Scouting Guru breaks down title games

SAN ANTONIO LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP
South Hills at West Covina, 7:00 P.M.
College Prospects, class of 2009, Cameron Deen (QB, South Hills), Alex Barrios (DE, South Hills), Albert Cid (Lineman, West Covina), Alonzo Nevarez (LB, TE, West Covina)

Class of 2010: Ify Umodu (WR, South Hills), Geoff Vaughns (Ath, South Hills), Miles Bevel (S, South Hills), Ricky Johnson (RB, West Covina),

The bottom line is simple for South Hills. If they win, not only will they win their seven consecutive San Antonio League title, but they will also secure the top-seed in the Southeast Division of the CIF-SS playoffs. A lose and everything gets thrown up into the air from a seeding point of view.

As you can see, this game has prospects all over the field and will be a game that scouts, like us, will be breaking down for hours on Friday and Saturday. Of all the positions on the field, the most important is that of quarterback. And the way that he has been performing lately, SH's Deen has been nothing short of sensational. In watching the coach's tape against Rowland, we were very impressed with Deen hitting all of the throws and most importantly, how he was running the ball nicely too. That will help in his recruiting late in the year. If you can run and throw with his body composition, it enhances your stock greatly. To give you an example of the way he is managing the game, in his last four games (against, Nogales, Los Altos, Walnut and Rowland), he is 59 for 83 for 932 yards with an NFL QB rating of 137.65. That is incredible. What has been a pleasant surprise has been the performance on running back Jordan Gutierrez. Even though he might be 5-9, 150 pounds, he has been running like he is 6-2, 200. It's been a trend that we have been seeing lately in football, smaller running backers getting lost amongst the big lineman. When you mix that in with the performance of Geoffrey Vaughns and Ify Umodu, along with SH's version of Wes Welker in Andrew Roddy, it makes the job of the West Covina defensive staff all the more daunting.

West Covina will counter with Ricky Johnson who will now doubt be ready for a big night on Thursday. And the return of fullback Jesse Ili has made the RB tandem very tough to handle for everyone (even Amat had some trouble with Ili is the first half of here game back in September). Of all the lineman that we've seen in the valley this year, Cid has been most consistent and would catch our vote as the best lineman in the area this year. He also plays defense and we like him a 3-technique defensive tackle at the collegiate level. One of the match up's that we are very intrigued with is Cid going up against South Hills Defensive End Alex Barrios. Two of the best lineman in the area going at each other for the entire night; that's a match up that will be fun to watch. Alonzo Nevarez has also improved in the last several weeks and will need a top effort on Thursday.

There are several points that are in play here. First off, you can bet that the offensive staff of South Hills has taken a nice long look at the West Covina vs. Glendora game. In the game, they will find that West Covina didn't blitz all that much and when Glendora lined up in a 2 x 2 set (1 running back, 2 WR's on both end of the field) West Covina only had 6 men in the box while playing a cover 3. Playing a cover-three against South
Hills usually spells death (just ask Orange HS several years ago). The big key here is how West Covina handles SH's passing game. The thinking that comes to mind here is WC will scheme it up to take away the deep ball and force Deen to dink and dunk to his tight ends and running backs. And since Vaughns has proven that he is the best player on the field for SH, look for him to get double bracket coverage. Which might present a problem because Deen can throw the ball to Umodu (who is a walking mismatch) or Roddy. I don't see WC blitzing a lot. Another game that I am sure that the SH staff took a long look at was the Bishop Amat game. And when you watch the tape of the game, WC had a difficult time handling BA's running game.

When WC is on offense, the obvious key is the play that they will get out of their sophomore quarterback George Johnson. He has to manage a great game and great ready for consistent pressure that SH will be sure to giving him the entire night. When watching the SH vs. Rowland game, one thing that got lost in the all the offense that took place that night, Rowland had a tough time getting its running game going. That is something that will be a concern to WC. We've said it before and we'll say it again, South Hills has the best defensive line in the area this year. You can bet that WC took a long look at the Ayala game on opening week and see if they can get anything out of the game. And when you see the tape, you'll find that Ayala scored on two broken trap plays in the second half and SH holding Ayala to 30 total offensive yards in the 1st half. Look for WC to call a lot of dive option and buck sweep plays and catch SH with a play-action pass here and there. Plus, I would anticipate both teams to give different formation looks and a trick play here and there.

In a game of match ups, we think that SH has too much for West Covina to handle. Deen has been on a roll and look for that to continue on Thursday. It'll be close for a half, but SH will pull away in the second half and win the game handily. Oh, and one more things, Bogan is now 34-3 in the month of November since 1999. He is SGV's version of Mr. November.

MIRAMONTE LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP
Charter Oak at Bonita, 7:00 P.M.

College Prospects: Class of 2009: Chris Allen (QB, Charter Oak), Tyler Perri (DE, Charter Oak), Evan Williams (DE, Charter Oak), Jeff Getalich (QB, Bonita)

Class of 2010: Adam Muema (RB, Charter Oak), AJ Powell (FS, Charter Oak), Tarez, Lemmons (OL. Bonita, Class of 2011), Evan Highley (WR, Bonita)

A possible number one seed is on the line here for Charter Oak if West Covina defeats South Hills across town. In our opinion, Charter Oak is the second best team in the valley this year and they should be the top-seed in the Division. But if South Hills wins Thursday and Charter Oak comes away successful against Bonita, South Hills will be named the top-seed. You may not agree with it, but CIF doesn't care for your opinion (and it doesn't care for mind as well).

