Daniel Limon and Rauley Zaragoza ready to prove the doubters wrong in the Hall of Fame game
30th Hall of Fame Game, Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Bassett High School, $8 admission
East leads series, 17-10-2
Above: Azusa's Rauley Zaragoza returning an interception for a touchdown in the Aztecs' playoff win over Covina.
This is a sneak preview for Wednesday's newspaper.
By Fred J. Robledo ..
When Sierra Vista High School's Daniel Limon told Mt. San Antonio College coaches he would like to try out at slot receiver this fall, they told the generously listed 5-foot-10, 173-pounder they were more interested in him as a kicker. After all, he did make 12 field goals for the Dons.
"They laughed to be honest with you," Limon said. "But that's alright. You come from Sierra Vista, you're going to have doubters. It's nothing new to me." To continue reading with more from Miguel Melendez on the West practice, click thread. West coach Matt Koffler calls RB Tra Sumler the best player in the SGV
Never mind that Limon was the third-leading receiver in the CIF-Southern Section, hauling in 58 receptions for 1,365 yards and scoring 12 touchdowns.
Limon averaged 124 receiving yards for the struggling Dons (4-7), and had at least 100-yards receiving in all but one game.
Even in the Dons' CIF-SS Mid-Valley Division first-round playoff loss to mighty San Dimas 67-12, Limon was the lone bright spot with six receptions for 101 yards.
On Friday, Limon will suit up for the East in the 30th annual Hall of Fame All-Star football game at Bassett High School at 7:30 p.m.
The East leads the series against the West 17-10-1, but the West snapped the East's six-game winning streak last year in a 34-14 victory.
"It's such a great opportunity to be at these practices (at Northview High School) and to be around so much talent," Limon said. "But even better because I feel like I fit right it.
"I would love to have a good game. It's my last high school game and you never know what (college scouts) are in the stands watching."
Azusa High School's Rauley Zaragoza knows how Limon feels.
Both earned all-Montview league first-team honors, but they know they have more to prove competing alongside receivers such as Charter Oak's Kiely Rycraw, Northview's Kevin Jones, Rowland's BJ Oyefeso and Bonita's Derrick Price.
"I'm going to walk-on at Fresno State, so this is a tremendous opportunity for me," said the 6-foot-1 Zaragoza, who helped the Aztecs to the Montview League title, finishing with 44 receptions for 747 yards and 13 touchdowns.
"I don't feel like there is a big gap between any of us (receivers)," Zaragoza added. "But the ball gets to you much quicker, that's for sure."
The East features South Hills quarterback Cameron Deen, who is going to Northern Colorado, and Charter Oak's Chris Allen, the Tribune player of the year after leading the Chargers to the Southeast Division championship.
"That's the huge difference," Limon said. "These guys (Deen and Allen) throw hard and the balls are perfect. I'm like, 'dang, I'm not use to this.'
"Even when you run routes, the ball is right there, you're not chasing it around the field trying to make a play."
Deen laughed, noting the receivers have told him the same thing.
"They (receivers) were telling me and Chris it's nice to have spirals instead of ducks coming at them," Deen said. "Nobody has broken any fingers, so I guess we're doing alright."
The Huskies quarterback also said he expects Limon and Zaragoza to make an impact on Friday.
"Chris and I are going to be able to throw it around some, so everyone has to be ready," Deen said. "Both of those guys have done great. They deserve to be here like anyone else. I have been impressed."
So has Northview and East coach Jim Arellanes.
"I know what it's like to come from a small school and play in a game like this," Arellanes said. "They want to prove themselves, but I don't see them pressing in any way. They come out to work every single day and have done a very good job."
fred.robledo@sgvn.com
WEST NEWS FROM MIGUEL MELENDEZ ...Got to talking with Rosemead coach Matt Koffler after Monday's practice at Rosmead High. First of all, the team looks like they have a lot of speed in the backfield, what with Marquis Williams and Tra Sumler in the backfield. But there were others Koffler came away impressed with. He particularly noted Muir's Chris Dunlap. "I think Chris Dunlap from Muir is a hell of a ball player and Mitchell Garner has shined, too," Koffler said. "I've never really hard of Dunlap until the last couple weeks of practice, and boy, what a phenomenal athlete that kid is. He has speed, he's smart, polite, tough and just such a pleasure to coach." Koffler also mentioned South Pasadena's Steven Colliau and San Marino's Scott Dooley. "Dooey is a hard-nose kid," Koffler said. "We have underdog kids that know how to work." So, with these all-star practices in full swing one must wonder who is the best athlete in the entire San Gabriel Valley. That answer is easy. "Tra I think is the best player in the whole San Gabriel Valley," Koffler said. Uh, oh! I'm sure the East begs to differ, but really, is there a legitimate argument the East can counter with? Sumler led the Panthers all the way to the Mid-Valley Division finals, and though Charter Oak went a step further and won the whole thing, there's not enough substance in arguing there's a better player on Charter Oak's team than Sumler. Period.
