Division 11 week 6 postgame, week 7 pregame

[gvgrizzlyfan]

#1 See the Ocean League post for details on Culver City (6-0), but I will add that senior QB Jonathan Martin is listed on maxpreps as having thrown for 367 yards and 4 TD's, and also, his first three interceptions of the season against El Segundo (5-1, 0-1) in their Ocean League opener. According to the, less than official, maxpreps stats, Martin is 5th in passing yardage in the state right now with 2,075 yards and two of the guys ahead of him have played 7 games. He is third in yards per game at 345.8 and third in TD passes with 28.

#2 Arroyo (7-0) of El Monte barely squeezed by their biggest challenge in the Mission Valley League as they beat South El Monte (6-1, 2-1), 14-13. The Arroyo defense was the star in this game as the offense struggled. Arroyo scored first and held a 7-3 lead until 7 minutes were left in the third quarter and South El Monte's Jarvis Alexander took a punt back 50 yards for a TD and a 10-7 lead. South extended its lead to 13-7 with a 23 yard field goal by Gaspar Beltran with 11 minutes to go in the 4th quarter.

South was still leading with 7 minutes to go but the Arroyo defense produced another stop which resulted in a punt to Arroyo and them starting possession at their own 47. And with about 4 minutes to go, Arroyo QB Ernesto Camacho scored a TD on a 2 yard run. Jesse Oritiz' extra point was good to give Arroyo the lead 14-13. The Arroyo D produced two more stops before the end of the game, one of them on a fumble recovery.

Arroyo, one of 3 remaining undefeated teams in Division 11, should be able to cruise to an undefeated season and Mission Valley League championship as well as one of the top seedings in the Division 11 playoffs as there are no significant challengers remaining in the Mission Valley League including next week's opponent, El Monte (4-2, 2-0), who calpreps projects to lose this contest by a score of 44-3. El Monte features sophomore RB Abel Cueva who has rushed for over 1,000 yards in just 6 games, but El Monte is a paper tiger and has not seen a team as good as Arroyo all year.

#3 Covina (5-1, 1-0) also had a squeaker in their Valle Vista League opener against San Dimas (3-3, 0-1). It was not supposed to be this difficult. Covina won just 36-35. Covina led 15-0 until 4 minutes were left in the second quarter when San Dimas scored twice before the half with the help of an interception and San Dimas was able to duplicate a pass for a 2 point conversion to get even with Covina before the half. With 8 minutes to go in the third quarter Covina took back the lead on a 37 yard TD pass from sophomore Nin Burns II, to Danny Urrea.

But San Dimas responded a minute later with a 47 yard TD run by senior Noah Maldonado and it was knotted again 22-22. Covina broke back on top with a 45 yard TD pass from Burns to Tristan Sprague. Covina held the edge 29-22 going into the 4th quarter. After a long run late in the third quarter by Covina's sophomore RB Erik Cuellar, they were able to score on a short run with 11 minutes to play and increase their lead to 36-22 after a successful PAT by Brandon Gutierrez. San Dimas's Maldonado scored running from 12 yards out with 7 minutes to play to close the gap to 36-29 in favor of Covina. Covina was unable sustain a drive and punted with San Dimas getting possession at the Covina 46 with about 4 minutes to go. With just about a minute to go, San Dimas' Maldonado scored on a run from 8 yards out. San Dimas decided to try for a 2 point conversion but failed so Covina escaped with 36-35 victory.

San Dimas ran for 345 yards in the contest. Senior Dylan Ware ran for 120 yards on 15 carries for San Dimas and Maldonado had 139 on 16 carries, including all 5 San Dimas TD's. Covina was much more balanced with Burns throwing for 210 yards on 12 completions in 19 attempts, including 3 TD's. Cuellar carried most of the load on the ground for Covina getting 24 carries for 155 yards and 1 TD. San Dimas was probably the most critical game of the regular season for Covina as San Dimas was the most serious challenge to second place and a virtual lock on a Division 11 post season berth.

