By Fred J. Robledo, Staff Writer
Bishop Amat has plenty of time to figure out what it takes to compete with the Southland’s best — the Serra League is a month away and playoffs don’t start until November. But powerful Servite, the CIF-Southern Section’s two-time defending Pac-5 Division champs and current number one showed third-ranked Amat it still has a long way to go in Friday’s 49-14 victory at Cerritos College.
Repeat, a long way to go. (to continue click thread)

ARAM’S POSTGAME SHOW REWIND, CHECK IT OUT..

Friday’s results
Servite 49, Bishop Amat 14 – No need sugar-coating it, you’ve heard of bigger, stronger, faster … well add better too. Amat’s defense looked like it has a long way to go, Servite moved in big chunks from start to finish.
Loyola 35, West Covina 7 — The Bulldogs fell behind quick and never recovered, but something tells me they will be fine once the Hacienda rolls around.
Damien 13, Diamond Ranch 6 — More important to Gano than Layton, though it wasn’t the fist-pumping result Spartans fans were hoping for. Still, a good win.
Charter Oak 35, Roosevelt 28 – Thank goodness the Trib’s number one pulled it out in the fourth quarter, otherwise it would have been a real dark night in the SGV.
Covina 42, Gladstone 0 – Absolutely no lingering effects from last week’s heart-wrenching 26-20 overtime loss to West Covina.
South Hills 61, St. Monica 0 – Are you paying attention to this? The Huskies follow with West Covina and Monrovia, and yes, I think they have a great shot in both.
Arroyo 48, Temple City 21 — Always a heated rivalry, and you have to love how the Knights have scored points in their first two wins.
Diamond Bar 40, Wilson 13 — Brahmas shake off last week’s disappointment with a solid win over the Cats.
California 41, Rowland 14 – The Raiders aren’t what they use to be, but then again, the Condors are pretty good.
Lancaster 9, Baldwin Park 7 – Could be a long, long year for the Braves, falling to 0-2 after another tough loss.
Mountain View 41, Bassett 12 — The Vikings were expected to win, but the offense is much better than expected.
Troy 35, Walnut 14 – In previous years the Mustangs may have had a shot, but not this year, and not on the road.
El Rancho 13, Northview 10 — That’s two tough losses for the Vikings in back-to-back weeks.
Nogales 36, Jurupa Hills 14 — The Nobles get in the win column, much needed to get their confidence going.
Claremont 18, Bonita 15 — The Wolfpack returned the favor after Bonita’s surprising win over them last year.
Pomona 28, Chino 24 -- The Red Devils could be the sleeper in the Valle Vista that Covina and San Dimas worry about.
Chino Hills 28, Santiago 16 – Remember, the Huskies are the Sierra League champs till someone knocks them off.
Montebello 20, Rosemead 9 — Tough loss for Koffler and the boys.
Los Altos 27, Bellflower 0 — Are you kidding me, great to see teams like Los Altos and Duarte rebound they way they have the first two weeks.
South El Monte 40, Ganesha 7 — The Lions took care of the Giants easier than most expected.
Workman 13, Keppel 2 — Nice start for the Lobos, now lets see if they can keep it going.

Highlights and postgame interviews from Amat-Servite with the Inland Insider, Tom Kiss and staff…

Postgame interviews with West Covina with Tyler Drohen

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El Monte High School’s football team showed it’s a force to be reckoned with in last week’s eye-opening win over Baldwin Park. But there are still lessons to be learned. Four turnovers and a costly roughing the kicker penalty late in the fourth quarter were too much for the Lions to overcome against host La Puente, which took advantage and posted a 35-21 victory in Thursday’s nonleague game.

