Los Altos paid a hefty price for defeating Western, 35-27, last week.
A week after losing two-way lineman Josh Contreas to a potential season-ending broken leg, two-way standout Raymond Rodriguez suffered a broken arm in last weeks victory, and will miss the remainder of the season.
Rodriguez, a senior, is not only one of the areas best defensive ends, but arguably the areas best tight end. As a junior, he was named to the Tribune first-team.
Its devastating, Conquerors coach Greg Gano said. You cant replace Ray. He did too much on this team to just replace him. He was an anchor for us on offense. We were counting on him to make big plays for us, and he already has.
But again, we cant feel sorry for ourselves, weve got South Hills coming here on Friday.”
The Huskies also will be without one of their marquee players. Running back/linebacker Damon Kuklinski suffered a sprained MCL in Thursdays 28-7 win over Rancho Cucamonga.
Huskies coach Steve Bogan said Kuklinski could be out two to four weeks.
Damons our LenDale White on offense, Bogan said. And one of our best linebackers. Anytime you lose someone like that for an extended period of time, its tough to replace.

Duarte coach Wardell Crutchfield, who abruptly resigned last week following the suspensions handed down after a sideline-clearing brawl between Duarte and Gladstone, met with principal Dr. William Martinez on Monday, who agreed to give him his job back. There will be more in Tuesday’s newspaper.

Principal Bill Martinez released this statement
Press Release
Mr. Wardell Crutchfield has developed a successful football program at Duarte High School. His student/athletes have been accepted at a number of colleges and universities. His student/athletes display the character traits I want to see in my own children and in all of my students. They are punctual, hardworking, courteous, dedicated, respectful and disciplined. They display these traits on and off the field. They are champions!
The past week has been very difficult for our players. Mr. Crutchfield and I have met several times since September 28. After carefully evaluating the situation, analyzing what is best for my students, the program and our school, I have decided not to accept Mr. Crutchfields decision to resign, and Mr. Crutchfield has agreed to meet my expectations.
I will have no further comment. We remain committed to the student/athletes at Duarte High School. We look forward to a great football season.
Dr. Bill Martinez
Principal
Duarte High School

Steve Ramirez and Fred J. Robledo going head-to-head throughout the season.

Records:
Robledo: Last week (12-10); Season (91-34)
Ramirez: Last week (15-7); Season (89-36)

Notes: I didn’t choke as bad as USC and UCLA, but I tasted my share of humble pie, and let Steve Ramirez back in it. I’ve only got a slim two-game lead after posting TEN, yes TEN losses. Ramirez didn’t do much better with seven losses, so it shows what a tough week it was to pick games. Some were unexplainable, like South El Monte beating Alhambra, but we probably should of known better than to pick Bishop Amat over Carson or Tahquitz over Mountain View. We both had West Covina over Ayala, but I hurt myself picking Western over Los Altos and DRanch to upset Oaks Christian while Steve got both of those right. I could go on and on with our bad picks, but that would take to long.

Quotable: Bonita coach Eric Podley after losing 24-10 to San Dimas, “They’re ranked No. 7 for a reason, I don’t know why you guys (Tribune) all picked them to lose. You guys don’t know what you’re talking about. You should stick with your rankings.” You should have heard Ramirez crying afterward, “I don’t count, I don’t count.” Yes, Steve, you picked San Dimas to win. The dummy Podley was talking about was me.

Thursday
Gladstone vs. Workman at Citrus College, 7 p.m. – Robledo (Gladstone); Ramirez (Gladstone)
Baldwin Park at Ganesha, 7 p.m. – Robledo (Baldwin Park); Ramirez (Baldwin Park)

