By Andrew J. Campa
Glendora senior Lauren Justus competed in the individual event in a field that included Rancho Bernardo standout Molly Grabill, who’s never lost a varsity race. Grabill, as expected, won in 17:07. Justus, however, was impressive in finishing sixth in a personal-best 17:53. She nearly collapsed at the finish line. “My previous PR was an 18:06. It was so hard but I wanted it,” Justus said. “We had a (Baseline) league meet Wednesday, so I was a little fatigued.”
After eight weeks Bishop Amat (8-0), Bonita (7-0) and Azusa (7-0) are the last remaining undefeated football teams in the Valley and its not unthinkable all three could run the table in their own playoff divisions, though unlikely more than one could, so who’s 0 will be the last to go? Azusa is the safe bet because they’re absolutely going 10-0 and will win their first playoff game, but how far can they go after that? You would probably say no to Bonita because they’re at No. 1 West Covina on Friday, a game I’m still not ready to predict until I sit down with Aram for Monday’s drill. But if Bonita wins, they’re my best bet to run the table and go 14-0. After beating Claremont and West Covina, how could you bet against them the rest of the way? Bishop Amat is the worst bet, they still have undefeated Alemany on the road in the league finale, then the anything can happen on any given Pac-5 Friday makes their chances even tougher. But this is also true, the Lancers have looked so good through eight weeks they could lose and still keep the top spot in our poll, though I’m sure I would hear a mouthfull from Aram making the “Bonita” argument.
CalPreps Predictions on Friday
Projection: Bonita 35, West Covina 26
Projection: Azusa 48, Ganesha 8
Projection: Bishop Amat 38, Notre Dame 21
Thursday’s games
Azusa at Ganesha, 7:00pm
Bassett vs. Gladstone at Citrus College, 7:00pm
Nogales vs. Northview at Covina District Stadium, 7:00pm
Friday’s games
Glendora vs. Alta Loma at Citrus College, 7:00pm
Bonita at West Covina, 7:00pm
Diamond Ranch at Los Altos, 7:00pm
Rowland at Walnut, 7:00pm
Arroyo at Gabrielino, 7:00pm
Rosemead at Mountain View, 7:00pm
South El Monte at El Monte, 7:00pm
La Puente at Sierra Vista, 7:00pm
Workman vs. Duarte at La Puente, 7:00pm
Notre Dame at Bishop Amat, 7:00pm
Ayala at Claremont, 7:00pm
Charter Oak at Damien, 7:00pm
South Hills at Chino Hills, 7:00pm
Pomona vs. Covina at Covina District, 7:00pm
Wilson at Baldwin Park, 7:00pm
For quarter updates of tonight’s games, click link.
Tonight’s Results
Claremont 35, Charter Oak 32 — Chargers missed a game-tying 42-yard field goal with seven seconds left. Claremont quarterback Daniel Kessler outdualed Charter Oak’s Travis Santiago. Kessler threw for 367 yards and three touchdowns, Santiago finished with 332 yards and two touchdowns. BTW, South Hills transfer RB Aaren Vaughns saw some action for the Chargers.
Arroyo 35, Rosemead 21 — The Knights are well on their way to a second straight Mission Valley League title a with win over their latest rival.
Los Osos 38, Glendora 21 — Grizzlies hand the Tartans their second straight Baseline loss.
Diamond Bar 46, Rowland 33 — Shocker of the night, Brahmas score 29 consecutive points to shock the Raiders, who are in a fight for their playoff lives.
Chino Hills 42, Damien 7 — When the Spartans get beat, they get beat bad. However, this is what you expected from the Huskies all along.
Bishop Amat 41, Loyola 31 — Junior Jalen Moore rushed for 278 yards and four touchdowns and quarterback Rio Ruiz threw for two scores as Bishop Amat stayed perfect with a 41-31 victory over rival Loyola in a Serra League game at Los Angeles Valley College.
West Covina 48, Los Altos 7 — The No. 1 Bulldogs cruise to an easy victory as it gets ready to host Southeast No. 2 Bonita next week.
Bonita 44, Walnut 14 — The Bearcats roll past another league foe, now the stretch run begins against mighty W.C.
El Monte 31, Gabrielino 19— Lions rallied after trailing 19-7 in the fourth quarter to pull out a win that keeps them in playoff contention.
Mountain View 21, South El Monte 7 — The Vikings are quietly having a pretty good season considering the misfortune they’ve had in recent years.
Azusa 46, Duarte 0 – There was a running clock in the second half as everyone played for the Aztecs.
La Puente 54, Ganesha 20 — Warriors out to prove they’re the second best in Montview after Azusa. Hard to argue with the results.
Gladstone 9, Sierra Vista 7 — Who would of thought it would be this low scoring? Huge win for the Gladiators, who give Dons just their second loss.
Bassett 28, Workman 6 — Don’t know if you would call it an upset, but the lopsided score is a surprise.
South Hills 36, Ayala 33 — Bet the second win of the season never felt so good for the Huskies, who are still in the Sierra League playoff hunt. But they play Chino Hills next, followed by Claremont and Charter Oak. Ouch.
Wilson 37, Nogales 6 — In the battle between Valle Vista newbies, the Wildcats finally secure first league win.
San Dimas 43, Northview 0 — Saints feeling good after Covina’s win over Baldwin Park. Saints still in the thick of the VVL race.
The Inland Insider, Chino Hills Tom reporting from Chino Hills, Damien …
Highlights and interviews from Arroyo, RosemeadContinue reading “Saturday Morning Quarterback: Big night for Claremont, Arroyo, Bishop Amat; West Covina and Bonita on roll heading into next week’s meeting” »
Colts all-everything quarterback Billy Livingston got his bell run on what appeared to be a vicious helmet-to-helmet hit late in the second quarter with a not so comfortable 10-9 lead. Even worse, Livingston was led away by ambulance to a nearby hospital at half for precautionary reasons, the Colts’ chances seemingly going with him. But guess what, the Valley found out who Vinny Vinegas is, the junior running back carrying the Colts in the second half, helping them grind out a 17-9 victory. The Colts’ defense was great too, forcing an early third quarter fumble and posting a second half shutout. These aren’t the finesse Colts we called them earlier in the day, they took the Braves’ best punches and by the end of the third quarter, were returning the punishment with regularity. You have to give the Colts their due now, no team in the Mid-Valley Division can boast a pair of wins the quality of West Covina and Baldwin Park. We called it their coming out party, that’s just what it was. By the way, why helmet-to-helmet hits aren’t illegal in high school football is a thread for another day, there were too many to count. Those there saw it and heard it, I guarantee you that.
By Aram Tolegian, Staff Writer
Before the Bonita High School football team can start thinking about its showdown with West Covina in two weeks, it has a dangerous proposition to deal with in Walnut on Friday night. The Bearcats know all too well what Walnut is capable of, thanks to last year’s 30-15 loss to the Mustangs. That was when the teams were in different leagues. Now they’re both in the Hacienda League, and at 3-3 overall and 1-2 in league, Walnut is a desperate team.