Principals smooth hard feelings still lingering after El Monte’s win over Rosemead

Rosemead coach Marc Paramo took issue with El Monte signs that eluded to comments he made to this newspaper that I posted on the blog, word for word. For a blog headline, I described it as the “broken play” offense, which Paramo took issue with..

“I’ll be honest, and I’m not sure this is kosher to say, but their best play is the broken play. You can’t really prepare for the broken play. It was the same thing last year; he threw jump balls and to his receivers’ credit, they went up and got the ball.” — Marc Paramo

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By Aram Tolegian, SGVN
Some hard feelings still lingering over Friday’s win by El Monte High School over Rosemead has prompted principals from both schools to get involved in an attempt to smooth things over.

Following El Monte’s 50-34 win to spoil Rosemead’s homecoming signs were unveiled by the Lions cheer team that mocked Rosemead coach Marc Paramo for comments he made to this newspaper leading up to the game that were later taken out of context on a blog posted on this newspaper’s website.

Further adding fuel to the fire were accusations of some coaches not shaking hands following the game, foul language used by coaches during the game and several personal foul penalties called against Rosemead, including the ejection of one Panthers player.

“I’m not going to take anything away from their kids,” Paramo said. “They kicked our butts. It kind of bothered me that here I am complimenting them and that sign comes up.”

The sign or signs Paramo was referring were estimated to be 20×20-foot signs made by the El Monte cheerleaders and brought out following the game. The signs mocked Paramo’s comments and made reference to “clown comments” and “broken play offense.”

Leading up to the game, Paramo told this newspaper that El Monte’s best play on offense was arguably the broken play, which eludes to the ability of Lions quarterback Brandon Martinez to make something out of nothing.

“I saw the signs,” El Monte coach Joel Sanchez said. “I saw them after we were done and I was talking to reporters. I didn’t think anything of it. It said “broken offense” and that’s pretty much it. I don’t know who got upset or anything because I was being interviewed by the media. By the time I got done, everyone was gone.”

Paramo and Sanchez did shake hands following the game, but that may not have been the case for the assistant coaches.

“He told me good job and said have a good season,” Sanchez said of Paramo’s comments to him after the game.

But shortly after, Paramo was alerted to the signs and did not take kindly to them, feeling that his words were misunderstood and taken out of context.

“I didn’t have anyone make them,” Sanchez said of the signs. “I don’t think they were offensive in any way, and that’s not my call in any way. Whatever they (cheerleaders) make, that’s not my call. I don’t oversee what they write. Obviously, if they said something inappropriate, I wouldn’t be happy with that.”

While administrators tried to calm any ill will on Monday, both coaches were saying the issue was now dead and their focus were on this week’s opponents.

For El Monte, that means a home game against Mountain View. The Lions are 5-2 overall and 2-0 in league. They are bidding for the school’s first league title since 1979. Rosemead is 3-4 overall and 1-2 in league. The Panthers host Gabrielino in a game that will be key to both teams’ playoff chances.

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