Friday
South Hills at Los Altos, 7 p.m. – Robledo (South Hills); Ramirez (South Hills)
Damien vs. Glendora, 7 p.m. – Robledo (Damien); Ramirez (Glendora)
St. Paul at Bishop Amat, 7:30 p.m. – Robledo (St. Paul); Ramirez (Bishop Amat)
Charter Oak at Wilson, 7 p.m. – Robledo (Charter Oak); Ramirez (Charter Oak)
Covina vs. Northview, 7 p.m. – Robledo (Northview); Ramirez (Northview)
Diamond Ranch at Bonita, 7 p.m. – Robledo (DRanch); Ramirez (DRanch)
El Monte at Arroyo, 7 p.m. – Robledo (Arroyo); Ramirez (Arroyo)
West Covina at Rowland, 7 p.m. – Robledo (West Covina); Ramirez (West Covina)
Azusa at Duarte, 7 p.m. – Robledo (Duarte); Ramirez (Duarte)
Rosemead at South El Monte, 7 p.m. – Robledo (Rosemead); Ramirez (Rosemead)
Pomona at San Dimas, 7 p.m. – Robledo (San Dimas); Ramirez (San Dimas)
Diamond Bar at Ayala, 7 p.m. – Robledo (Diamond Bar); Ramirez (Diamond Bar)
Bassett at Sierra Vista, 7 p.m. – Robledo (Sierra Vista); Ramirez (Sierra Vista)
Nogales at Walnut, 7 p.m. – Robledo (Nogales); Ramirez (Walnut)
Mountain View at Gabrielino, 7 p.m. – Robledo (Mountain View); Ramirez (Mountain View)

Saturday
Western Christian at Riverside Christian – Robledo (Riverside); Ramirez (Riverside)

Final Thoughts: When I glanced over the season schedule, this was a week I circled on the calendar. South Hills-Los Altos, Glendora-Damien, St. Paul-Bishop Amat, Charter Oak-Wilson, Covina-Northview, Diamond Ranch-Bonita. And other games have become intriguing, like El Monte-Arroyo or South El Monte-Rosemead. Diamond Bar-Ayala should be a great game. Two weeks ago, I would have picked Glendora over Damien and Los Altos over South Hills, but last week’s results changed my mind. It wasn’t Glendora’s loss to ElDo that changed me, it was how they lost. Los Altos losing Ray Rodriguez and Josh Contreas going down a week earlier has to catch up with them at some point, and the South Hills team I saw last week looked on the brink of going on a serious run. And Bishop Amat, oh Bishop Amat. Are you really going to start 1-5? It’s looking that way. Losing 21-0 to Carson could be a confidence killer, but maybe the emotions of having St. Paul in town will stir up the emotions. Heck, if it doesn’t, don’t even bother showing up.

Complete coverage of the annual Smudge pot, including game story, photo gallery, game highlights and a special piece on the fans who make it what it is.

This is why it’s a special rivalry. Enjoy this piece on the fans from Bonita and San Dimas

And always, Keith Birmingham’s photo gallery
http://sgvtribune.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=347365

Friday’s results
San Dimas 24, Bonita 10 — Podley scolded me afterward for picking Bonita. I can’t blame him, the Saints looked awfully good, offensively and defensively. I’ll say it now, they will be 10-0 going into the playoffs. Nobody in the Valle Vista is going to touch ’em.
Ayala 34, West Covina 21 — Now I see why Duarte lost 35-7 to those other Bulldogs.
Baldwin Park 14, Rowland 7 — Solid win for the Braves, and another close loss for Raiders.
Carson 21, Bishop Amat 0 – Thought the Lancers would do better than this after a week off
Charter Oak 24, Claremont 18. – Big win heading into Miramonte League opener.
Rosemead 38, Orange 15 –– Them Panthers are getting better by the week.
Chaffey 30, Wilson 23 – Wildcats didn’t take care of the football and it cost them
Northview 21, Nogales 20 – Vikings end two-game skid with squeaker over Nobles.
Covina 37, Sonora 20 — Say this about the Colts, they can still score points
Gladstone 14, Azusa 0 — Even with eight suspended, Gladiators still pull it out
Sierra Vista 31, Workman 20 – Dons finally in win column
South El Monte 38, Alhambra 27 — This is why there’s no such thing as a sure thing. How in the world did they beat Alhambra?
La Puente 34, Bassett 0 — Warriors perfect in all areas
Jurupa Valley 42, Walnut 23 — Mustangs go down again
Tustin 42, Arroyo 21 — Knights have to work on their defense if they want to be Mission Valley League contenders.

