bruins Jr. All American youth football team which went to three championship games and winning two straight during the early 2000's. What if these players could have played against each other. Half of those players were 1st & 2nd Team all SGV. Great story and a good reason to schedule games between local schools. Go WC Bruins

Welcome back high school football!! Particularly SGV high school ball. I am excited. Thank you Mr.Tolegian for your unbriddled passion for the local game.

Well, so much love in the air, but I do have to say that I am a bit annoyed with a couple local programs, and the prep football press in general, exception being the tribune of course. Well where should I start?

.Bassett High school- Thank you to the Bassett Olympians for playing an out of state game that they had NO right to play, and thus embarrasing California and the San Gabriel Valley in the process. Please,Bassett next time you think of leaving the state to represent the high school football power that is California, try leaving the first round of your division playoffs first! Something your league hasn't accomplished in about a decade(give or take).

.Bishop Amat- Boy oh boy are you guys ever so cocky! But, what else has changed? Well, beside the fact that you guys aren't the powerhouse that you guys think you still are. 34% first place votes!! By the way scheduling Charter Oak the previous two seasons was real cute. Trying to pass it off as the two SGV powerhouses battling it out. But, for those of us who know better, we all know that was a cop-out. Yes, Charter Oak is a local power, but they also have an age old nickname that holds true . . . "CHARTER chOAK." They have a reputation for fielding great teams, but(excuse the expression)choaking in big game situations, and against lesser teams. For those of us that know better, we all know who the Lancers were trying to avoid playing in scheduling Charter Oak . . . Los Altos. Bishop Amat and Los . . . oh wait, f the better program should be first . . . Los Altos and Bishop Amat are the two storied programs in this area. Why haven't we been treated to a well-deserved and much antisipated Los Altos vs. Bishop Amat non-league game?? I think I know why. Bishop Amat is scared. They know the conquerors would not only give them a game, but maybe beat them, and humbling would that be for the arrogant Amat program and fans?

I say next season: week 0 Los Altos at Bishop Amat(We'll let them have home field advantage)

Who's with me???

NO ROSEMEAD IN THE TOP TEN???

NOW I KNOW YOU ARE WHACK!!!

BUT I MUST GIVE PROPS ON THE COVERAGE AND THAT Q.B. SLIDE SHOW....THAT WAS TIGHT!

awesome coverage of the local teams! i'm really enjoying this platform for discussion. kudos to you!
i hope that the local coaches can come up with a preseason that includes the valleys top 10 playing eachother. i mean, if diamond ranch is going to play edison, why can't bishop amat play....? whoever wants too! shoot, south hills and covina have an old, old rivalry. but they can't get together for a preseason game? damien,glendora, charter oak against shhs, wesco, arcadia....
you get my drift.
i sometimes think these coaches need to come back inside the box a little. most all of the these kids have grown up playing sports agianst eachother. all of us parents have sat on the grass and in bleachers watching these kids grow up. what better for the comradary of the local community on a friday night....
just a thought

Keep up the good work, this is some of the best coverage I have ever seen. I love the blogging.

Thanks again!

I have to give you props for the new look on the Trib website. It looks good. However, there was one thing that stood out that I just can't let go of. Mike McDonough's comments about going 14-0. Hello!! I can't believe Darryl Thomas forgot to tell his kids that they are now in a division with Oaks Christian, who will have as many as 10 players earning D-1 scholarships. Oaks Christian QB is on his way to Notre Dame and McDonough is trying to decide between Citrus College and Rio Hondo. 14-0??? Probably not.

OK WHERE'S BONITA?
DAILY BULLENTIN PUT JEFF CHAVEZ IN THE TOP QUARTERBACKS, WHERE'S THE LOVE FOR BONITA?