I haven’t figured out all the scenarios, maybe Joe Amat has an answer. But If Amat beats Loyola this week, would they possibly get an at-large even with a loss to Notre Dame next week? Amat would finish 7-2-1, with several big head-to-head wins over Charter Oak, Chino Hills, La Mirada, Crespi and Loyola. Would that be enough for one of the two at-large berths in the Pac-5?
It may take a week or longer for the blogs to be fully functional and for us to learn all the functions available to us. As you may have noticed, several comments go straight to spam and do not publish. This will all be corrected in time with an ability to comment anonymously or sign on through facebook, twitter, google and other platforms. For a person as impatient as I am, thanks for your patience.
Northview-Nogales photo gallery
By John Honell, correspondent
It would have been easy for Northview High School to look past struggling Nogales, knowing its next game would be the Valle Vista League football championship.
The Vikings (7-2, 5-0) instead just took care of business Thursday in beating the Nobles (1-8, 1-4) 41-6 at Covina District Field.
The Vikings will travel to San Dimas next Friday with the winner getting the championship trophy.
The Vikings’ last winning season was 2008, when they beat the Saints for the league title.
“It’s been a while since we’ve been in this position,” Vikings coach Marcel Perez said. “But we’ve been working for it and we got all of our kids in the game on senior night. It’s good to give them a chance to see what it feels like in front of our home crowd.”
The Vikings scored on their first four possessions and and never were in trouble in coasting to the win.
Javon Taylor, the leading rusher in the CIF-Southern Section Mid-Valley Division, had another big game as he carried the ball 14 times for 101 yards and three touchdowns. He also caught two passes for 50 yards and another score.
“The kid’s nails,” Perez said of Taylor. “He works hard, is one of our team leaders, he comes ready to work and is all business so it’s a real pleasure to have him.”
The Vikings’ offensive line of Mitch Boling, Carl Gregorio, Joseph Tirado, Josh Alonzo and Roger Padilla-Mendez dominated the line of scrimmage and allowed Taylor to run free, even when the defense knew he was coming.
“They have put in a lot of hard work,” Taylor said. “A lot of them are juniors and have put in the work for young players and that has helped make us successful. I guess I’ll have to buy them In-N-Out burgers if we win next week.”
The Vikings gave the ball to Taylor on their first eight plays from scrimmage. He capped drives of 52 and 56 yards with runs of 8 and 6 yards for a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Vikings’ defense came up with three turnovers, an interception by Daniel Valencia and fumble recoveries by Kristian Lopez and Max Flores for good field position on each possession.
Lopez recovered on the first play from scrimmage following the Vikings’ third touchdown. Taylor scored three plays later on a 31-yard pass from Victor Garcia to make the score 27-0.
The longest scoring drive of the night for the Vikings was 56 yards. They took a 34-0 lead at halftime.
“We’ve played really good defense all year,” Perez said. “That’s what we’re going to continue to do.”
The Nobles knew it was going to be a long night before the opening kickoff.
They were missing their leading rusher and passer, Gabriel Ayala, who went down on the second series of last week’s game.
“We knew it was going to be tough with the amount of injuries we had sustained coming into tonight,” Nobles coach Sebastian Hernandez said. “Northview has a heck of team over there and they are going to give San Dimas a battle next week. But I’m proud of how our kids fought and the effort they gave tonight.”
The Nobles scored on the final play of the game on a 16-yard pass from Matt Arellano to wide receiver Terrance Manderville to ruin the Vikings’ bid for a second consecutive shutout.
Manderville also carried the ball 12 times for 67 yards to lead the Nobles.
Taylor has not been on a winning team during his career, but the Vikings have been one of the surprises in the Valley this year with their 8-2 record.
“We’ve never been in this position before,” Taylor said. “It’s all new to our team, so next week is really big for us. This year we’ve been working as one. Last year we didn’t, but this year we’ve come together as one.”
The Vikings got scoring runs from Lopez and Joe Sanchez as they took a 41-0 lead early in the third quarter. The teams played with a running clock from that point as both coaches cleared their benches.
Aram and I will go head-to-head in Tribskin Pick’em throughout the season for our annual dinner bet.
Last Week: Robledo (13-5); Tolegian (12-6).
This Week: Robledo (125-57); Tolegian (123-59).
Last Week: I earned a game on Aram after going 13-5 to his 12-6. sWe both missed taking Gladstone over Azusa, Diamond Ranch over Rowland and Rosemead over Gabrielino. I missed two more taking Arroyo over South El Monte and South Hills over Damien. but Aram lost three more, taking Ganesha over Workman, Pomona over Nogales and Duarte over La Puente.
This week: I feel good about Amat over Loyola, Bonita over Diamond Ranch and El Monte over Gabrielino, but I’m taking chances taking La Puente over Azuza, South Hills over Ayala and Glendora over Etiwanda.
