High school football Friday night stories and scores for the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Pasadena Star-News and Whittier Daily News

Saturday Morning Quarterback: Bishop Amat had two weeks to get it right, or it would enter October still searching for a win.It had every right to panic.
It was on the verge of losing its fifth straight and Mission League opener. Amat hadn’t lost five straight since 2002 and it seems nobody can recall it losing five straight to start a season.Not only that, starting junior quarterback Blake Archuleta is out with a right shoulder injury and his status going forward is uncertain.
So what does Amat do?
It turns senior wide receiver Alex Arevalo into its starting quarterback, and the two-week minicap experiment results in a 7-3 victory over Loyola, and of course Arevalo scored the game’s only touchdown.

Bishop Amat gets first win: Under head coach Steve Hagerty, Bishop Amat has created a reputation for playing its best when its backs are against the wall.On Friday night at Loyola, that was never more true.
Time will tell if the Lancers saved their season with late-game defensive heroics, but they certainly jump-started it.

Arcadia rallies to beat Burroughs: Short. Sweet. And a bit of inconsistency.
Arcadia High came out to the second half trailing visiting Burroughs by nine points, but turned that around, quickly scoring on its first two drives of the half to defeat the Indians 31-26 in Arcadia and take a share of first place in the Pacific League.

San Dimas dominant in win over Cal: San Dimas High School, with a perfect combination of passing and rushing, finished its nonleague schedule with a convincing 40-16 win over California High Friday night.
Looming big for the Saints (3-2) is Covina High next week in the Valle Vista League opener.
“San Dimas is a running school and they’ve been doing that for years and years and its worked and we’ve put points on the board every single game,” San Dimas junior quarterback Dylan O’Leary said.

Crescenta Valley routs Muir: Crescenta Valley’s offensive line mowed Muir into the turf for 48 minutes.
Joe Suh used gaping holes and a big first half to lead Crescenta Valley over Muir at Glendale High 38-8 to remain undefeated in Pacific League play.
Suh scored all three of his touchdowns in the opening 24 minutes and finished with 127 all-purpose yards. He had two rushing and then added a 34-yard touchdown catch.

Whittier Christian falls to Marina: Marina running back Blaine Riederich scored a career-high five touchdowns to lead the Vikings to a 54-21 victory over Whittier Christian in a nonleague game Friday evening at Whittier College.
Riederich exploded for three TDs in the opening quarter and added two more in the second half.
“We practiced like crazy and came out with intensity and we were hyped to win,” said Riederich, who rushed for 158 yards and three TDs and also caught two TD passes.

Pioneer pulls away from La Puente: La Puente High’s football team fell into an early hole against host Pioneer in Friday night’s nonleague game.
It started when Pioneer wide receiver Dominic Calderon returned the opening kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown.
On that play, Warriors starting running back Quinton Groves suffered an injury and as a result backup Anthony Chavez had to step in as his replacement. Then Chavez was injured in the second quarter just when he started to get things going for La Puente (2-3).

Friday’s results
Mission League
Bishop Amat 7, Loyola 3
Mission Valley League
Arroyo 35, Rosemead 6
El Monte 26, Mountain View 20
South El Monte 42, Gabrielino 6
Pacific League
Arcadia 31,Burroughs 26
Pasadena 24, Glendale 20
Crescenta Valley 38, Muir 8
Suburban League
La Mirada 56, Cerritos 7
Nonleague
Marina 54, Whittier Christian 21
St. Francis 39, Buena Park 14
Eastvale Roosevelt/Eastvale 48, Ayala 6
Chaffey 29, Barstow 22
San Dimas 40, California 16
Norco 45, Chino Hills 0
Patriot 30, Montclair 27
Ganesha 48, Southlands Christian 26
Garey 36, Sierra Vista 20
Rancho Cucamonga 49, Victor Valley 0
South Hills 40, Mira Costa 18
Nogales 49, Rowland 14
Pioneer 28, La Puente 19
Pomona 41, Azusa 7

Pasadena Poly dominates Maranatha – Pasadena Poly High School continued its scoring frenzy and the defense held Maranatha to less than 10 yards rushing as the Panthers downed host Maranatha 29-0 for a nonleague victory Thursday night.
The Panthers have scored 191 points in the last five games and improved to 4-1-1 on the season. Maranatha fell to 4-2.
“We saw kind of an opportunity to run the ball and thought that could be successful for us,” Poly coach Chris Schmoke said. “Once we got rolling downhill, we just kept going and the offensive line did a great job, along with (Cameron) McFarlane.”

