West Covina took it on the chin, swung back, and now the outlook has a little Bulldog bite to it
Above: The West Covina coaching staff deals with injuries and losses to start 0-3, but the Bulldogs are on their way back.
By Fred J. Robledo
Victories, not schedule strength, appear to be the most important criteria each week when the CIF-Southern Section polls are released. After defending Southeast Division champion Charter Oak's 35-25 loss to defending Central Division champion Rancho Cucamonga ended the Chargers' 17-game unbeaten streak while extending the Cougars' unbeaten streak to 18, the Chargers (3-1) were dropped to No. 4 in the Southeast polls.
Rowland (3-0) and Walnut (3-0) are first and second, respectively, but neither have wins over anyone significant. In fact, Rowland and Walnut share something more than just undefeated records - their opponents' records are a combined, 2-8.
"It's a strange world, isn't it?" Bonita coach Eric Podley joked.
West Covina is not mentioned in the polls, although the Bulldogs' 22-21 win over Glendora on Friday served notice and improved the Bulldogs to 1-3.
The Bulldogs' opponents are a combined 10-3, and that includes tough losses to powers Venice and Bishop Amat. In fact, the Bulldogs were tied with the Lancers, 7-7, before losing 21-7 last week.
"I don't worry a whole lot about the CIF rankings," West Covina coach Mike Maggiore said. "When we won CIF in 2004, we won it as a third-place team and started on the road.
"We're going to see Rowland and Walnut at some point. The most important thing is getting healthy and winning league, and those are still the goals."
Defensive lineman Richard Tejada and defensive end Ryan McLaurin haven't played since injuries in the season opener against El Rancho. Both are expected to return when they host Los Altos on Friday.
Also back is quarterback George Johnson, giving Maggiore more reason for optimism.
"Beating Glendora was huge, because that stopped the bleeding," Maggiore said. "But it's nice to see some of the guys you counted on (when the season started) start to get healthy again."
As for Rowland's No. 1 ranking, Maggiore feels it's deserved.
"They have a great quarterback (Michael Ball), and the right system for him," Maggiore said. "They lost a lot of seniors, so I'm a little surprised with how well they're doing. But they're so well-coached, so it shouldn't surprise you that much."
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SGV for 30 years,
No, I moved into the WC district in 94 and started following WC as my daughter started highschool in 2000, been hooked ever since.
My first WC game was the 99 showdown between WC and Diamond Bar, both teams were 6 & 0 going into
the matchup, the Brahmas had the Wright brothers
at running backs that year, the Bulldogs were prepared for the Brahma run game and were stopping it at the beginning of th game, but the Brahmas starting QB got hurt and a kid named Brian Maine came in and the rest is history, Maine turned out to be a great passing QB and the Bulldogs weren't prepared for the DB passing game, the Brahmas won big in that game and went 14 and 0 for the season and finished 4th in the state with a Division 2 title.
Dan reading your posts, you seem like you are quite a WC follower. Are you an alum? I actually still bleed Spartan Blue and White.
SGV430 Ouuuuuut!
DAN,
FEED THE BEAST???
THIS WILL BE MY LAST POST!!
GET READY FOR A FREIGHT TRAIN COME FRIDAY!!!
YOU GONNA A LOSE YO FANCY FOOSBALL GAME!!!
GO LA!!!!!
Hell be back,
Your right, I don't think he'll let this stop him.
LA CONQ.
Your on a roll, keep feeding the beast.
Dan what's funny is that Guru had him ranked so low and seemed to take every opportunity to mention his less than sure fire status as a legit next level player.
Then I see on ESPN's ticker...Walter Thurmond, a finalist for the Jom Thorpe Award as the nation's best defensive back is out for the year with a season ending knee injury...then it goes on to give his impressve stats.
Now Dan...one thing I know about W.T. after reading about him and seeing his interviews...he's always accepted whatever challenges are in front of him and proven is doubter wrong...even the illustrious Guru...who is wrong about as many times as Palin is coherent.
Too much Dan...your boy will be back...count on it! Best of luck with his rehab...besides the ESPN report said "season ending"...not CAREER ENDING....and they would know seeing as they dont use the Guru's service ! lmao
DAN,
YOU GUYS DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING TO HIT YOU ON FRIDAY!
SHOVE THAT UP YOUR PIE HOLE!
HOW'S THAT FOR YOU LOCKER ROOM MATERIAL!!!
LA FOOTBALL RULES!!!
HEY DUH,
THIS "IS" THE REAL DEAL!
WHY NOT PUT IT ON THE TABLE NOW!
GO LA!!!
Dan,
I thought you were smarter than that because that's your own fans trying to motivate yourselves. Get a clue Dan and figure it out dummy!
LA CONQ,
I love it, keep up with the locker room material, it sounds great! keep it coming.
LOS ALTOS IS GOING TO DESTROY WEST COVINA!!
THOSE CHIHUAHUA'S HAVE A LOT OF BARK BUT NO BITE!!
GO LA!!!!
All I know is that George Johnson is like 5'8, that makes it very hard to see over the line. If the other guy is taller than go with him.
Who's Marcus Gomez?
All I can say is:
Marcus Gomez at QB = 1-0 vs. Glendora!
George Johnson at QB = 0-3
Freddie J,
Interesting fact: after Week 3, CO, SH, DR, WC and Muir have combined for a total of ELEVEN losses! 11!!!
I share the same sentiments you discussed in your article, and something tells me that these will STILL be the teams to be dealt with in the SE Division come November.
This is not a bad West Covina team and the coaching is top notch, altho some were panicking at the beginning. West Covina will be fine, remember they were going toe to toe with that Big Dog called Amat for that half controlling the clock as they had more time of posession with the ball and kept that Amat Offense off the field. 7-7 at half with any Pac 5 team is outstanding, even tho some think Amat is a low caliber team of the Pac5. West Covina has set the bar high every season playing one or two top notch teams in preparation of League play. 3- teams make it out of the San Antonio and with Walnut bringing a well rounded team this year this will be a intresting race with So. Hills and Rowland in the mix. All games against one another will be for CIF position with the exception of Nogales, but dont count Nogales out, they could be a spoiler and give a loss to any one of the above three teams. The San Antonio is going to be a very tight race this year.
A lot of peeople forget what a phenominal track athlete Thurmond was, competing and winning at hurdles, sprints, jumps and vault. He may have been a top caliber decathalete had he chose to.
I read on one of the other threads that WC's Walter Thurmond who plays for Oregon is out for the season. Very sad and unfortunate if it's true. It surprises me because despite the vicious hit on his knee, he immediately got up on his own power and walked away with what seemed to be a mild limp, it happened as he was returning the games opening kickoff. He never entered the game after the incident and I saw him both sitting and at times standing on the sidelines with an icepack on his knee.
Very unfortunate for him, I heard that he would have gone in the first round NFL draft with the season he was having. With the Stephon Johnson incident at USC its been a bad week for a couple of Pac Ten Marquee players.
One thing about Walter Thurman is that he has a big heart and he is an overcomer with a never say die attitude, if he still has a shot to make the NFL he'll make it happen.
Bulldogs have been very competitive against a tough schedule despite losing several key players, great work by both the players for stepping in and filling the voids, and the coaches for band aiding this team together
and keeping them competitive, practice looked good yesterday and I think the Bulldogs will start putting it together, just hope we can stay healthy from here on out.