What is not known is whether Covina is good enough to clinch the Valle Vista League championship but that should be decided this week as they Northview (4-2, 1-0) of Covina. Northview is favored by calpreps 35-28. Northview has faced tough competition from teams as strong or stronger than Covina in Don Lugo (5-1) and Charter Oak (6-0), but the last of those games was about a month ago. Most of the success of Northview would likely be credited to senior QB Steven Comstock who is 71 of 126 for 1,365 yards in 6 games with 15 TD's & 7 interceptions. Comstock also leads the team in rushing with 435 yards and 4 TD's. Senior receiver Jimmy Amezquita is his favorite target with 24 receptions for 558 yards and 7 TD's.

With Covina coming off an emotional high of the victory over San Dimas, I tend to agree with the calpreps projection, but Covina should have plenty of motivation as this game should determine the Valle Vista League championship and a win for Covina would likely have them finish with a top 4 seeding in the Division 11 playoffs.

#4 Segerstrom (5-1, 1-0) of Santa Ana is #4 in the CIF-SS poll and #5 in the calpreps.com D-11 rankings. Segerstrom had an acceptable 28-13 victory over Ocean View (4-2, 0-1) of Huntington Beach in their opener of the tightly contested Golden West League. Segerstrom is a run first almost exclusively. They guard their stat and video data closely on maxpreps.com and hudl but other teams they play are not afraid to reveal the Segerstrom secrets via their own stats and videos that they share. Segerstrom had 275 yards on the ground and less than 50 through the air and were only able to convert 1 of 8 third downs. They won the turnover battle 2-1 intercepting Ocean View twice. Unfortunately for Segerstrom, Ocean View only projects to be the 5th place finisher in the 6 team Golden League.

Segerstrom gets an easy game this week against league doormat Loara (2-4, 0-1) of Anaheim. Calpreps projects it as a 44-3 Segerstrom victory. Segerstrom currently projects to be the 2nd place finisher in this league but the remaining three league games after Loara will all be tougher than the first two, including fellow D-11 foe Westminster (4-2, 0-1).

#5 Arcadia (3-3, 2-1) is ranked #4 for by Calpreps.com but #6 in the CIF-SS D-11 poll. Arcadia suffered a mild upset loss to Burbank (4-2, 3-0), 14-17, last week. While both defenses had their moments in this contest, Burbank definitely got the better of Arcadia holding them to 94 yards rushing and 67 passing while the Burbank run game had 276 yards on 63 carries along with another 106 yards passing on 11 of 19. Burbank QB Matthew Porras had over 100 yards passing and 100 rushing. Senior D.Williams added another 109 yards rushing for Burbank. Burbank had 82 offensive plays to Arcadia's 32. Arcadia was leading 14-10 early in the third quarter but Burbank QB Porras ran in from 20 yards out with 10 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter to take the lead at 17-14, which held up for the final score.

Arcadia is now tied for third place in the 6 team Pacific league with Burroughs (3-2, 2-1) but hold the head to head edge as they beat Burroughs 31-26 on 9/29. Arcadia also has an easier schedule finish than either Burbank or Burroughs with 2 of their wins to be extremely easy and only the Pasadena (1-5,1-2) game being a trap game. All three, Arcadia, Burbank & Burroughs, still face heavy league favorite Crescenta Valley (6-0). Burbank and Burroughs also face each other the last game of the regular season. They are also traditional rivals. This week and next week, Arcadia has it easy. This week calpreps projects a 40-6 victory over Hoover (0-5) of Glendale. Unless Arcadia can upset Crescenta Valley, I expect that they will not be able to secure a top 4 seeding in D-11.

 

[gvgrizzlyfan]

#6 Hillcrest (5-1, 1-0) is #5 in the CIF-SS poll & #6 in the calpreps D-11 rankings. Hillcrest easily delivered a 44-6 victory last week against Ramona (3-3, 0-1) in their River Valley League opener. Hillcrest is a significant favorite to win the River Valley League championship but face their toughest league test against Patriot (5-1, 1-0) of Riverside. Patriot easily dispensed with league doormat Jurupa Valley (1-5, 0-1) 41-0 last week, but Hillcrest is a better team than anyone Patriot has seen all year. Patriot is a run mostly team led by senior RB John Ober who leads the team with 752 yards on 138 carries in 6 games. The passing game is minimalist but will try to surprise you with a pass for a TD when they get into the red zone. I would think that the calpreps projection of a 31-21 Hillcrest victory would be accurate.

