“It was a challenge, and I’ve never backed away from a challenge.” –– Wilson’s new head football coach Bob Burt.

By Aram Tolegian
Even at age 70, Bob Burt has no trouble finding the motivation to drive every day from his home in Hemet to his football program in Hacienda Heights. Burt, the new football coach at Wilson High School, has a real simple explanation for why he does it.
“It was a challenge,” he said. “And I’ve never backed away from a challenge.”
Burt has seen and conquered plenty of challenges in a career that’s ranged from being the defensive coordinator at Hawaii to head coach at Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Northridge to head coach of fledgling and established high school programs. And now he’s in for arguably one of the bigger challenges of his career.

Continue reading “Wilson’s new head football coach Bob Burt may be the wake-up call the Wildcats need” »

By Fred J. Robledo
Jamie Canada’s football career looked promising in his freshman year at Duarte, where his first touchdown was a 48-yard reception in the fourth quarter against South Hills. It was the Falcons’ lone score in a 48-6 loss.
After that, though, everything continued to unravel for Duarte and Canada. Duarte coach Wardell Crutchfield was fired following the 2008 season and more than a dozen players transferred to neighboring schools, including Jamie and his older brother Jordan Canada, a senior in 2009.
The Canada family moved into the South Hills school district, but Duarte challenged the transfer. It said the move was “athletically motivated” and the CIF-Southern Section agreed. That forced Jordan to miss his senior year and Jamie to sit out his sophomore campaign.

Continue reading “Football Spotlight: Is there a better triple threat than South Hills’ Jamie Canada, Jamel Hart and Vince Hernandez?” »

For those with Time Warner cable circle two games on your calendar for live football on cable. The Serra showdown with Loyola at Bishop Amat will be shown on Oct. 28, and the regular season finale which could decide the Sierra League title when Charter Oak visits Chino Hills on Nov. 11. For the Whittier area, Orange Lutheran vs. La Habra at Cerritos College on Sept. 23 is also part of the lineup. Unfortunately for me, I got Direct TV.

Time Warner Schedule
Sept. 2–Mater Dei at Carson
Sept. 9–Venice at Chaminade
Sept. 16–Thousand Oaks at Moorpark
Sept. 23–Orange Lutheran vs. La Habra at Cerritos College
Sept. 30–Serra at Narbonne
Oct. 7–Oxnard at Ventura
Oct. 14–Sherman Oaks Notre Dame at Crespi
Oct. 21–Canyon Country Canyon at Valencia
Oct. 28–Loyola at Bishop Amat
Nov. 4–Garfield vs. L.A. Roosevelt at East L.A. College
Nov. 11–Charter Oak at Chino Hills

Could there be a shift of power with the area’s mid-major leagues and divisions? The Valle Vista is why I ask, it’s intriguing and tough to call. After watching Aram slobber over Covina yesterday, even I realize how foolish it was to guarantee a West Covina victory over the Colts on Sept. 3. I haven’t tilted enough to think the outcome will change, but it’s moving closer toward the toss-up category. The Valle Vista is tough to call because you hear so many stories about Pomona, its athletes, players that are eligible after sitting out a year, and some that have transferred in. Plus, coach Anthony Rice, after winning two section titles with Colony, has been so quiet this offseason that you know something’s up. You think he’s going to settle for another mediocre year?
Then there’s San Dimas, coach Z quietly saying this team could be special, that it returns five players from its 2009 Mid-Valley Division championship team, including QB Shawn Kennedy, FB Dillon Corona and a backfield Z says could be the best of all. You can’t sleep on San Dimas. No matter how dominant King Monrovia thinks it is, it has nothing on San Dimas. They’re 2-2 head-to-head and each own a title. Sounds more like they got a score to settle. Covina, Pomona, and San Dimas are potentially so good, I’m not sure what league is more top-heavy, the Valle Vista or Hacienda? After West Covina, picking second isn’t easy. You can argue Bonita, Diamond Bar or Diamond Ranch, but none of them are world beaters. That’s why opening week is statement week. If San Dimas beats Bonita and Covina beats West Covina, you can move the Valle Vista ahead of the Hacienda on the area league ranking list behind the Serra, Baseline and Sierra. You could also argue that the Mid-Valley would be on par if not better than the Southeast. Imagine if West Covina and Covina won titles, edge goes to the Mid-Valley right? Fact is, Monrovia is still probably the best of the Mid-Valley. If they go undefeated beating Glendora, South Hills and Covina along the way, it would prove even more the Mid-Valley is every bit as good, if not better than the Southeast? That’s why opening week is so huge, it could answer some big questions right off the bat.