This weeks games and predictions
Thursday’s games
Nogales vs. Northview at CDF, 7 p.m. – Robledo (North); Aram (N)
Friday’s games
Ayala vs. South Hills at CDF, 7 p.m. – Robledo (SHills); Aram (Ayala)
Bishop Amat vs. Loyola at LAVC, 7 p.m.- Robledo (Amat); Aram (BA)
Diamond Ranch at Bonita, 7 p.m. – Robledo (Bonita); Aram (Bo-Hi)
El Monte at Gabrielino, 7 p.m. – Robledo (El Monte); Aram (EM)
Azusa at La Puente, 7 p.m. – Robledo (La Puente); Aram (Az)
Claremont at Charter Oak, 7 p.m – Robledo (COak); Aram (CO)
Workman vs. Gladstone at Citrus, 7 p.m. – Robledo (Gladstone); Aram (G-stone)
Diamond Bar at West Covina, 7 p.m. – Robledo (WC); Aram (WC)
Sierra Vista at Duarte , 7 p.m. – Robledo (Duarte); Aram (Duarte)
Rosemead at Arroyo, 7 p.m. – Robledo (Arroyo); Aram (Arroy)
South El Monte at Mountain View, 7 p.m. – Robledo (South); Aram (SEM)
Glendora vs. Etiwanda at Colony, 7 p.m. – Robledo (Glendora); Aram (G-High)
Damien at Chino Hills, 7 p.m. – Robledo (CHills); Aram (CH)
San Dimas at Pomona, 7 p.m. –Robledo (SDimas); Aram (SD)
Ganesha at Bassett , 7 p.m. – Robledo (Bassett); Aram (Bass)
Wilson at Baldwin Park, 7 p.m. – Robledo (Wilson); Aram (Wilson)
Walnut at Los Altos , 7 p.m. – Robledo (Los Altos); Aram (LA)
Inland Insider Tom Kiss and Courtney Ponce with highlights of Charter Oak’s win at Ayala
Azusa’s win over Gladstone with Reginald Miller
Amat-Crespi highlights with TDro
PREP XTRA POSTGAME SHOW
Azusa shows who’s boss: Azusa had been the forgotten champion since losing its first Montview League game in four years a few weeks ago to Duarte.
The Aztecs’ 27-game league winning streak was over and rival Gladstone had stolen the headlines by entering Friday’s rivalry game undefeated and off to its best start in school history.
But Azusa never stopped believing and regained its swagger, handing Gladstone its first loss 27-17 in front of an estimated 5,000 at Citrus College.
For stories of all tonight’s games, visit the SGV Tribune page
Martinez does enough to help El Monte win: El Monte quarterback Brandon Martinez led his team to a 38-20 win over Mountain View in a Mission Valley League game Friday night.
Martinez passed for 184 yards and two touchdowns and added 78 yards on the ground and three more touchdowns.
Special teams save Amat: Bishop Amat High School, struggling on offense in the second half of what coach Steve Hagerty described as a must-win game, needed to make a play Friday.
The Lancers twice wasted opportunities on Crespi’s side of the field to open the second half before junior Adrian Ortega blocked a punt that was recovered by senior Jorge Cortez for the Lancers’ only score of the half.
It proved to be the difference, however, as Bishop Amat (6-1-1, 1-1) held on for a 24-21 win over Crespi (7-2, 2-1) in a Serra League showdown between two desperate teams.
Charter Oak pulls away: Charter Oak pulled away from Ayala in the second half and took another step toward a successful defense of its Sierra League title with a 41-14 victory Friday night.
Bonita works hard to beat Los Altos: With 3:48 left in regulation, Los Altos punted the ball to Bonita with a 31-29 lead. After getting one first down on the previous four drives, Bonita began to move the ball a drive that culminated in a 28-yard touchdown run by senior Reggie Turner, giving Bonita the lead.
Tonight’s results
Bishop Amat 24, Crespi 21
Azusa 27, Gladstone 17
Charter Oak 41, Ayala 14
Bonita 35, Los Altos 31
La Puente 21, Duarte 20
El Monte 38, Mountain View 20
Gabrielino 13, Rosemead 7
Diamond Bar 41, Walnut 35, 2OT
Sierra Vista 48, Bassett 0
South El Monte 13, Arroyo 7
Rowland 23, Diamond Ranch 16
Chino Hills 57, Clarmont 12
Northview 35, Baldwin Park 0
Pomona 10, Nogales 7
Kurt Scoby said he is enrolling at Cathedral. At last night’s South Hills-Damien game at Covina District, I snapped a picture of him along with Charter Oak’s Andrew Hauser. Scoby considered a return to Charter Oak, but based on his situation, he said Cathedral is where he’s enrolling today.