Thursday’s results
La Puente 35, El Monte 21 — El Monte coughed up four turnovers and committed a huge roughing the kicker penalty in the fourth, but the Warriors’ offense played well too, getting 180 yards and two touchdowns from Nicholas Barrientos.
San Dimas 41, Azusa 16 — The Saints rebounded from last week’s 40-20 loss to Bonita with a win over the three-time Montview League champs.
Monrovia 29, Glendora 16 – Closer than the final indicated. The Tartans led 9-0 and gave up a late first half touchdown. The Wildcats took over in the second half with a pair of touchdowns from De’Shawn Ramirez.
Colony 14, Ayala 9 – Two big wins for Colony after holding on and defeating South Hills 30-29 last week.
Duarte 40, Blair 0 – The Falcons are back, running all over the Vikings in their second-straight win after breaking a 20-game losing streak last week

Our up-and-coming reporting sensation, Tyler Drohen, provided postgame highlights and video’s from Thursday’s Monrovia-Glendora game.

“I’m glad he’s on our team. It’s unfortunate it didn’t work out for him because I know it’s something he really wanted to do. We were prepared to move on without him, but we don’t have to do that now. We’re glad he’s here. He’s one of our leaders and best players.” — Amat coach Steve Hagerty

By Aram Tolegian, Staff Writer
With Bishop Amat High School quarterback Rio Ruiz locked in for the entire season, Lancers coach Steve Hagerty is anxious to put the saga of his star quarterback’s playing status in the past and continue preparations for Friday’s showdown against Servite. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. at Cerritos College. Ruiz was expected to miss Amat’s games against La Mirada, Damien and Cathedral so he could compete in the COPABE Pan American 18 and Under baseball championships in Colombia from Sept. 12 through Oct 2. But with the tournament now pushed back to November, Ruiz announced over the weekend he will be sticking with football. Ruiz came off the bench in Amat’s season-opening win over Garfield to lead two touchdown drives in the Lancers’ 14-0 win. With Ruiz not expected to miss any time, the chances of him being fully cranked by the time Serra League play roll around have greatly improved. And that also means any notion of Ruiz being rusty due to missing three games have gone by the wayside.
“The more time he puts in, the better he’ll be,” Hagerty said. “Every game Rio plays at quarterback is better for us. The more reps he gets, the better he gets.”

By Aram Tolegian
The aftereffects of Los Altos’ season-opening win over El Rancho are still being felt this week as the Conquerors prepare to hopefully do it again on Friday when they play Bellflower. The Conquerors beat El Rancho on Friday to post the program’s first win since beating rival Wilson in 2009. It came under first-year coach Dale Ziola, who was beaming with pride over his team this week. “The feeling was great, are you kidding me?” Ziola said. “I couldn’t be happier and more proud of these guys, who had to deal with so much crap over the past two years.”
Los Altos had its chance to fold in Friday’s game. After taking a 7-0 lead, the Conquerors soon found themselves down 14-7. But the team battled back and eventually took a commanding lead before winning 49-36. “We got down 14-7 and a year ago or two years ago everybody would go `Oh no, here we go again.”‘ Ziola said. “That didn’t happen last week. We responded. All the things that were missing from the past were back last week. I couldn’t be happier.” With a win under their belts, Ziola reports his team has had a solid week of practice as it prepares for Bellflower despite the holiday and heat wave.

Damien’s Dynamic Duo: Travion Boykins and Uriah Trailer have specific roles on the Damien High School football team. They’re supposed to make big plays on offense while making sure they don’t give up any on defense. Their common denominator is speed, something that was notably missing from the Spartans last season. “When we found out we were going here, we started watching all the YouTube videos and saw all the big plays they got beat on (last year),” Trailer said. “They didn’t tackle very well and their corners weren’t very fast.

West Covina’s Solomon to miss Loyola: West Covina High School’s football team will be without running back/defensive back Chris Solomon this Friday night when the Bulldogs take on Loyola at L.A. Valley College.
Solomon, the reigning Tribune Player of the Year, left Saturday’s win over Covina in the first half one play after his ankle rolled during a carry. Bulldogs coach Mike Maggiore said Solomon injured himself after leaping over a tackler and getting caught in a pile.