There is not a more efficient offense in the area right now more than Charter Oak. They mix it up with the run and pass and are keeping defenses on their heels. That is a credit to quarterback Chris Allen who seems to have the Charter Oak offensive playbook down to the last letter. But more than that, Charter Oak is running the ball very well with Adam Muema getting to bulk of the looks. It speaks well to the performance of the offensive line up front. And there in lies one of the major keys to Thursday night's battle. In watching Bonita on defense this year, they will mix it up by going into a 3-5-3 look and a variation of the Bear 46. The purpose of both defenses is to stop of the run. One problem though, Bonita hasn't done a great job of stopping the run. In the Diamond Ranch game, the Panthers got the greatest amount of success running counter plays and Bonita had very little to answer for that. In the Los Altos game, LA ran inside trap several times and caught Bonita with big gains. In the Claremont game, Bonita couldn't set the edges and the Wolkpack sprang up several big plays.

If the Bearcats can't contain the Charger running game, this will be a very long night for Bonita fans. Charter Oak holds it hat on running the ball and if they feel like they can run the ball on you, they will run the ball over and over and over again until the cows come home. Look for CO Offensive Coordinator Dom Farrar to sprinkle in some play action passes and to take a consistent shot with the short to intermediate passing game to take advantage of the loose play of the Bonita corners.

Bonita has a nice package on offense. They are a spread offense team that likes to use a lot of formations to keep you off balance. When push comes to shove, they love to go out of a bunch formation and free up their inside receivers with dig and/or corner routes. I see Bonita doing a lot of that and to try to expose the linebackers of Charter Oak that really don't move well in space. They are good at stopping the run, but this is the first true spread team that CO has faced since the Rancho Cucamonga game in week 3. And you can be sure that the Bonita offensive staff has watched the RC game about 100 times this week. They like to run the zone-read offense and will keep teams off balance by running the fly offense as well. QB Terry Paredes has been doing all the right things by throwing for more than 1900 yards this season.

Charter Oak plays the under 4-3 defense that is played a lot at the NFL level. The key to that defense is the play in the secondary and with the exception of Amat, there is not a secondary that plays a high level more consistently that the Chargers. And get used to it fans because as the majority of those players are underclassman.

Once again, in a game of match ups we see Charter Oak with too many weapons for Bonita to handle. Look for Allen to have another great night and when the festivities are done with, Charter Oak will once again wear the crown as league champions.

SIERRA LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP
Glendora at. Ayala, 7:00 P.M.

College Prospects: Class of 2009: Drew Kaluzny (QB, Glendora), Eric Mraz (OLB, Glendora), Cody Tescher (OL, Glendora), Chad Young (LB, Glendora), David Quiroga (WR, Ayala), Courtney Samuel (RB, Ayala)

Class of 2010: Andre Holmes (RB, Glendora), Duwani Bankhead (RB, Glendora), Tim Manning (DE, Glendora), Wallace Gonzales, Class of 2011, WR, Glendora)

Of all the championship games that we looked at on film, this one was the most difficult to get a feel for. And that is because we are looking at two even teams. Ayala comes into the game with one loss (to South Hills) and an eight game winning streak. Glendora enters the game with one league loss to Chino Hills but is still in line for a share of the league title.

When looking at this game, the first thing that we did was watch last year's game that Glendora narrowly won in week 10. In the game, the thing that was obvious was the Glendora QB Drew Kaluzny had a very inconsistent game. He threw some nice passes, but also tossed in some really bad passes as well.

That has not been the case this year. Glendora has switched to the spread offense and it fits Kaluzny down to the T. What makes this team really tough is not only do they have a nice receiving core (headed by Class of 2011 Wide Receiver Prospect Wallace Gonzalez), they have two really nice running backs in Andre Holmes and Duwani Bankhead.

But the problem is that they are facing an Ayala team that defends the run really well. The Bulldogs run the 3-5-3 and bring linebackers and up safeties from all different angles. Glendora didn't do a good job is picking up the blitzing linebackers last year, and you can be sure that the coaching staff at Glendora has made it a point of emphasis to the offensive lineman and running backs that they have to do a great job of blitz pick up. If Ayala is able to dictate the line of scrimmage, it could be a difficult night for Glendora. I think the lineman that has to have a big night is Cody Tescher. If he can perform at a high level, that bodes well for Glendora.

Ayala offensively has one of the best sleeper running back prospects in the Inland Empire in Coutney Samuel. This was a kid that even South Hills had problems in containing back in the week 1. He is a good size kid with decent breakaway speed and look for Ayala HC Tom Inglima to call his name quite consistently on Thursday. Ayala has had a lot of success with quick inside trap run plays and Glendora has to be ready to stop that play defensively. In watching the tape of last year's game, it can safely be said that the best player on the field was Ayala QB Matt Baca. He was making all the throws and caused havoc for the Tartans throughout the evening. Baca is gone and so is the passing threat that Ayala had. Dylan Hada has been the quarterback and he is Ok but he is not Baca. And it has hurt WR David Quiroga because we feel that he would make a nice D-1AA WR but his senior tape is not as good as his junior tape. But Quiroga is a threat and Glendora has to account for him on the field.

Glendora is another team that loves to run the 3-5-3 and had a tremendous amount of success using different rush techniques with their lineman. Ayala had a tough time handling the stunts that Glendora called and the Tartans got to the quarterback consistently. Look for more of that on Friday night. In the second level, we like Chad Young and Eric Mraz and feel that they will have a big night on Thursday night.

Like we said at the top, this is a very competitive game and could end up being the game of the night. We can safely say that this game will come down the final minute of the game and we see Glendora as the winners on Thursday night. But, it's a tepid pick and we can easily see Ayala winning the game as well. Should be a great game to watch.

Tomorrow, a quick preview of the other two championship games and your question