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Goldenarm;
Your incorrect on your stats. AZUSA cross the fifty yardline twice and the second time they ended up on the forty-five yardline. AZUSA'S receivers drop way to many balls for a playoff game. What I meant to say about being a stalement was, Temple City didn't score until the second quarter, and the first quarter both teams punted the ball to each other.
Goldenarm, don't get me wrong Temple City won soundly and completely shut down AZUSA'S offense. The defensive player #91 on Temple City, was all over the place on defense and that player was all over our quarterback. Also your receiver who made those fine catches, was burning our cornerback. I put the DvD of the game on last night just to check your stat, and that was a pretty good hard hitting game, even though I thought your linemen were holding all night! Well that's just my opinion though.
Goldenarm, I hope your not thinking i'm being a little sarcastic here, becaus i'm trying not to. I'll be the first to say, Temple City was well prepared that night and they were the better team.
Goldenarm I would like to say, that I enjoy your replies and thank you for wishing my son well. Good luck to your team and I know they will be right back in the playoffs again.
Fred;
What a great compliment! THANK YOU.
Gentlemen ,
Thanks for the kind words and support.
AMAT 73
By the looks of it Amat 03 is a fake and probably has no affiliation with Amat, except maybe on the opposite end of a good ole a$$ whipping. I've never seen Amat 73 disrespect anyone with his classy and straightforward comments. This fake is just stirring up the pot and making Amat people look bad.
I must have missed something,
I didn't see any rant or outburst by Amat 73
Amat 88 is the the interview you are refering too? if not this one shows how retarded he sounds. i thought he taught special ed not was in special ed
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1185845
congratulations to all the players selected to this great event, and, a special congrats to cameron deen. you the most unselfish kid i know. go out and make the huskie nation proud one more time! enjoy the evening, and, enjoy the new friends that you have made.
lets see the beasts from the east rock the house one more time in the sgv!
AMAT 03 which I highly doubt,
Most of the class of 73 will be turning 54 this year so my AARP days are still a year away. I have a great life and seeing as you are only a few years removed from AMAT if that is the truth I hope you are on your way if not already there to one also. I do support myself and family with no help from a outside agency . Now that all the particulars are taken care of what ranting and outbursts are speaking of other then my post to Chargersfan. As for getting a life, if you know so much about my posts and you are on here at 11:30 in the afternoon who is the one who needs to get a life. At least I am an old ________ ( fill in the blank ) what is your excuse. A young man like yourself should surely have something better to do than worry about an old guy like me.
AMAT 73,
F.Y.I. You can get your A.A.R.P. card at 55 and a life if and when your no longer spend so much time on this blog. At your age if your investing this much time and energy on the blog your obviously collecting money from at least the state and maybe even from our country. I truly hope your a veteran and then I honor your service if not then my opinion of you changes very quickly into statistics without being specific.
You misrepresent and embarass our program with your outbursts and rants!
Aztec Pride, don't let anyone tell you differently, if we had more commenters like yourself the blog would be much better off. I will make an effort to include more on Azusa next season because of you, and hope there are more parents like yourself who take the time to talk about what's going on in their kids high sports in the positive way that you do it. I wish these people who snap at your or give you backhanded compliments would learn what it means to be humble and gracious. You're ten times better than them, believe me. Keep on being the class act that most of us enjoy reading.
why is this Azusa guy still on the covina game with the Azusa player getting 4 interceptions
at least make a side note that it was against a junior varsity QB.... and yes it does make a huge difference if it was against a 1st string QB vs a JV QB
I called it! Aztec Pride continue to be proud my man! Love the enthusiasm, especially since it's always positive and never demeaning to other schools or programs. Most of the people on here should follow your example
lastly.....best to luck to #47, you deserve to be proud
AZTEC PRIDE,
Azusa crossed the 50 yard line ONCE in 4 quarters against Temple City.
Your offense came in averaging 425 yards a game. I believe they managed under 50 total yards against the Rams.