More notes from Tolegian on Covina, Diamond Bar…
Colts ready to go again
Covina came out of Saturday’s battle with West Covina relatively unscathed. “We’re fine,” Covina coach Darryl Thomas said Tuesday. “Just bumps and bruises. We were tired, but we’re good.” After watching film of the game, two areas stood out to Thomas – Covina’s lack of a ground game on offense, and the defense’s inability to get off the field on third down. “After the first game, you look at the film and see the things you need to improve,” Thomas said. “We definitely need to improve the running game; we have to run the football, and that’s something we’re looking to do.”
Colts running back Gevontray Ainsworth was held under 40 yards against West Covina. Covina visits Gladstone on Friday night at Citrus College. Kickoff is 7 p.m.
“We’re still winless,” Thomas said. “The 2011 team, with all this hype, we still don’t have a victory.”
Brahmas look for answers
After a summer of hype, Diamond Bar laid an egg in its season-opening 32-23 loss to Ayala. “We came out awful. Awful.” Diamond Bar coach Ryan Maine said. “Everything went wrong for us.” Indeed. The Brahmas team bus got stuck in traffic due to a car accident and the team was 20 minutes late. Then the coaching staff’s headsets stopped working. And that speaks nothing about what took place on the field: an interception on the first possession, a bad snap for a safety and enough breakdowns to lead to an early hole. “Our film session on Saturday, you could hear a pin drop,” Maine said. “You take away our mistakes and it probably would have been a great game.”
It won’t get easier for Diamond Bar this week. The Brahmas take on a Wilson team that’s also 0-1 and has plenty of good excuses after blowing a big lead to Bosco Tech.
“We watched them on film and they have some very talented linemen,” Maine said of the Wildcats. “It’s going to be a true test on how we want to stop the run game. I don’t think it’s a must win until we get to league, but morale-wise, we can’t come out like we did against Ayala.”

Chino Hills players, from left, Karly Shockey, Shelley Anderson and Heather Trueman, and St. Lucy’s players, from left, Jasmine Warmington, Jackie Macy and Arianna Sifuentes will once again lead their teams as they duke it out for Sierra League supremacy. (Frank Perez / Correspondent)

By Fred J. Robledo, Staff Writer
It may be difficult to duplicate the drama that unfolded at Cypress College in last year’s CIF-Southern Section Division 2AA girls volleyball final between St. Lucy’s and Chino Hills. After splitting matches during the regular season, the Sierra League rivals met for a third time in the title match, with every game hotly contested.
In the end, St. Lucy’s overcame a first-game loss to post a 22-25, 25-23, 26-24, 25-20 victory over the Huskies to claim the school’s first divisional volleyball title. With the 2011 girls volleyball season starting this week, there should be no surprise as to who leads the San Gabriel Valley Tribune’s top-10 rankings. (To continue rankings, click thread)

TRIP TOP TEN
1. St. Lucy’s
2. Chino Hills
3. Claremont
4. Bonita
5. Bishop Amat
6. South Hills
7. Los Altos
8. San Dimas
9. Walnut
10. La Puente