Thursday’s results
South Hills 28, Rancho Cucamonga 7 – This could have very easily been 35 or 42-0. Rancho only scored on a fluke fumble and never came close to scoring on offense. You might as well throw away the Huskies first two losses. They’re 3-0 since they made the change to Deen at QB and Parham at WR. And when you think of also having Wells, Heard and Kuklinski, that’s a lot of weapons. Looks like Bogan’s has the right pieces in place, now we’ll see how he molds it together.
Oaks Christian 34, Diamond Ranch 21 – Thought DRanch would get them. I know DRanch had some nagging injuries, but still thought they would pull it out. For the second straight week, Trib No. 1 goes down.
Los Altos 35, Western 27 – What a great win on the road against a solid O.C. team. This is why the Conquerors have the great history they have. They lose a game they never should of lost at St. Francis, then immediately come back and make a statement. They never lose their confidence. But on a sad note, Raymond Rodriguez might have fractured or broke his arm. That would be a tough loss after losing Josh Contreas last week.
El Dorado 35, Glendora 14 – Don’t know what to say. It’s Glendorable. Called our phone guy to get an update and he said “28-0 El Dorado.” Our Glendora faithful are going to have to explain this.
La Serna 45, El Monte 14 — Well, it’s a good thing the Lions don’t compete in the Del Rio League. They would be 0-2.
Mountain View 32, Hemet Tahquitz 23 — Should we be paying closer attention? They’re 3-1 now.

For quarter-by-quarter updates of all our games, click our scoreboard page.
http://lang.sgvtribune.com/preps/scoreboard/week5.asp

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL TOP 10 RANKINGS
1. Los Altos (13-3) Team to beat in Miramonte
2. Walnut (9-2) South Hills tilt on Thursday
3. Bishop Amat (11-4) Gave Conqs a battle
4. Diamond Bar (8-5) Opens league vs. Ayala
5. Bonita (4-2) McCreery does it again
6. Glendora (4-3) Will challenge, St. Lucys, Ayala
7. Northview (6-0) Vikings continue to roll
8. South Hills (6-5) Huskies show their youth
9. Wilson (6-4) Starting to adjust to new coach
10. Gladstone (8-4) Solid opening in league

Note: Rankings and records are for matches played through Sept. 29

Comments: Bishop Amat makes its appearance in this week’s rankings. The records here are the best to my knowledge and Amat coach Stephanie Cruz admitted to Fred that she had’t updated the team’s record, so that’s why they were omitted last week. But I feel No. 3 is a very deserving rating, especially after they took No. 1 Los Altos to four games last week…Northview jumps into the top 10 after improving to 6-0 with a pair of nonleague wins last week. The Vikings replace San Dimas in the top 10. The Saints dropped out after being swept by Walnut…There are two big matches today. St. Lucy’s and Ayala resume their Sierra League rivalry, while South Hills hosts Walnut in a battle of the top two teams in the San Antonio League. Both matches are scheduled for 5:15 p.m. starts.

Time Warner’s Reginald Miller and Tribune Prep Editor Fred J. Robledo discuss four of this week’s top games. By the way, Miller does a great job following our local teams and beyond on his popular site “A Local Sports Show” … go check it out.
http://www.alocalsportsshow.com/main.html?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.alocalsportsshow.com%2F

Thursday’s games
El Dorado (3-1) vs. Glendora (3-1) at Citrus College, 7 p.m.
http://lang.sgvtribune.com/multimedia/asps/100307_ELDORGLEN.asp

Rancho Cucamonga (2-2) vs. South Hills (2-2), Covina District, 7 p.m.
http://lang.sgvtribune.com/multimedia/asps/100307_SHILLSRAN.asp

Friday’s games
Bonita (2-2) at San Dimas (4-0), 7 p.m.
http://lang.sgvtribune.com/multimedia/asps/100307_BONISANDIM.asp

Chaffey (4-0) at Wilson (3-1), 7 p.m.
http://lang.sgvtribune.com/multimedia/asps/100307_CHAWILS.asp