There was no stalemate. Your kids played hard, but unfortunately were totally washed away by one of TC's most complete games of the year. We were ready.
With more support as loyal as yours, the Aztec's will get back there again. Like I said before, congratulations on a great season in 08...best of luck in 09.
GA
Koffler really does sniff the stuff. If anyone heard his interview on the Midvalley sports show a few months ago ,he sounded like a babling idiot. The two high school kids interviewed right after him made him sound like he was a 4th grader.
Koffler
Quit smelling the glue.. Tra Sumler isnt the best player in the SGV. We could debate this and challenge you with no problems.
We would first talk about leagues, then grades..
Your boy would strike out very quickly..
Good Luck in the All Star game to Anthony Penalber from Chino High.
Fred;
Just when I think there's nothing more to say about the AZTECS season, you and the SGV TRIBUNE keep on surprising me. Last Friday's paper having AZUSA'S Graduation on the front page, and mentioning the Football Team on how well it did was phenomenal! First of all, I want to thank you and the SGV Tribune for taking the time to write articles about a small school.
And you can believe, I bought several papers of that (FRED FAN), and by the way most of those papers were gone.
Fred, you were at that game pictured above at Citrus College, and that has to be one of the greatest performances i've have ever seen in a high school game. Come on now,(4)interceptions in one game, and one for a returning Touchdown, which by the way woke up the team, and never look back after Rauley scored. I'll say this though, for awhile there I thought Covina was going to win.
That game pictured above was one of the greatest moments, that i'll never forget! People in the stands were going wild, hugging,laughing and jumping up for joy! To beat Covina was a VERY BIG THING for AZUSA, we didn't want to got out the first round of the playoffs.
I'll say this also, AZUSA didn't do to bad against Temple City, and for awhile that game was a stalemate. Temple City did their homework and doubled team Zarogoza, and completely through AZUSA rythm off. Well you know the rest of the story, Temple City lost to the school from Palmdale, which Rosemead also lost too in the Finals.
One more thing i would like to add, the AZUSA player #47 ARCEO,pictured behind Rauley Zargoza, is my son who by the way lead the League with the most Quarterback sacks as the defensive end for AZUSA, and came in second behind TRA SULMER, from Rosemead, for over all sacks for the entire season. Now if you don't believe go to the Preps page and scroll down to the Maxpreps stats and hit the defensive stats icon for SACKS!
He too was invited to play in the ALL-STAR game, but wasn't selected. One good thing came out of this though, the coach fromm Citrus called my home a couple of times, to see if he was going to come out and play for Citrus College, so he's now practicing with the team.
Will be out there on Friday, cheering on RAULEY ZAROGOZA, and one more time for an...
AZUSA AZTEC!
Chargersfan,
Take a lesson from Deen on his classy responce to the fact that Zaragosa and Limon deserve to be there as much as anyone else.
Congratulations to both Limon & Zaragoza, hope they both go out & show well in the game, & Cameron Deen seems like a classy kid, those were some nice compliments he had for Zaragosa & Limon, I especially liked when he said, speaking of the two Montview kids, "They deserve to be here like anyone else, I have been impressed", way to be humble Deen, & good luck with your scholarship.
Sorry Fred...rough nIght! LOL
The game is the same day as EDC!!!I wonder how many players wish they went to EDC instead?
Wrong thread pal
How about Dunn from Diamond Ranch. Did any other female athlete dominate over four years to a higher degree than she did? Tough to think see wasn't AOY.
Somehow inspite of all he write ups and accomplishments, and they are off the charts, Dunn might have been over looked. I know I was surprised she didn't win...but then again I never seen Shore play or read how dominate she was outside of stealing a whole bunch of bases.
Either way...tough choices I'm sure and Dunn will be fine at the next level.
You always mention Deen first in your stories like South Hills. Are you somehow related to The Sporting Guru?
You mean to tell me that this thread hasn't received 20 comments within the first 10 minutes... All from Aztec Pride of course. Just kidding. Congrats to both Limon and Zaragosa. Do the Montview and your schools proud.
Why are you writing about these guys, talk about the real all-stars.
Great story Fred. You'll have a hard time keeping the newspaper stands filled in Azusa today.
EXPAND YOUR BASE AND OPEN SOME EYES...GREAT KIDS...WISH THEM THE BEST!
Must have been a "birdie" talking in your ear.
First Many Acosta and now these two great kids.....nice!