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TRIBUNE SUPER 35 RANKINGS by Fred J. Robledo
1. Charter Oak (1-0) – Not an impressive start for the area’s top-ranked team, squeaking past Glendora 17-6 and scoring just three points in the second half at home. There’s a good chance they stay No. 1 for a while, especially with No. 2 Amat going to Servite and No. 3 West Covina going to Loyola. Chagers should open it up against visiting Roosevelt next.
2. Bishop Amat (1-0) – QB Rio Ruiz didn’t play the first quarter against Garfield, but he returned to help the Lancers to a 14-0 shutout over Garfield, a solid result considering this week’s opponent, Servite, had to be in the back of their heads. Amat finds out exactly where it stacks up on Friday against the team Hagerty calls, “Darth Vadar.”
3. West Covina (1-0) — Probably the most impressive team over the weekend, beating Covina in overtime 26-20, and doing it without reigning area player of the year Chris Solomon for most of the game. But now they get Loyola, a step-up of gigantic proportions.
4. Damien (0-0) – Some say the Spartans looked mediocre in their last scrimmage, but it was just a scrimmage. Let’s reserve judgment until Friday night, when they host Roddy Layton and Diamond Ranch.
5. Bonita (1-0) – Aram didn’t rank them in the preseason top ten, but it’s clear they took big leaps forward with a rather easy 40-20 win over San Dimas in the Smudgepot. It probably gets tougher this week against Claremont.
6. Claremont (1-0) – The Wolfpack opened with a big 24-20 win over Kennedy, kind of a surprise considering how many players they lost from last season, including QB Daniel Kessler. But they were solid last year and probably are itching to face Bonita on Friday, who beat them last year.
7. Chino Hills (0-1) – Not ready to drop the Huskies more than a spot after losing to out-of-state Bear Creek just 36-34. We should have a better idea of how good they actually are against Santiago on Friday.
8. Arroyo (1-0) – The Knights won impressively 45-12 over Ontario and QB Steven Rivera was fantastic. Don’t expect the Knights to lose anytime soon.
9. Covina (0-1) – Like Chino Hills, the Colts only drop a spot after their thrilling 26-20 loss to West Covina in overtime on Saturday. I’ll predict this right now, Colts win nine straight heading into the playoffs.
10. South Hills (0-1) – Huskies played a great game despite losing to Colony, 30-29, a game they could have tied with an extra point in the final seconds. The Huskies should get on-track against St. Monica this week, then have the showdown at Monrovia.

The Rest: 11. Ayala (1-0), 12. Azusa (0-0); 13. Glendora (0-1); 14. San Dimas (0-1); 15. Rowland (1-0), 16. Diamond Ranch (0-1), 17. Los Altos (1-0), 18. Diamond Bar (0-1); 19. El Monte (1-0), 20. Pomona (1-0), 21. La Puente (0-0), 22. Rosemead (0-0), 23. Wilson (0-1), 24. Baldwin Park (0-1), 25. Walnut (0-1), 26. Duarte (1-0), 27. Ganesha (1-0), 28. Bassett (1-0), 29. Northview (0-1), 30. Sierra Vista (0-1), 31. Nogales (0-1), 32. Gladstone (0-0), 33, Workman (0-0), 34, Mountain View (0-1), 35. South El Monte (0-0).

For coaches and those who call in high school sports scores to be published in the Tribune, online and in the blogs, please call after your game to 626-962-8811, ext. 2242, 2296 or 2233. Please have information on both teams, including records and the correct spelling of names, first and last. You can also email a boxscore or write us two to three paragraphs on the game that we can use, but please leave a contact number for us to call back if we have questions or need to verify the email. You can email results to scores@sgvn.com

Star-News prep editor Miguel Melendez and I discuss Thursday’s huge game, Glendora visiting Mid-Valley defending champ and current No. 1 Monrovia. On Wednesday, we will post two-minute drills of Bishop Amat-Servite and Diamond Ranch-Damien.

Bishop Amat quarterback Rio Ruiz was scheduled to leave with Team USA Baseball after Friday’s game against Servite so he could compete in the COPABE Pan American 18 and Under championships in Colombia from Sept. 12 through Oct 2. However, Ruiz said he will remain with the football team for the remainder of the season after learning the Pan American championships were pushed back to November, which is during the football playoffs. Ruiz told the L.A. Times, “I’m not leaving my team.” He would have missed three straight games after Friday’s big game against Servite, but now won’t miss any.

Aram and I will go head-to-head in Tribskin Pick’em throughout the season with the loser buying lunch in December.

Last Week: Robledo (12-10); Tolegian (14-8).

