Sierra All-League Football: Charter Oak's Travis Santiago earns player of the year honors

Rumor is that the offensive line coach and defensive line coaches have been replaced. Damien is going back to basics. Big, Strong Line Men and some Monsterous Defensive Players, Im sure one of which will be Alex. He did great this last season. Damien is going to be able to compete with these Inland teams.

Sparta will be reborn with an impenetrable O-line and hungry D-line.

I think this will be Ganos finest year if he sticks with this mindset.

Bring back the Monsters Of the GridIron!!!

Go Damien!!!

Two cents,

Did you see Horine from Bonita play this year, same size as Thropay and a more natural safety who should also be getting some looks.

And if that is the case.....congratulations to him, I wish him all the best!!!!

Two cents,
The only argument I have is his 4.5 GPA so a school like NAVY would be a great place for him to grow into a new position or if that doesn't pan out he gets a free awesome education and can fly 40 million dollar planes.

Just an observation, I don't want to talk bad about a kid, but I do have an opinion on one of the topics here. No names, but in the the games I saw one of the kids "not on this list, who got slighted?" was rightfully left off. The two games that I saw, one was on TV, the other in person, I was not impressed. I saw a lack of aggressiveness, toughness and no ability to make a solid tackle. He arm tackled and hit with the side of his body, when he wasn't jumping on backs and riding them to the ground. There is a big difference when catching a defensless reciever in a compromising position and the element of surprise adds to the "apparent" viciousness of the hit but what I want to see is what the kid does when both ball carrier and tackler see eachother coming! In that department....nada. Why take a kid you have to develop at an "ELITE" D-1 school when you can have many others who already possess those skills with that frame or better?This particular kidis DII material at best. Maybe a run through a good JC program can get those hidden talents to develop and then he can make a good run at D-I. Eitherway I wish the kid well. Keep working, that's the key!

I know Thropay's ability well. He is a D1 player as a converted line backer. He has a frame to carry 220-230 easy. He is not a DB because he he peaks in the back field, over plays the pass somewhat, and goes for the kill shot every time, and his coverage is not D1. However , Bulk Him up, with his Height, speed, hands, and hitting ability, he could be a good backer on the next level. Thropay is highly athletic. Just needs more development. First team all league selection. He got screwed. A kid with his attributes should catch the eye of a college. He is looking into going to Navy. Great choice for him. If that works out, he will be one the best incoming freshman, based up on measurables(Height 6'4 205lbs, 4.6 forty). Gimme that frame all day, you can work with that kind of clay.

Your Stupiderer,

It's sad to see Alex's resume take a hit like this because of a picture he took with the two Farrars after the co game. Don't take my word for it because you can go to maxpreps and scroll to Damien and see it yourself.

Your Stupiderer,

What a great way to send a message to a very good player, embarrass him in front the whole valley. I can already feel the stampede of parents lining up to enroll johnny over here.

It's probably not a good idea to do an Intra-League transfer if you want honors at the end of the year. Can't say I blame the SL coaches for the slight.

Aparently there was a cost other than tuition that was not taken into account.

Jmo again you have no idead of what your talking about. Three other transfers made it from damien. This is clearly a message coach g is sending alex. I just hope it doesnt back fire. Lets hope it just fuels alex fire and not turn him against the coaches. Lord knows they need all the support they can get.

I didn't realize that Alex isn't even a 2nd teamer, what a slap in the face! I guess transfer's aren't a part of "the good ole boys club" over at Damien, is this due to parent pressure because they are paying full tuition while "others" are not, hhmmmmmm.

5 out of 6,
The reason is that the sierra league choose 6 "backs" for the first team....that includes RB's and QB's....looks like there was a weak corp of QB's this year.

5 of the 6 "starting" RBs in the SL made 1st Team All League or POY? Maybe Claremont didn't have a RB ? Call me old school but that seems odd doesn't it?