South Pasadena turnovers lead to loss: The South Pasadena football team had momentum going into halftime, intercepting Eagle Rock twice and nailing a field goal for a four-point lead.
Then they started to unravel.
The Eagles intercepted the Tigers on each of their first four possessions and converted two of them into scores to snap host South Pasadena’s three-game win streak with a 35-17 loss in its final nonleague game.

Here are the ten burning questions for high school football.

1. Will high school football players take a knee this week? – When former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial inequality last year, other athletes followed suit, including high school football players.
It wasn’t a large number, but after President Donald Trump tweeted over the weekend that NFL players or other professional athletes should be fired or suspended for kneeling during the national anthem, it re-ignited the debate over whether using the national anthem is the best way to protest social injustice or protest Trump himself.
NFL teams reacted in different ways with some players kneeling and most choosing to lock arms in a show of unity and solidarity, so it will be interesting to watch how high school football players and teams react on Friday.
There will certainly be players that follow suit and protest in some way, whether kneeling or locking arms, particularly schools with large African-American populations. But how widespread will those protests be? How organized will they be? You’ll have to wait until Friday to find out.

2. How will Muir handle the national anthem? The Mustangs play Crescenta Valley at Glendale High and coach Antyone Sims said it’s possible that some players will decide to take a knee, but also noted that it hasn’t been discussed as a team yet.
“When all this happened last year, we took a knee as a team (during the national anthem) because one of our former players’ step father was killed in an episode with the police,” Sims said. “That was a decision we made as team.
“We haven’t talked about what, if anything we will do Friday or how some of our players want to react to it. But just realize we honor the soldiers that fight for our country. It’s not a disrespect to those men and women. The flag represents many different things to different people. It’s personal, and there are different circumstances for everyone.”

3. How is Blair doing in eight-man football? – Because of low participation, Blair pulled out of the Rio Hondo League and nearly suspended its season, but opted to drop to eight-man football instead to keep its program going. The Vikings are still struggling, losing to Sherman Oaks CES 44-12 last week to drop to 0-3.
But more importantly, the Vikings are playing and having the chance to put on pads on Friday night’s like everyone else. The Vikings host Windward on Thursday at Muir.

4. Who is better, Arcadia or Arroyo? We ask because both are in Division 11. Undefeated Arroyo (5-0) won Division 12 last year and is trying to do the same in D11, ranked second in this week’s poll. Arcadia (2-2) moved to No. 4 after beating Muir in last week’s Pacific League opener.
The Apaches’ two losses were to upper-division foes Hart and Cathedral, two teams that would have done the same to Arroyo. Arcadia’s big wins are over La Salle and Muir. Arroyo’s big wins are over Covina and Schurr. It’s close, but the edge probably goes to Arroyo and its experience in big games.

5. Which team has been the biggest surprise? Unfortunately that goes to Bishop Amat and its 0-4 start. In fact, if Amat doesn’t beat Loyola (4-1) in Friday’s Mission League opener, it will have dropped five straight for the first time since 2002.
Nobody expected the Lancers to be world beaters, but after going 7-4 and finishing second in the Mission Last year with a lot of prominent players returning, you expected them to take another step forward. There is still time to recover, but not sure the Lancers have shown enough to just flip the switch because league is here.

6. Will Bishop Amat QB Blake Archuleta start against Loyola? Will likely be a game-time decision. When last seen, Archuleta was wearing a brace over his right shoulder after suffering an injury in the first quarter of a 31-7 loss to Rancho Cucamonga. He has been able to rest following the bye week, but Amat has been hush-hush about his status. If he can’t go, sophomore Aiden Sanchez will likely get the nod.

7. What’s next for La Mirada? The Matadores’ 0-4 start was supposed to end once the Suburban League started because there were no more Mater Dei’s or Orange Lutheran’s to deal with. But Mayfair pushed the Matadores’ winless streak to five with a 20-6 win to open league. So, who knows when a team that was in the Division 3 championship game just a year ago will get its first win in 2017.

8. Why are so many football teams off this week? Most schools in five and six-team leagues take their bye this week to get ready for league. Charter Oak, La Serna, La Habra and Damien are among the many that play a 0 week game in order to have this Friday off to get ready for league.

9. Did South Hills gain confidence in 37-14 loss to Charter Oak? It appears so. The Chargers are ranked No. 1 in Division 3, but South Hills led 14-13 before giving up a safety and touchdown with 14 seconds left in the half to fall behind 23-14 at the break. “We gave up a special teams TD and two pick-sixes,” Huskies coach Matt Bechtel said. “That’s three TDs you take off the board and even with all the mistakes we made on offense, we were in the game.”
The results bode well for South Hills’ (3-1) chances in Division 7, where it is ranked No. 9. And it will know more about itself following Friday’s game against Mira Costa (1-3) at the District Field.