Last week: Never had a week where I lost 10 games, not even close. With Aram losing eight to take a two-game lead, that kind of shows how unpredictable opening weekend was with teams like El Monte, Los Altos and Duarte all winning. In the weekend’s big three games, Aram and I split. We both took Charter Oak over Glendora, but he took Bonita over San Dimas and I had West Covina over Covina, so that was a wash.

This week: Business is business, no way I’m taking Amat over Servite. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but the Lancers would have had a better shot at home, not at Cerritos College. In fact, Calpreps’ computers predicts a 35-6 Servite beating, so you know it’s a super longshot. Other interesting games, I’m taking San Dimas over Azusa and Glendora over Monrovia in a shocker. I also like Loyola over West Covina, Bonita over Claremont, Diamond Bar over Wilson and Damien over Diamond Ranch. There are lots of other interesting games, like El Monte and La Puente, especially after the Lions’ big win over Baldwin Park. In fact, El Monte-La Puente is our Thursday night game of the week.

Note: Aram will pick his games later in the day. My predictions are already up.

This weeks games and predictions
Thursday’s games
El Monte at La Puente, 7 p.m. — Robledo (La Puente); Tolegian (El Monte)
Azusa vs. San Dimas at Citrus College, 7 p.m. — Robledo (San Dimas); Tolegian (San Dimas)
Glendora at Monrovia, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Glendora); Tolegian (Monrovia)
Ayala at Colony, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Colony); Tolegian (Colony)
Friday’s games
Bishop Amat vs. Servite at CC, 7:30 p.m. — Robledo (Servite); Tolegian (Servite)
West Covina vs. Loyola at LAVC, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Loyola); Tolegian (Loyola)
Diamond Ranch at Damien, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Damien); Tolegian (Damien)
Roosevelt at Charter Oak, 7 p.m., Robledo (Charter Oak); Tolegian (Roosevelt)
Covina vs. Gladstone at Citrus, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Covina); Tolegian (Covina)
St. Monica vs. South Hills at CDF, 7 p.m. — Robledo (SHills); Tolegian (SHills)
Temple City at Arroyo, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Arroyo); Tolegian (Arroyo)
Wilson at Diamond Bar, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Diamond Bar); Tolegian (Diamond Bar)
Bellflower at Los Altos, 7:30 p.m. — Robledo (Bellflower); Tolegian (Los Altos)
Blair at Duarte, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Duarte); Tolegian (Duarte)
Ganesha at South El Monte, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Ganesha); Tolegian (South El Monte)
Workman at Keppel, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Workman); Tolegian (Workman)
Lancaster at Baldwin Park, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Lancaster); Tolegian (Lancaster)
Bassett at Mountain View, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Bassett); Tolegian (Bassett)
Walnut vs. Troy at Fullerton, 7: p.m. — Robledo (Troy); Tolegian (Troy)
Jurupa Hills at Nogales, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Nogales); Tolegian (Jurupa Hills)
Bonita at Claremont, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Bonita); Tolegian (Claremont)
Pomona at Chino, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Chino); Tolegian (Chino)
Santiago at Chino Hills, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Chino Hills); Tolegian (Chino Hills)
Northview at El Rancho, 7 p.m. — Robledo (El Rancho); Tolegian (El Rancho)
Rosemead at Montebello, 7 p.m. — Robledo (Rosemead); Tolegian (Montebello)
Rowland at California, 7 p.m. — Robledo (California); Tolegian (Rowland)

