Where's the loyalty?
The Hall of Fame All-Star football game is on Friday, June 27 at Bassett High School. A night later, the second annual Fiesta Bowl is at L.A. Wilson High on June 28. Why did the Fiesta, knowing th date of the Hall of Fame, schedule their game a day later? And even worse, the Fiesta is watering down the Hall of Fame East roster with Star-News area kids normally in the Hall of Fame, and now it's become a tug-of-war, with Star-News kids forced to choose. It's come down to coaches recruiting against each other for the best players. I have no problem with the Fiesta Bowl, It's the City vs. Southern Section kids, and a great idea. But the Southern-Section kids are primarily Pasadena area-players, so that game should have been scheduled a week earlier, two weeks earlier, anything, so that they're not competing. It's a shame when I see Muir and PHS kids skipping the Hall of fame for the Fiesta, especially since it was Muir's legendary coach Jim Brownfield who practically put together the Hall of Fame and still has so much to do with it. I know he's disappointed, and this could have been avoided had players and coaches from the East side remembered how good the Hall of Fame had been to them. Or maybe it's simply that the Pasadena-area kids are tired of getting beat up by the Tribune-area kids. Maybe they've had enough. If anything, if these all-star games continue playing the same weekend in the future, new boundaries need to be created.
Above: Muir running back Willie Youngblood
San Gabriel High School defensive coordinator Donald Bernard, working under head coach Keith Jones for the Fiesta Bowl, told our Andrew Campa that Muir stud Willie Youngblood is skipping the Hall of Fame game to play in the Fiesta Bowl. In fact, I've got a roster from the Fiesta that lists Arcadia' Kevan Walker in the Fiesta, that Pasadena quarterback and Star-News player of the year Tyron Crockom will also compete in the Fiesta. Even worse is that Arroyo quarterback Brian Partida and Gabriel Zendejas are in the Fiesta, after Arroyo had been the host of the Hall of Fame game for so many years. Again, where's the loyalty? This is such a huge blow to South El Monte head coach Erick Escamilla, who is coaching the West squad. I know he was scrambling for players, and now I'm worried that next week's game is going to be a mismatch, because the West squad had to share too many players with the Fiesta. 25-players are on the Fiesta roster that would have been eligible for the West squad. It looks like most of Muir, Pasadena, Arcadia, San Gabriel and Alhambra is skipping the Hall of Fame, which is sad.
"The kids are torn," Escamilla said. "I've had some say they were playing, then they backed out, and I'm hearing the same things about players that will not play in ours. I just don't know. We had a recent practice with 38 or 39 showing up. But I won't know our full roster for a couple days. The kids are still deciding. But you know what, we've got a great group of kids and we'll deal with it. I'm from South El Monte, so we're use to being the underdogs. It's like anything else, we'll play as hard as we can and do the best we can. But yeah, it's obviously a blow because this is just affecting our team and not the West squad."
East Team
Head coach: Ray Hernandez, La Puente
Players, School, position
Angel Acevedo, Baldwin Park, FS
Mike Acosta, Garey, FB/LB
Drew Annas, San Dimas, WR
Matt Baca, Ayala, QB
Domaminc Blanco, Charter Oak, LT/G
Chris Burns, California, G
Jose Castellon, California, C
Ben Counce, Azusa, DB
Ryan Cress, Sonora, WR
Robert Diaz, Northview, LG/LT
Jon Earnest, South Hills, FB
Michael Edwards, Glendora, WR
Kevin Estipular, Ayala, LB
Oliver Estrella, Nogales, TE
Joseph Garcia, La Puente, LB
Richard Gurrola, Gladstone, DB
Mikey Harrell, Charter Oak, WR
Ryan Henson, West Covina, WR
Mike Howard, Charter Oak, LB
Jason Knowles, Northview, RB
Damon Kuklinski, South Hills, LB
Nick Longoria, Los Altos, DL
Jose Martinez, Garey, FB/LB
Aaron Michaelis, Bonita, OG
Shelton Miles, Diamond Ranch, RB
Oscar Molina, Baldwin Park, DE
Steve Molina, Ganesha, RB/LB
Andre Ortega, Pioneer, LB
Brandon Parham, South Hills, QB/WR
Carlos Rios, La Puente, WR
Robert Rodriguez, West Covina, P/PK
Ramel Rose, Chino, WR
Charles Shorts, Covina, LB
Julian Silva, Bishop Amat, TE
Kanaan Snowden, Charter Oak, RB
Isaac Tucker, West Covina, RB
Mike Valdez, West Covina, C
Marcus Wagner, Bishop Amat, RB
Ray Washington, Charter Oak, DB
Alonzo Webb, Bassett, RB
Tanner Zylstra, Bonita, TE
Hugo Zuniga, La Puente, DL
West Team
Head coach: Erick Escamilla, South El Monte.