10. Why did St. Francis drop in rankings after win? – It’s always baffling when teams drop for no apparent reason. The Golden Knights were ranked No. 5 in Division 3 last week, beat Saugus 49-20 to improve to 4-0, then was dropped to No. 6 in this week’s poll.

Doesn’t make a lot of sense, other than pollsters aren’t sold yet on a Knights team that has looked more impressive each week.

High School Football Games and Predictions
All games start at 7 p.m.
Thursday’s games
Pasadena Poly at Maranatha — MARANATHA
Eagle Rock at South Pasadena — SOUTH PAS
Bassett vs. Loara at Glover Stadium — LOARA
Friday’s games
Mission League
Bishop Amat at Loyola — LOYOLA
Mission Valley League
Arroyo at Rosemead — ARROYO
El Monte at Mountain View — MOUNTAIN VIEW
South El Monte at Gabrielino — SOUTH EL MONTE
Pacific League
Burroughs at Arcadia — ARCADIA
Glendale at Pasadena — PASADENA
Muir vs. Crescenta Valley at Glendale HS — MUIR
South Catholic League
Bosco Tech vs. Verbum Dei at Schurr HS — VERBUM DEI
Cantwell-Sacred Heart at St. Bernard — CANTWELL
Suburban League
Cerritos vs. La Mirada at Gahr HS — LA MIRADA
Nonleague
Azusa vs. Pomona at Citrus College — POMONA
California at San Dimas — SAN DIMAS
Garey at Sierra Vista — SIERRA VISTA
Keppel vs. Capistrano Valley Christian – CAPO VALLEY
La Puente at Pioneer — LA PUENTE
Mira Costa vs. South Hills at Covina District Field — SOUTH HILLS
Nogales at Rowland — NOGALES
Southlands Christian vs. Ganesha at Diamond Bar HS — GANESHA
St. Francis at Buena Park — ST. FRANCIS
Whittier Christian vs. Marina at Whittier College — WHIT CHRISTIAN

High School Football Leaders for SGVN, Whittier and Pasadena
Quarterbacks
1. Quinn Commans, Whittier Christian, 1,710 yards, 342 avg., 16 TDs
2. J.P. Andrade, Bonita, 1,535 yards, 307 avg., 13 TDs
3. Miguel Aguero, Schurr, 1,307 yards, 261 avg., 14 TDs
4. Kody Olmos, Los Altos, 1,189 yards, 237 avg., 13 TDs
5. Steven Comstock, Northview, 1,146 yards, 229 avg., 10 TDs
6. Ike Udengwu III, Workman, 1,118 yards, 223 avg., 8 TDs
7. Nathan Delgado, Whittier, 1,075 yards, 215 avg., 9 TDs
8. Kwon Peterson, Maranatha, 1,018 yards, 203 avg., 13 TDs
9. Nin Burns II, Covina, 1,004 yards, 200 avg., 15 TDs
10. Jorge Ledesma, Azusa, 969 yards, 242 avg., 10 TDs

Running Backs
1. Zaquand Irby, Ganesha, 1,002 yards, 200 avg., 15 TDs
2. Eric Cuellar, Covina, 839 yards, 167 avg., 5 TDs
3. Sal Tovar, South El Monte, 772 yads, 154 avg., 12 TDs
4. Armando Flores, Mountain View, 769 yards, 153 avg., 9 TDs
5. Abel Cueva, El Monte, 756 yards, 189 avg., 5 TDs
6. Alex Retana, Whittier, 686 yards, 137 avg., 4 TDs
7. Matthew Chavez, Charter Oak, 565 yards, 113 avg., 7 TDs
8. Syler Taylor, La Habra, 541 yards, 108 avg., 12 TDs
9. Cedric Miley, Damien, 533 yards, 106 avg., 6 TDs
10. Blake Cabot, San Marino, 480 yards, 120 avg., 8 TDs

Wide Receivers
1. Lance Babb II, Schurr, 722 yards, 47 receptions, 6 TDs
2. Daniel Centeno, Temple City, 528 yards, 23 receptions., 4 TDs
3. Ryan Romero, Whittier Christian, 503 yards, 30 receptions, 4 TDs
4. Noah Sanchez, Whittier Christian, 500 yards, 37 receptions, 5 TDs
5. Christopher Vargas, Baldwin Park, 474 yards, 17 receptions, 5 TDs
6. Jimmy Amezquita, Northview, 443 yards, 21 receptions, 5 TDs
7. Tristan Sprague, Covina, 425 yards, 21 receptions, 9 TDs
8. Eric Burton, Rowland, 421 yards, 21 receptions, 6 TDs
9. Francisco Andrade, Workman, 420 yards, 20 receptions, 3 TDs
10. Quinn Peoples, Los Altos, 41 yards, 20 receptions, 4 TDs