Unbelievable atmosphere, unbelievable game. There was so much hype after last year’s fourth-quarter win by the Colts that this couldn’t possibly live up, but it did. Maybe even better. Trailing 20-6 in the fourth quarter, Livingston hooked up with a 70 yard strike over the middle to Vinny Vegas for a touchdown, then after West Covina took a mind-boggling fourth-down sack at the 48 with 1:23 left instead of pooching it away, Livingston threw an “are they doing it again” touchdown to Peter De La Cruz on the very next play, a 52-yard score to tie the game at 20-20 with 1:15 left. But West Covina showed the pride of a champion, answering with Aaron Salgado’s two-yard touchdown in overtime, then getting a stop to get the win, avoiding a second-straight meltdown. Great game, great emotion from both teams, and I found out what I wanted to find out about Covina, that last year’s win was no fluke, not after going toe-to-toe again. Maggiore’s right, Covina and Monrovia are the best bets to meet in the Mid-Valley title game. And we also found out something about West Covina, that the champions intend on defending it, rising to the occasion with the player of the year injured and not able to go. Now that’s how you close a weekend triple-header!

By Aram Tolegian, Staff Writer
Faced with the possiblity of suffering another heartbreaking loss to Covina, the West Covina High School football team wasn’t about to let history repeat itself.

The Bulldogs withstood a fourth-quarter rally by the Colts to post a 26-20 win in overtime in the season opener for both teams on Saturday night at Covina District Field.
The win avenged last year’s loss, in which West Covina saw Covina rally from a 21-2 fourth-quarter deficit to win 27-21.
On Saturday, the Bulldogs watched as Covina rallied from a 20-6 hole to tie the game at 20-20 with just over a minute to play on a 50-yard touchdown pass by Covina quarterback Billy Livingston to receiver Peter De La Cruz.
Once in overtime, West Covina scored on its first possession on Aaron Salgado’s 2-yard touchdown run. The Bulldogs missed the extra point, though, and left themselves open to the possiblity of another sour defeat. But West Covina’s defense held and sealed the win after Livingston’s fourth-down pass for receiver Justin Mason was ruled incomplete in the back of the end zone. (to continue click thread)

For highlights and interviews of West Covina’s overtime win, check out the Inland Insider’s wrap-up.

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Bishop Amat 14, Garfield 0 — Quarterback Rio Ruiz didn’t start until the second quarter, but the good news is the Lancers’ much improved defense threw a shutout heading to mighty Servite next week. Ruiz was 10 of 13 for 90 yards and Jalen Moore rushed for 102 yards and a TD. Zach Shay also scored late.

Inland Insider’s highlights and interviews from Charter Oak, Glendora

For quarter-by-quarter updates of tonight’s games, click link.

Tonight’s results
Charter Oak 17, Glendora 6 — Travis Santiago threw for 168 yards and ran for a touchdown, and Kurt Scoby rushed for 81 yards and also scored in a tougher-than-expected win for the area’s top-ranked Chargers.
Bishop Amat 14, Garfield 0 — Quarterback Rio Ruiz didn’t start until the second quarter, but the good news is the Lancers’ much improved defense threw a shutout heading to mighty Servite next week. Ruiz was 10 of 13 for 90 yards and Jalen Moore rushed for 102 yards and a TD. Zach Shay also scored late.
Ayala 32, Diamond Bar 23 – Diamond Bar fell behind 9-0 early and never recovered. Not what the Brahmas had in mind for coach Ryan Maine’s opener.
El Monte 43, Baldwin Park 17 – The shocking score of the night wasn’t that El Monte won, but how impressive they did it.
Franklin 16, Northview 13 – Not bad considering many are predicting a long year for the Vikings.
Bosco Tech 28, Wilson 24 — The Wildcats nearly pulled off a big win in coach Bob Burt’s debut, falling a few points short.
Los Altos 49, El Rancho 36 — A dramatic turnaround considering El Rancho whipped the Conqs in last year’s season opener. This may give some in the heights hope.
Bassett 27, Keppel 6 — Big win for coach Aubrey Duncan, who kept telling me this year is going to be different.
Rowland 27, Nogales 7 — After so much discussion on how many players the Raiders lost to graduation, they come out rolling in the opener.
Alhambra 47, Mountain View 7 — Not a surprise, the Moors have a very good team.
Duarte 42, Marshall 27 — Give it up for Falcons coach Tip Sanders, his first win in his third year. The win broke the Falcons’ 20-game losing streak.
Arroyo 45, Ontario 12 — Steven Rivera was 19 of 25 for 276 and four touchdown passes. Oh, and he scored on a one-yard run too.
Bear Creek 36, Chino Hills 34 – Tough opening loss for the Huskies.
Pomona 41, Garey 6 - Maybe the Red Devils are going to be a force after all.
Claremont 24, Kennedy 20 — Solid win for the Wolfback.
Chino 41, Diamond Ranch 28 — Another season-opening loss for for the Panthers.
Salesian 49, Sierra Vista 0 — What else can you say but ouch.
Don Lugo 28, Walnut 14 – Now how Mustangs wanted to open at home.