Players, School, position
Alex Valdez, Schurr, DB/WR
Jelani Blunt, Eagle Rock, QB/DB
Darius Reese, Duarte, QB/CB
Kevan Walker, Arcadia, WR/FS
Jonathan Mendoza, South El Monte, RB
Jonathan Troast, South Pasadena, QB
Chris Harris, Duarte, RB/CB
Sammy Garcia, Verdugo Hills, RB/LB
Fernando Gonzalez, Monrovia, WR/FS
Geno Stoney, Verdugo Hills, WR/DB
Dushine Smith, Alhambra, RB/DB
Kyle Morgan, St. Francis, RB/FS
Mark Love, Maranatha, RB/DB
Raul Pintada, Schurr, DB
Rudy Jordan, Schurr, RB/DB
Parker Haleen, Crescenta Valley, TE/LB
Jesus Campos, Bell Gardens, RB/LB
Juan Casillas, Lincoln, FB/LB
Williams Do, Temple City, TB/LB
Ryan Diaz, Boscho Tech, WR/S
Patrick Greene, Monrovia, WR/LB
Willie Youngblood, Muir, RB/LB
Deonta Woodrod, Cantwell, FB/LB
Clay Sierra, Crescenta Valley, WR
Darwin Barcelis, Eagle Rock, RB/LB
Juan Perez, South El Monte, TE/DE
Joseph Eddy, Rosemead, LB
Daniel Scheper, St. Francis, DE/OT
Eric Becher, Temple City, DT/DE
Tanner Farwell, Crescenta Valley, C
Arshak Abramyan, Glendale, OG/NG
Lars Guillermo, Arcadia, DT/C
Chris Tosello, La Canada, OL
Setefan Loau, Lincoln, C/DL
Travis Shafer, El Rancho, OL/DL
Oscar Hernandez, Salesian, OL/DL
Paul Lindsay, Verdugo Hills, LT/DT
David Morris, Marshall, WR/FS
Tommy Cogburn, South El Monte, WR/DB
Donnie Fields, Arcadia, OL/DL
Vicente Torres, Montebello, OL/DL
Gabriel Moreno, Alhambra, OL/DL
Zane Archer, Glendale, WR/LB
Mario Cruz, Glendale, TE/LB
Edwin Baldelomar, Alhambra, OL/DL
Andrew Barrera, South El Monte, OL/DL
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Come check out the studs practice for the Army Strong All-Star Game 6PM @ San Gabriel HS M,Tu,TH,Fr.
And remember don't hate!!!
"Clearing the air"
First it seems like the blame is falling on the fiesta coaches which has a mix of sg alhambra and schurr coaches. We had the fiesta people change to June beacause THE HALL OF FAME HAS NEVER BEEN IN JUNE. Check the history of the game always first or second week in July. Once the game was set we had to keep the date because of the field situation we had no choice but to keep it June 28th later on about 3 weeks later we got word that the hall of fame was going to be played in june. Trust me we dont want to destroy the hall of fame our kids have always played in this game there is no reason these games cant both pull from the same area and who knows with growing of the game it may become all southern section. The reason kids aren't playing in both is lets face it they are seniors they don't want to be going to two practices>
It seems that the East is typically better organized and therefore comes up victorious. Ironically, Brownfield, the game's founder, is a Westsider. However, the west just does not seem organized enough to get the best players and coaches out there. Is South ElMonte even a Westside school? San Gabriel's coaches are WSGV but coaching the other game?
I think your right Fred,
The West players are tired of losing and are picking an easier opponent knowing they would get rolled by the East. Last years game was close only because the coach kept the wrong QB in the game despite his 4 turn overs, if they had gone with the QB from Damien who was a much better pure quarterback
the East wins an easier game.
