West Covina finished one of the most dominating playoff runs in history with a CIF-Southern Section record 84 points — the most ever in an (11-man) championship game by beating helpless La Serna 84-21. And the field was supposed to slow them down? Chris Solomon and Jimmy Frazier each scored three touchdowns for the back-to-back champions, who almost certainly will probably be moved from the Southeast Division after this. Think about it, West Covina won its four playoff games by 30, 43, 39 and 63 points, and averaged 60 points a game in the playoffs! What made tonight’s 84 points so incredible is that the Bulldogs did it with only three pass plays and a running clock in the fourth. Just insane. Like I told Aram, have never seen a team this dominant in the playoffs from start to finish. And I bet if you go back in the history books, it could be the most dominant start-to-finish playoff performance ever. Check back in the morning for the Inland Insider’s highlights and postgame interviews.
Aram’s Column: Dominant isn’t a strong enough word to describe it. In fact, rather than use words, how about I suggest you think of the image of a lion hunting down a three-legged gazelle to eat for dinner.
West Covina championship photo gallery
Game Story
By Steve Ramirez, staff writer
WHITTIER – La Serna High School, after advancing to the CIF-Southern Section finals for the first time since 1968, is considered to be the Cinderella team of the Southeast Division football playoffs. The clock struck midnight on Friday.
Chris Solomon rushed for 99 yards and three touchdowns and Jimmy Frazier had 83 and scored three touchdowns, including a 86-yard kickoff return and West Covina won the division title for the second consecutive season with an 84-21 victory over the Lancers at
California High School.
The Bulldogs (13-1), which had seven touchdown plays of 40 yards or more, scored the most points in an 11-man CIF-SS divisional final, eclipsing J.W. North, which had 67 in the Eastern Division championship game in 2007. Black Fox scored 94 points in six-man football in 1966.
La Serna, which received 140 yards passing and a touchdown from sophomore Frankie Palmer, finished 10-4.
“We came out hard and got on the board fast,” said West Covina coach Mike Maggiore, who won his third CIF-SS title after wins by the Bulldogs last season and in 2004. “Our defense was flying around, they made a couple of mistakes and we capitalized.
“We’ve been getting better as a football team all year. We wanted toplay our best in the last game of the year, and we did.”
But the turning point came during La Serna's first three possessions, after the Lancers had a fumble, interception and a blocked punt.
West Covina, which rushed for 298 yards, turned all three into touchdowns. Solomon, after OJ Medina fumbled at his own 27, needed just one play,running it in from there for a 7-0 lead with the game less than a minute old.
Lonzel Barnett followed with a blocked punt at the La Serna' 19, which led to a 14-yard pass from Chris Caballero to Aaron Salgado to make it 14-0 at 7:41.
Frazier, after Gus Vilchis intercepted a Palmer pass and returned it to the La Serna' 30, made it 21-0 with a 27-yard run at 5:17.
"They took it too us," La Serna coach Margarito Beltran said. "There's not much else to say. They did a heck of a job preparing, and they beat us. Plain and simple.
"You can't turn the ball over. Not against these guys. They're a very good team."
La Serna, which had a minus-5 yards on its first three possessions, then had it's only positive moment of the half. Medina, who had rushed for 400 yards during the first three playoff games before being held to 12 on Friday, turned the momentum a bit with a 48-yard
kickoff return to the West Covina' 48.
Palmer then caught a 14-yard option pass from running back Nicholas McCarty to Palmer set up the Lancers at the 2. Medina took it in from there to make it 28-7 on the final play of the first quarter.
But the joy was short-lived.
Frazier followed with his 86-yard kickoff return to swing all the energy back to the Bulldogs and give them a 35-7 lead.
"I would have never thought we would have won by that many points," Frazier said. "It was a great win."
Solomon followed a Palmer fumble with a 17-yard run to make it 42-7 at 9:38 of the second quarter. Solomon then passed 68 yards to Burnett to make it 49-7 at halftime.
West Covina, getting a 53-yard run by Salgado for a touchdown and a 47-yard interception return for a score, continued to shower the Lancers with a rain of big plays in the second half to lead 70-21 after three quarters before going up 84-21 late in the fourth.
"I have to congratulate West Covina," Beltran said. "They are a great team. I'm also proud of my boys for getting this far.
"It's not an easy loss to take, but there has to be a winner and a loser and tonight we came out on the short end."
Fox Sports Replay of the Southeast Championship….
Continue reading →
Boys Soccer standings, schedules, rosters
CIF POLLS (Only Divisions posted with area teams ranked)
BOYS BASKETBALL
For the Bulldogs, who are aiming for a second consecutive CIF-Southern Section Southeast Division championship on Friday night, Frazier may well be considered the team’s MVP. When Solomon went down, it was Frazier who picked up most of the slack and put together a pretty impressive season by rushing for 1,537 yards and 18 touchdowns.