Defensive Leaders
Tackles
1. Devin Escobedo, Damien, 68
2. Jesus Lopez, Baldwin Park, 61
3. Luis Saenz, Maranatha, 56
4t. Mark Tolmachoff, Whittier, 52
4t. Thali J. Cobb, Pomona, 52
4t. Aaron Rosales, Schurr, 52
4t. Adam Handy, Schurr, 52
8. Anthony Lopez, Los Altos, 51
9t. Roy Dominguez, Baldwin Park, 50
9t. Justin Sanchez, La Serna, 50.

Sacks
11 – Roy Dominguez, Baldwin Park; 7 – Mark Sosa (South El Monte), 6 – Noah Sanchez (Whittier Chrisian), AJ Carreon (South El Monte); 5 – Alexandre Dumais, St. Paul, Luis Valerio, El Monte, Adam Loya (California), Frank Hernandez (Monrovia).

Interceptions
5 – Isaiah Hamilton (Charter Oak), Michael Anyanwu (Charter Oak); 4 – Daniel Mendoza, Arroyo; 3 – Marcos Figueroa (El Monte), Kevin Armstead (St. Francis), Luis Chavez (Ganesha), Jared Schoenick, Glendora, Jackson Hayes (Pasadena Poly), Francisco Remigio (Schurr), Damion Thompson (Northview), Clark Phillips III (La Habra).

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL STANDINGS
Almont League
Angelus League
Baseline League
Del Rio League
Freeway League
Hacienda League
Miramonte League
Mission League
Mission Valley League
Montview League
Olympic League
Pacific League
Palomares League
Prep League
Rio Hondo League
South Catholic League
Suburban League
Valle Vista League

TRIBUNE/STAR-NEWS/WHITTIER SUPER 20 FOOTBALL RANKINGS
School, Record, Division
1. Charter Oak (5-0), D-3
If it stays healthy, Division 3 title possible.
2. St. Francis (4-0), D-3
True tests come in the Angelus League.
3. La Habra (3-2), D-2
Thoroughly dominated Colony.
4. Damien (4-1), D-4
No problem rolling past Monrovia.
5. South Hills (3-1), D-7
Played Charter Oak strong for a half.
6. Glendora (3-2), D-4
Back to winning record after dominating West Covina.
7. Los Altos (4-1), D-5
Impressive showing beating Newport Harbor.
8. La Serna (2-3), D-3
Still big favorite to win Del Rio League.
9. Bishop Amat (0-4), D-1
Opens Mission at Loyola, hasn’t lost five straight since 2002.
10. Arroyo (5-0), D-11
Destroyed Gabrielino 56-0.
11. Northview (3-2), D-8
Dominating win over Pomona.
12. Arcadia (2-2). D-11
Clearly a contender in the Pacific after Muir win.
13. San Marino (4-1), D-6
Won four straight since season-opening loss.
14. La Salle (2-3), D-8
Only gets tougher in Angelus League.
15. Schurr (4-1), D-12
Won a thriller over Whittier, 36-35.
16. South El Monte (5-0), D-13
Easy win over Mountain View, 35-8.
17. Muir (2-2), D-9
Couldn’t keep up with Arcadia playmakers.
18. Maranatha (4-1), D-9
Crushed in first loss to Brentwood, 42-3.
19. South Pasadena (4-1), D-2
Finished nonleague with 27-0 blanking of Alhambra.
20. St. Paul (2-2), D-6
Tough 29-28 loss to Warren.

Arcadia playmkers beat Muir: Normally it was Muir’s athletes and playmakers that would give Arcadia fits over the years, but the tables turned and the Apaches’ game breakers were on full display in a 35-19 victory on Friday in the Pacific League opener for both teams.
Arcadia quarterback Max Davila picked the Mustangs secondary apart, completing 9-of-11 for 196 yards and three touchdowns and also ran for a score.
When Deonte Bevel (three receptions for 111 yards) wasn’t making big plays for the Apaches, Rolandiss Whitener was, hauling in two touchdowns and rushing in for another for 165 all-purpose yards.

