Trib Digest: West Covina and Pomona in quarterback battles; San Dimas not afraid of playing 2011 schedule on the road

You might be surprised to learn who’s leading the quarterback fight at Pomona, or that San Dimas coach Bill Zernickow thinks his backfield could be better than the 2009 championship one. Read on….

A handful of teams are on the practice field this week with West Covina featuring a quarterback battle between Chris Caballero and Jonathan Najera. “This is still a battle because both of them have strengths, and I don’t think you can really tell a whole lot about a quarterback until we see what kinds of decisions they make in the heat of battle,” said two-time Tribune Coach of the Year Mike Maggiore. San Dimas coach Bill Zernickow is not at all concerned with playing his 2011 schedule on the road, saying, “I don’t think it’s challenging at all, I kind of like playing away,” said Zernickow, whose team opens camp this morning. “Obviously when we get our home field back it will be nice, but our kids have known for a year it would be like this and have prepared with that road-warrior mentality.” Zernickow also said with most observers picking Monrovia and Covina as the top Mid-Valley teams in 2011, he likes it that way. “Let us fly under the radar,” he said. The Saints return five players from their 2009 title team, including quarterback Shawn Kennedy and fullback Dillon Corona. With junior back Denzel Mitchell and sophomore Jake Payton, Zernickow loves how his vaunted Wing T offense is shaping up. I finally talked to Pomona coach Anthony Rice, who has a quarterback battle on his hands between senior Brandon Schrieman, who transferred from Wilson, and Tavea Cobb, whom Rice seems to be learning toward. “(Schrieman’s) good, he gives us some options,” Rice said. “Tavea also plays tight end, but he’s really good at quarterback. He’s mobile, runs hard and I like what I’ve seen so far.”

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