By Aram Tolegian
Since losing to rival Bonita in the season opener, San Dimas High School’s football team has been on a tear. The Saints have outscored CIF-Southern Section Mid-Valley Division foes Azusa and San Gabriel by a combined score of 100-22. Are the Saints ready to join Covina and Monrovia on everyone’s short list of division champion contenders? The Valley will find out Friday when San Dimas (2-1) visits Monrovia (1-1). “I think our kids have worked hard in practice,” San Dimas coach Bill Zernickow said. “I think getting some experience in game-time situations helps, so as games have gone on we’ve gotten better. The kids have just gotten more comfortable playing. Defensively, being able to tackle a little bit better and forcing turnovers helps the cause.”

Continue reading “San Dimas-Monrovia ready to settle the score in Season 3; McCarthy out for Monrovia” »

Aram and I discuss Damien’s huge home game with Bishop Amat, a game the Spartans want to show how much it has grown since last year’s blowout loss at Amat. Aram and I, however, expect more of the same.

Charter Oak coaches Dom Farrar and Roger Lehigh at 37:21 mark….

“This is when you find out how mentally and physically tough you can be. Most of their coaches have been coaching there longer than most of my guys have been alive. That’s good. It’s a good test. You don’t see a whole lot of weaknesses in what they do. They pretty much have seen everything you can throw at them. — Arroyo coach Jim Singiser on facing Hart Friday.

By Aram Tolegian, Staff Writer
Arroyo High School, equipped with the memory of last year’s 44-3 loss to Hart, is excited for another crack at the big time. The Knights travel to Santa Clarita on Friday to take on Hart at College of the Canyons in a step-up game that would be a major stunner should Arroyo pull off the upset.
“We have a puncher’s chance,” Arroyo coach Jim Singiser said. “We can throw the ball. We have a shot. It’s not going to be a matter of us shutting them down, I can tell you that right now. They probably have three or four receivers who are faster than our fastest kid and they’re huge up front. We need to have them get some penalties and turn the ball over. We need a couple stops and then we need to play perfect on offense. That’s the way we’re looking at it.”

Continue reading “Arroyo football coach Jim Singiser on facing Hart: “We have a puncher’s chance.”” »

By Aram Tolegian
Bonita has headed south since its season-opening rout of San Dimas in the Smudgepot.
The Bearcats have suffered through injuries and errors that have led to losses to Claremont and La Serna, both of whom are undefeated. The combined final margin of defeat in those games was four points. “We’ve been doing suicide by Bearcat,” Bonita coach Eric Podley said. “It means we’re hurting ourselves with mistakes, fumbles, turnovers … we’re doing it to ourselves. La Serna had 14 points as a result of our fumbling. We missed an extra point and a field goal.”

Continue reading “Bonita not the same since Smudgepot win” »

Billy Livingston is starting to rewrite the record books at Covina High School. And as each record topples, the senior quarterback maintains the stat he’s most concerned about is wins.
Last week, Livingston broke the school record of two-time Tribune Player of the Year Mike McDonough for career completions at 310. He’s only five away from passing Matt Kearns (1992-94) in attempts. But the big ones lay right around the corner.
As soon as Friday night against Walnut, Livingston could move past McDonough’s career passing mark of 5,406 yards. He needs 362 against the Mustangs to do so. After that, Livingston has enough games remaining this season to set the school’s records so high that it’s hard to imagine anyone catching him.

Above: Charter Oak and Rancho Cucamonga meet again on Friday.

1. Charter Oak (3-0) — Three games, three quality wins over Glendora, Eisenhower and Esperanza, now comes the step-up of step-ups, facing Rancho Cucamonga at home, a team that only has allowed six points all year, and that came when the starters were out. For once and for all, Chargers can prove they’re completely deserving of No. 1 tag with a win.
2. Bishop Amat (2-1) — The season didn’t snowball after the Servite loss, the Lancers got back on track and did it the best way they know how, feeding Jalen Moore and watching him go to work in a blowout over La Mirada. Now they face a Damien team that wants a win in the worst way.
3. West Covina (2-1) — The Bulldogs go back to No. 3. Look, two wins over quality area teams in Covina and South Hills, and if you watched them work over the weekend, you got the feeling they might not lose another game the rest of the way.
4. Claremont (3-0) — With quarterback Daniel Kessler and several others gone, we forgot about the Wolfpack in the preseason rankings. But recent wins over Bonita and Walnut show they’re going to fight it out in the Sierra like everyone else.
5. Damien (2-0) — Spartans have done what they’re supposed to do, beat teams in front of them, even doing it in a convincing way over Chaffey. But now comes the test of tests, trying to show how far they’ve come since last year’s blowout loss at Amat.
6. Chino Hills (1-2) — The Huskies have played arguably the toughest schedule, losing this past week to Pac-5 contender Tesoro, the same Tesoro that knocked Amat out of the playoffs last year. Forget the record, the Huskies are better than this. You know it and I know it.
7. Covina (2-1) — Colts seem on a mission since their season-opening loss to West Covina with blowouts over Gladstone and El Monte. Billy Livingston and Co. are on a mission, they might not lose for a while.
8. Arroyo (3-0) — The win over Montebello wasn’t convincing, but it kept the Knights perfect. It might be hard to stay perfect visiting Hart on Friday, but this is what opportunities are all about, the chance to pull off a stunner.
9. Los Altos (3-0) — The feel-good turnaround continues, from a 14-game losing streak to an undefeated 3-0 start, and a No. 4 ranking in the Southeast. Feels like good times again when the Conqs are back in the picture.
10. South Hills (1-2) — The Huskies have suffered some bad luck, losing to Colony 30-29 and West Covina 35-33 because it failed to make extra points that would have sent both games to overtime. It doesn’t get easier, after a week off they visit Mid-Valley champ Monrovia.
The rest: 11. San Dimas (2-1), 12. Glendora (1-2), 13. Ayala (2-1), 14. Diamond Bar (2-1), 15. Bonita (1-1), 16. Pomona (2-1), 17. Rowland (2-1), 18. La Puente (2-0), 19. South El Monte (2-0), 20. Diamond Ranch (0-3), 21. Azusa (0-2), 22. Nogales (2-1), 23. Baldwin Park (1-2), 24. El Monte (1-2), 25. Walnut (0-3), 26. Rosemead (0-2), 27. Duarte (2-1), 28. Wilson (0-3), 29. Northview (0-3), 30. Mountain View (2-1), 31. Ganesha (1-1), 32. Bassett (1-1), 33. Workman (1-1), 34. Gladstone (0-2), 35. Sierra Vista (0-2),