I really didn't see the Alex Hernandez slight coming. Hard to think any one of the dlinemen played better than him at Damien. Logan Tracy winning for both sides of the ball is very impressive however the Sierra League has a history of crazy selections over the years. Hile beat out Harper, Mc Mahon, Pertusati, Rabe and others for Sierra League Defensive MVP one year. After that joke I knew the SL selections were a joke, Hile over Rabe that year? Seriously?Whatever the case may be Alex Hernandez can't be too thrilled. He left CO and they go on an undefeated league run only to do so much of the heavy lifting for the Spartans. Haven't talked to his Dad yet but this isn't going to over well in the Hernandez household.

No one blackballed hernandez for transferrring...it didn't do Damien any good...They finished 3rd. I personally thought he was better last year as a Soph. The unwritten rule for coaches is that you don't vote for a kid a coach has ranked lower over a kid the coach has ranked higher unless you don't like that coach. All league voting can be very political. I know for a fact that Hernandez was ranked 3rd by Gano. Maybe because he was only a junior and Waldron and Tracy were seniors? I do believe Hernandez was at least a 2nd team choice though.

Wow, den de smurfs from Paraclete must hav been promised All League in addision to starting positions and free tuition.

Head coaches send out their top picks of their kids in every packet to all league coaching staff's. This means if your not on the short list your screwed! If your that good of a player and get screwed as bad as he did that blows.

Are you trying to say that if coach Fair actually liked this kid and didn't put him in the same spot every frickin play he might have been better, HELL YES! If he was still at co next year with the addition of Hauser not to mention all the returners they would be sick on D.

Wow, the kid was 2nd team last yr as a sophmore. I just looked him up on Max Preps and he lead in sack this yr even with the last few games not updated. Everyone remembers the Amat vs. Damien game when Hernandez sacked Rios back 14 yrds. Maybe the grass isnt so brighter on the other side.

SL Fan,
How do you know the other coaches didn't black ball Hernandez because he transferred within the same league. This would be a great way to discourage transferring.
Some who really got facts please chime in because knowing the truth on this one would be really helpful.

Thropay is not a D1 player and you will see in Feb. He is not physical enough nor is he fast enough. Watch the Upland tape that's what recruiters will be looking at. Intercepting balls against teams that are down 30 points and your blitzing the heck out of them doesn't tell the story. He is D1AA at best but more like D2.

I agree about Hernandez....but the truth is ask Gano why he didn't put him up as Damien's #1 defensive lineman. The way it works is each coach nominates the kids they want selected for all league.....the 1st place team gets to Nominate 14 players I believe and the last place team gets 8....something like that. Each coach then lists them in order of how they want them selected and the other coached rank all the players up for a position in order they feel deserving. Hernandez WAS NOT Gano's 1st D lineman ranked, he was Gano's 3rd choice or he would have been selected above them. So look no farther than your own coach Damien fans.

You guys think the "know-nothing" media made the same mistake with Thropay? Go out and get a Tribune on Saturday and see if Thropay's mug is right there with the rest of the first-team All-Area players.

OK, here is a forum, why should he be on this list

Jonathan Thropay isn't anywhere? haha thats two great players not on first or second team. Lol besides maybe Jamie Canada, Jonathan is the only D1 caliber defensive player in that league, BIG mistake coaches

First and foremost, congrats to the players selected, every one of them worked their tails off and deserve some credit...

Travis clearly the most valuable as that offense does NOT run without him at the trigger...

BUT.....

How the H#$% is Alex Hernandez NOT on the First team DL??? or 2nd team DL? I would like any one of the Head Coaches or Offensive Coordinators from the league to come on here and HONESTLY tell us as they prepared for Damien they did NOT scheme for how to handle Alex. No way ! He still had a HUGE year while getting double teamed or ran away from all year long. This is why in so many instances this All League stuff becomes politically motivated.

Again, no demeaning others on this list, it is what it is and 80% are studs and deserve it. I am also sure there are a couple of other players who could / should be on here, there always is... But Alex Hernandez GOT SCREWED... plain and simple.... by the way, Sierra League Coaches, better start watching film now and plan your attack next year, cuz knowing this kid, you just motivated him to KICK YOUR TAIL even harder next year !!!! I'll be there supporting you buddy !!!!

No only did Hernadez get robbed. Tracy both ways, the Paracelete boys.
Come on what a joke.
This not a good way to end 2011 and kick of 2012.

wow no alex hernandez? some one got robbed

Congrats Ayala Bulldogs!