Question?... Are these games played on the same day? If so why not schedule them a few weeks apart so that kids could play in both if they choose to do so?
I say F them! Who really considers Pasadena, Arcadia SGV anyway? I noticed since last year this this was going to become a tug of war and it is not going to stop. The Hall of Fame will get watered down more than what it has become. I remember in the late 80's early 90's, the Hall of Fame game was huge and it was held a Citrus college the standing room only if you were late. We should take our SGV best and play other areas like the Inland Empire.
Tribune/Star-News Hall of Fame game would be beautiful! Now we are on to something!
I hear ya, thats why I like you Huck, honest as usual. Wish they could play in both, that's why organizers should have this game on different weekends, then we wouldn't have this problem.
Fred I tried to tell my son and some of his buddies the ESGV team was way better than the city team, but apparently there has been some trash talking amongst them boys. I personally don’t think the city teams are that good, with the exception of maybe one or two of them.
BTW, I have no problem with the Huckster, he's Pasadena football tradition, but I am disappointed.
What’s the coaching selection process on these all star games? I’m not saying it’s about the coach, but if it would have been one of the coaches I mention just maybe the locals would have played in that game. Nothing against coach Escamilla, but if our Dena kids would have played it would be a matter of how many points the West would have scored and won by! I’m with you Freddy, I wanted to be ESGV vs. WSGV I told my son he should have gotten the boy’s together and put a whipping on the East, but hey these kids wanted to play against Crenshaw, Dorsey, Taft ect……
Great, so this is about the coach, Huck. If you don't get the coach you want you skip town, that's not what you do when you don't get what you want. Escamilla is a great coach and South El Monte had a great season, don't punish him for it. He's on your side of the 605, so what's the big deal. About kicking the WSGV's booty, guess we'll never know now. But the East hasn't done a good job of it the last few years, so go play in the other game and get your "W"
Freddy, Freddy, Freddy, to say that our players are scared is just mind blowing! I seen some of the top talent in the ESGV and I really think the WSGV would have kick some booty this year in the “Hall of Fame Game”. If the Hall of Fame, committee would have selected some coaches from the West side of the 605, then just maybe a lot of players would have played in the game! Coaches like W. Crutchfield (Duarte), K. Howard (Muir), K. Mills (PHS), J. Bonds (ST. Francis), J. Dimalante (Arcadia) and T. Sanders former (Blair) coach would have attracted the best the west had to offer! To be honest, some of the ESGV players our Pasadena player at least 7 to 10 of them which was the best in the east, so being scared is just ludicrous! Just to name a few of the West roster playing in the other game:
Willie Youngblood (Muir)
Amher Owens (Muir)
Tyron Crockum (PHS)
Arness Ikner (PHS)
Trump Harrison (PHS)
Trey Walls (PHS)
Devin Fuller (Blair)
Kevin Walker (Arcadia)
Donnie Fields (Arcadia)
I just named a few and missed some of the other kids from Alhambra, San Gabriel and other surrounding schools who have some true all star talent. I wish they played in the annual East vs. West Hall of Fame game too, I thought it would have been a great game this year.
Nobody cares about the Fiesta game, it's a much easier game for the Pasadena players, that's why they want to play in it. They don't want to get beat up again by the West siiiiideeee.
That's Muir and Pasadena for you, they have no loyalty, they're all about themselves. Always have, always will. Poor Brownfield, you think they would treat him better than this.
That's great, but why play on the same weekend when they draw kids from the same area.
What it's about is sponsorship. From what I have heard is that the Fiesta Bowl sponsors (Army Strong)wants to turn eventually turn this game into one similar to what they have in San Antonio. Kind of a west coast version. Kids most likely have heard this too and now think that playing in the Fiesta Bowl will be more prestigious. I also think that some of the exodus has to do with the coaching staffs. While Coach Hernandez and Coach Escamilla are good coaches and great guys, they are not real outgoing hyper personalities. On the other side, Coach Jones' staff and Coach Cid are more firey personalities that more kids are going to be attracted to.
All that being said, as a football fan it really makes no difference. I am planning on going to both games anyway!!