#7 Katella (5-1, 1-0) of Anaheim is #7 in both the CIF-SS poll & calpreps.com. Katella easily dispensed with Anaheim (1-5, 0-1) last week by a score of 56-14. It gets only slightly tougher this week against Valley (1-5, 1-0) of Santa Ana. Katella should continue to march on through their soft as spreadable margarine Orange League to it's championship and might get a shot at a top 4 seeding for the CIF-SS D-11 playoffs. I concur with the calpreps projection of a 38-14 Katella victory.

#8 Westminster (4-2, 0-1) holds the 8th spot according to calpreps.com, but doesn't even get an honorable mention in the CIF-SS poll this week. They lost a heartbreaker to Santa Ana (5-1, 1-0) last week by a score of 21-28. Santa Ana scored first but Westminster was able to respond every time. Santa led at the half but, after a scoreless third quarter, Westminster was finally able to score on a pass with about 4 minutes left in the game to tie it again, this time at 21-21. Westminster tried an onside kick but was unsuccessful. Santa Ana's Pablo Aguirre broke off a long run to the Westminster 35, then followed that up with a long pass reception down to the Westminster 2. Santa Ana's Allen Pacheco ran the ball in for a TD with about a minute to go in the contest & the Santa Ana 28-21 win.

A win would have, of course, had Westminster in a much better position. Unfortunately, they must now face the Golden West League favorite Orange (6-0). Orange can run or throw it with equal effectiveness. While the Orange offense has been slowed down a couple of times this season, the defense has not given up more than 19 points in any one game. Having said all that, calpreps.com projection is very close, just a 28-26 Orange victory and when calpreps has the two teams within 7 or 8 points, the underdog should be good enough to pull the upset. A loss to Orange would hurt, but not eliminate Westminster from playoff consideration, but they would have to sweep their remaining three Golden West League games and hope there are not too many teams trying to get to the D-11 playoffs from third place.

#8 Rancho Mirage (3-3, 0-1) in the CIF-SS D-11 poll & #14 in the calpreps rankings. Rancho suffered an upset at the hands of league opponent & D-11 team Coachella Valley (4-2, 1-0) by a score of 24-42. Rancho was apparently missing the services of their star RB & defender Marques Prior. Rancho QB David Talley did all he could to lead his team, throwing for 114 yards & a TD while running for an additional 72. But Prior's absence against an elite QB like CV's Armando Diaz was devastating and Diaz took advantage, throwing for 300 yards & 2 TD's. But the run game was also solid for CV, picking up 218 yards.

Now Rancho must beat either league favorite Yucca Valley (6-0) or this week's opponent, a decent 29 Palms (5-1, 1-0). Calpreps projects Rancho as a 31-30 favorite, but they do not factor for injured players. The return of a healthy Marques Prior looks likely to be key to Rancho's chances in this week's contest. Without him, Rancho's D-11 playoff hopes could be fading fast. What is Rancho's loss, could be CV's gain as this unfortunate circumstance may put CV into position for third place in league making them eligible for the D-11 playoffs should enough third place spots be available for eligible teams.

Have to mention 1 more team, Heritage Christian (6-0) of Northridge, 1 of 3 remaining undefeated teams in D-11. Ranked only #16 in calpreps due to their weak schedule but getting honorable mention outside the CIF-SS D-11 top ten. They handily beat a horrible Ribet Academy (0-4) team last week. They open Olympic league play this week against the weakest of their 3 league opponents, but Whittier Christian (3-3) is actually the second toughest team they have faced to date this year. Calpreps projects it as a 38-31 Heritage victory but WC has had 2 weeks to prepare. At any rate, in a 4 team league almost all games are critical to making the playoffs. Heritage needs to be focused and ready to stay undefeated and keep on plan to get to the D-11 playoffs.