The CIF Southern Section Commissioner’s Cup ranks the top sports programs in the Southern Section. The winners are determined by a point system that provides: five points for a divisional championship; three points for a divisional runner-up finish; two points for advancing to the semifinal round or a third place finish in a team-place finish sport (i.e. cross country, golf, swimming and diving, track and field); and one point for a fourth place finish in a team-place finish sport. Pasadena Poly finished third overall in the boys rankings with Bishop Amat finishing seventh overall on the girls side, which represented the highest San Gabriel Valley rankings. Once again, private schools dominated, with 16 of the 20 schools combined boys/girls coming from private schools, which is another strong argument for private and public being separated in the playoffs. Simply put, it’s just not an even playing field. At the very least, what CIF should do is celebrate four Commissioner’s Cup categories, a top ten for boys and girls private, and a top ten for boys and girls public. If you can’t separate the divisions, at least separate the awards.

BOYS
PLACE, SCHOOL, POINTS, ACCUMULATION, TOTAL POINTS
1. Loyola 5 (BK), 5 (TF), 5 (SD), 3 (CC), 2 (WP) 20
2. Oaks Christi an 5 (FB), 5 (BK), 3 (TF), 2 (WP), 2 (S), 2 (BB) 19
3. Pasadena Poly 5 (BB), 3 (WP), 3 (TF), 2 (FB), 2 (BK), 2 (VB) 17
4. Servite 5 (FB), 5 (G), 3 (W), 3 (TF) 16*
5. Corona del Mar 5 (WP), 5 (VB), 2 (FB), 2 (S), 2 (SD) 16*
6. Mater Dei 5 (WP), 5 (VB), 2 (FB), 2 (BK), 2 (TF) 16*
7. Harvard-Westlake 5 (CC), 5 (BK), 3 (T) 13
8. Viewpoint 5 (SD), 5 (T), 2 (VB) 12
9. Mission Viejo 5 (BB), 3 (BK), 3 (FB) 11*
10. Oak Hills 5 (BB), 3 (W), 3 (S) 11*

GIRLS
1. Oaks Christian 5 (S), 5 (SB), 3 (BK), 3 (TF), 2 (VB) 18
2. Harvard-Westlake 5 (WP), 5 (TF), 3 (BK), 3 (CC) 16*
3. St. Margaret’s 5 (T), 5 (VB), 5 (S), 1 (CC) 16*
4. Chadwick 5 (CC), 5 (VB), 3 (BK) 13
5. Serra 5 (BK), 5 (TF), 2 (VB) 12
6. Canyon/Anaheim 5 (BK), 3 (SB), 2 (G), 1 (CC) 11*
7. Bishop Amat 5 (S), 2 (BK), 2 (SB), 2 (TF) 11*
8. Mater Dei 5 (BK), 5 (TF) 10*
9. Dos Pueblos 5 (WP), 5 (SB) 10*
10. Poly/Long Beach 5 (VB), 5 (TF) 10*

Aram posted a scoop last night about West Covina acquiring Justin Hornsby, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound defensive end from Rancho Verde. The part I found most interesting was this: Hornsby, who attended Rancho Verde last year, moved into the Covina Unified School District and was in South Hills’ area. But the junior-to-be wanted to play at West Covina. He had to protest to the county because Covina Unified would not release him. After a five-hour wait at the county office on Tuesday, Hornsby got clearance.

Fred’s take: I’m on record many times saying in most cases players should be able to transfer without CIF’s interference, though CIF is just following the rules set forth by the schools. But if a school district allows a player to transfer and he’s making the grades, he should be able to play sports at the school, and I’m hoping this works out for Hornsby. But you wonder what CIF does with this if Aram’s accounts are accurate. He said the junior-to-be “wanted” to play at West Covina despite being in the South Hills school district. On the surface, that sounds athletically motivated. So let’s be clear, although he’s been cleared to attend West Covina, he still needs to be cleared by CIF to play football. This may not be a normal transfer, to be eligible at West Covina, he will probably have to file a hardship transfer, explaining why he felt compelled to attend West Covina, despite living in South Hills’ district. Stay tuned.

“We return nearly everybody up front. That’s where you win ball games.” — Rosemead coach Matt Koffler

By Keith Lair, Staff Writer
Rosemead High School lineman Sal Chavarin does not know how to play football any way except how his coach, Matt Koffler, describes it.
“We play the Rosemead football way,” Koffler said. “That would be finding ways to dominate the lines. We return nearly everybody up front. That’s where you win ball games.”
Chavarin is the biggest presence in the middle of the Panthers’ line. The senior is 6-foot-2 and 350 pounds. He will play noseguard and “any position they want me to on offense,” he said. “I love noseguard; that’s my passion,” he said. “If they want me to do something on offense, I’ll do it.”

Continue reading “Don’t sell Rosemead short, Koffler likes what they have coming back after 8-4 season” »