Charter Oak stays unbeaten: Top-ranked Charter Oak used special teams and a smothering defense to hand South Hills its first loss of the season 37-14 in a nonleague game on Friday night.It was the Chargers’ seventh consecutive victory over the Huskies, dating back to 2001.The Chargers (5-0), ranked first in CIF Southern Section Division 3 as well as the top-ranked team in the San Gabriel Valley, scored first on a 46-yard punt return by Jermaine Braddock with 7:08 left in the first quarter.

Big plays boost Los Altos: Los Altos’ defense keyed a tough 21-13 football win Friday night over Newport Harbor, forcing two turnovers deep in its own territory, and the Conquerors closed out a successful preseason under first-year coach Hector Spathias with a 4-1 record.
“Our defense came up big with a couple of takeaways,” Spathias said. “That really helped us a lot. We preached that all week, if the teams are even whoever wins the turnover battle is going to win the game.”

La Mirada drops to 0-5: A pair of first-half turnovers helped give visiting Mayfair a lead it wouldn’t relinquish against La Mirada in Friday night’s Suburban League football opener.The Monsoons quickly turned two second-quarter fumbles into touchdowns on their way to a 20-6 victory. Mayfair (4-1) hadn’t beaten La Mirada since 2013.

Damien rebounds with rout: A shutout loss to Charter Oak pained Damien and quarterback Warren Bryan last week.So when the Spartans headed to Monrovia for their game against the Wildcats, Damien showed no residual effects and bounced back with a 49-7 nonleague victory on Friday.
“That was not acceptable,” Bryan said of last week’s 23-0 loss. “We can’t really have that. Our defense played great (against Charter Oak) and we didn’t put any points on the board for them, so at practice all week, we said we have to get in the end zone. No more mistakes.”

Warren Bryan – @_wbryan6 – on tonight's away 49-7 @DamienFootball_ win against Monrovia @SGVNSports pic.twitter.com/tMe04IjSTn

— Vincent Nguyen (@ReporterVince) September 23, 2017

Schurr wins thriller: Schurr High overcame a two-touchdown halftime deficit against visiting Whittier in a 36-35 victory that was led by a 15-point fourth quarter on Friday night in a nonleague game.After a goal-line defensive stand and an interception by Keith Harris, it looked like the Cardinals (2-3) might win the game with only 2:37 remaining.

La Habra routs Colony: It was the kind of game high school football players dream about.For La Habra High sophomore Clark Phillips III, maybe even better.
Phillips returned three interceptions for touchdowns Friday night to spark La Habra’s 49-14 romp over Colony in a nonleague game.
The scoring returns covered 35, 42 and 60 yards, and were the highlights of a dominant La Habra defense that took advantage of Colony losing starting junior quarterback Joseph Tesimale to a knee injury on its first series.

La Serna falls in nonleague finale: Tesoro High School, behind a balanced passing and rushing attack, sent host La Serna to its second consecutive loss 34-9 in a nonleague game Friday night at California High.
Trailing 9-7 early in the second quarter, the Titans (2-3) reeled off 27 points to win going away.La Serna (2-3) will open Del Rio League play in two weeks.

Friday’s results
Mission Valley League
Arroyo 56, Gabrielino 0
South El Monte 35, Mountain View 8
Pasadena Marshall at Rosemead
Pacific League
Arcadia 35, Muir 19
Crescenta Valley 54, Hoover 22
Burroughs 45, Pasadena 34
Suburban League
Glenn 64, Cerritos 25
Mayfair 20, La Mirada 6
Nonleague
La Habra 49, Colony 14
Los Altos 21, Newport Harbor 13
Cypress 45, El Rancho 0
Tesoro 34, La Serna 9
La Quinta 56, Garey 21
Don Lugo 27, Chino 13
Upland 41, Great Oak 20
Montclair 27, Ganesha 24
Rowland 27, Azusa 21
Ontario 55, Jurupa Valley 20
Rancho Cucamonga 30, Citrus Hill 0
Alta Loma 33, Claremont 31
Bassett 49, Sierra Vista 41
Diamond Ranch 56, Bonita 14
Baldwin Park 56, South East 46
Workman 40, Bosco Tech 34
San Marino 30, Bell Gardens 6
Covina 49, Walnut 14
Santa Fe 54, Downey 0
Damien 49, Monrovia 7
Charter Oak 37, South Hills 14
San Dimas 50, Diamond Bar 12
Pasadena Poly 33, Rosamond 6
Pioneer 35, Wilson 14
Northview 32, Pomona 0
South Pasadena 27, Alhambra 0
San Gabriel 41, Temple City 7
Montebello 36, Cantwell-Sacred Heart 16
Glendora 41, West Covina 7
Schurr 36, Whittier 35
Warren 29, St. Paul 28