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Northview soccer player claims the coach photo-shopped her out of a team picture at the school’s soccer banquet ….

Parents and school district sources say they’re concerned that a soccer coach who was placed on administrative leave in the spring, during an investigation of his treatment of a student, has returned to teaching duties this week.
Northview High School girls’ soccer coach and teacher Al Lorello allegedly used digital editing to erase senior varsity player Jade Vehawn from team photographs and excluded her name from the team’s championship banner last year, Vehawn and district sources said.
Vehawn, who was selected to the first-team All-Valle Vista League, says Lorello also wrote her a four-page letter in which he criticized her maturity level, said he is not proud of her, and said her years on the team “were not that great.”
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Bonita 40, San Dimas 20: Bonita nearly ran the second half kickoff for a touchdown, a momentum-swinging play that led to 17 straight points and 27-6 lead. They were jittery at first, then got better. Was impressed with backs Cameron Griffen, who scored twice, and Reggie Turner, who scored late. Garrett Horine also scored twice and soph Tanner Diebold threw for a touchdown and looked more confident as the game wore on. Great sign for Podley, he’s only going to get better. The Saints are probably kicking themselves for not scoring at the one in the first quarter, but again, credit goes to Bonita for stopping them. DaVante Brown looked like the Saints best on Thursday, he nearly had a 150 yards and scored on a beautiful 88 yard run in the first quarter, the only time the Saints led, 7-3.

Aram’s column on the smudge: Was Bonita that good or is San Dimas that bad? That’s the question area fans will be asking for the next few days after Bonita’s 40-20 win on Thursday night at Citrus College in the Smudgepot Game. And the answer quite simply is some of both.

Colony 30, South Hills 29 – Colony scored with less than a minute left to take a 30-23 lead, then South Hills rallied to score with less than 10 seconds left but missed the extra point. That’s tough. We’ve said it here before, the Huskies can score points, but they have to work on that D.

Ganesha 14, Montclair 10: Ganesha, utilizing a strong ball-control offense, made two first-half touchdowns stand up in a 14-10 nonleague victory over visiting Montclair.

Bishop Amat watch: Servite shuts out Oceanside 20-0. Charlie Etiaki finished with 115 yards.

Coveritlive on Fire: There were 1,326 views and 860 comments on tonight’s live chat, not bad with only a few games in town. It compared well to last year’s Southeast championship between West Covina and Bonita, which had 1,182 views, but 1,522 comments. All the comments from tonight’s chat are on the replay by clicking thread.

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The Scouting Guru has been all over the San Gabriel Valley and beyond, and like always, he’s offered to share his thoughts, free of charge. Don’t hate, enjoy it for what it’s worth, which is one man’s opinion on the talent in the San Gabriel Valley.

GURU WRITES: It’s finally here. The 2011 football season begins tonight and for guys like myself, this is the best time of the year. Scouts have been combing the field during the summer, getting their lists together and now it’s time to find out who’s stock is going to rise; and who’s stock is going to fall. But rather than talk about the players that are the college prospects in the area; and you can look back at my previous columns to know where I stand with the prospects in the valley, let’s go over what in going on in recruiting now that the month is September. (To continue, click thread).

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