ABOVE: El Monte High School running back Roy Barajas, left, and quarterback Edward Dominguez at the El Monte campus on Tuesday, August 11, 2015. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda/ San Gabriel Valley Tribune)
EL MONTE FEELING GOOD: High expectations and the El Monte High School football team never used to be found in the same sentence.
For far too long, the Lions were an area also-ran. The playoffs were a rare occurrence and you can forget about winning the Mission Valley League championship.
But all of that has changed.As the dawn of a new season beckons, the Lions are thinking big. League championship big. Prolonged playoff run big. The culture change that head coach Joel Sanchez so badly wanted has finally materialized.