Los Angeles Times - 07.09.2019

LATIMES.COM/SPORTS D5

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

To understand how im-

portant it is for City Section

football players and coaches

to experience Friday night

lights, you have to realize

what they go through just to

get to this point.

During the offseason, one

coach had to be a gardener,

opening up the lid to the

water timing device on the

field, getting on his hands

and knees and figuring out

how to turn on the sprinklers.

Another coach talked about

having no ice machine, which

might be more valuable to a

football team than a bag of

footballs. Another coach

mentioned how his meager

$2,811 coaching stipend was

long gone and used to feed

players, buy equipment and

pay for seven-on-seven tour-

naments.

Then there was the scene

in Highland Park on Friday

night before the Franklin-

San Fernando game. There

was a grass field with a dirt

track, straight out of the

1970s. San Fernando coach

Robert Garcia was dis-

cussing why uniform No. 5

was missing from his team’s

roster.

“The player wearing No. 5

quit and never returned the

jersey,” he said.

You learn to deal with

adversity and move on.

That’s City Section creed.

“You have to have fun with

it,” Garcia said. “I see it as

helping kids in the communi-

ty. I know what they go

through every day and try to

push them through it.”

Inspiration comes when

two community schools

supported by loyal alumni

get together and prove any

distractions off the field can

be briefly forgotten for 48

minutes of pure fun.

Such was the case at

Franklin, where coach Nar-

ciso Diaz has 15 assistant

coaches, 14 of whom are

Franklin grads.

“I’m in debt coaching,”

Diaz said. “I love it. It’s the

community I grew up in.”

As the sun dipped from

the west in the Arroyo Seco,

San Fernando (3-0), led by its

big, imposing offensive line,

put together a 95-yard scor-

ing drive that set the stage for

a 37-7 victory over Franklin.

The game pretty much

showed why San Fernando

will be headed to the Open

Division playoffs and Frank-

lin to Division II.

The Tigers’ 200-pound

running back, Bradley

Pierce, went through gaping

holes and contributed touch-

downs of one and 43 yards.

Quarterback Adrian Lopez,

much more composed and

versatile than a year ago, had

a three-yard touchdown run

for a 22-0 halftime lead. Felix

Rodriguez, who rushed for 101

yards, also scored.

Franklin (2-1) came in

untested after a 54-0 win over

Legacy and 63-0 win over

Bassett. The Panthers’

standout quarterback, Alfred

Bobadilla, didn’t have much

time to throw. He ended up

completing 20 of 32 passes for

277 yards and scored a touch-

down. At the end of the third

quarter, Chris Parker inter-

cepted a Bobadilla pass and

returned it 100 yards for a

touchdown.

Afterward, Parker was

smiling.

“When I’m out on the field,

I’m playing my heart out for

people gone in my life and

people I love,” he said.

It’s high school football at

its best.

San Fernando shines under

unique City Section lights

SAN FERNANDO 37

FRANKLIN 7

ERIC SONDHEIMER

ON HIGH SCHOOLS

John Humphreys did not

play in the first half Friday

afternoon for the Corona del

Mar High football team.

The star senior receiver,

bound for Stanford, bruised

his right knee in last week’s

win at Mountain View St.

Francis and said he didn’t

feel great in pregame warm-

ups at Palos Verdes.

Standing on the sidelines

did not sit well for

Humphreys.

“I was getting pretty

antsy,” Humphreys said. “By

halftime, I was ready to go. I

couldn’t just watch my team

go out there and play. I

wanted to be out there with

them.”

Humphreys made a dif-

ference to help Corona del

Mar win a battle of teams

who share the Sea King as a

mascot.

His 78-yard touchdown

catch from senior quarter-

back Ethan Garbers on the

first play of the fourth quar-

ter helped Corona del Mar

pull away for a 20-10 non-

league victory over Palos

Verdes.

Corona del Mar (3-0),

ranked No. 3 in Southern

Section Division 3, with-

stood a battle from Palos

Verdes (2-1), which went into

the game ranked No. 4 in Di-

vision 4.

“We didn’t play a really

clean game, but when you’re

not playing well, you’ve just

got to battle it out,”

Humphreys said. “We bat-

tled it out today, and that

was awesome to see.”

Garbers, bound for

Washington, completed 20

of 37 passes for 298 yards and

three touchdowns. His

touchdown passes to Wash-

ington-bound tight end

Mark Redman and junior re-

ceiver Tommy Griffin in the

first half helped Corona del

Mar build a 13-3 lead.

Humphreys had four

catches for 114 yards.

Szabo writes for Times

Community News.

CORONA DEL MAR’SJason Vicencio finds running room around right end against Palos Verdes.

Tim BergerDaily Pilot

Injured Humphreys provides spark

The star wide receiver

comes off the bench

in second half to spark

Corona del Mar.

CORONA DEL MAR 20

PALOS VERDES 10

By Matt Szabo

A look at how The Times’ top 25 high school football teams in the Southland fared (losses are shaded):

Rk.School Result Next game

1 MATER DEI (3-0) def. Peoria (Ariz.) Centennial, 71-21 vs. Baltimore (Md.) St. Frances at St. John Bosco, Sept. 14

2 ST. JOHN BOSCO (3-0) def. Henderson (Nev.) Liberty, 49-7 vs. Olney (Md.) Our Lady of Good Counsel, Friday

3 CORONA CENTENNIAL (1-2) lost to San Diego Cathedral, 44-41 vs. Henderson (Nev.) Liberty, Friday

4 MISSION VIEJO (3-0) def. La Habra, 23-6 vs. Villa Park, Friday

5 JSERRA (2-1) def. Bishop Amat, 38-14 vs. Milton (Ga.) at St. John Bosco, Sept. 14

6 NARBONNE (2-1) def. St. Paul, 56-19 at Orange Lutheran at Orange Coast College, Friday

7 SIERRA CANYON (2-1) lost to Oaks Christian, 21-14 vs. Valencia at Granada Hills, Sept. 14

8 SO NOTRE DAME (2-0) def. Moorpark, 42-0 vs. Paraclete, Friday

9 CALABASAS (2-1) lost to Gardena Serra, 26-20 vs. La Habra, Friday

10 SERVITE (1-0) at Las Vegas Bishop Gorman, today at Cajon, Friday

11 CORONA DEL MAR (3-0) def. Palos Verdes, 20-10 vs. Lakewood at Newport Harbor, Friday

12 GRACE BRETHREN (3-0) def. Muir, 38-18 at Oak Hills, Friday

13 GARDENA SERRA (2-0) def. Calabasas, 26-20 vs. Long Beach Poly, Friday

14 BISHOP AMAT (2-1) lost to JSerra, 38-14 vs. Chino Hills, Friday

15 SAN CLEMENTE (3-0) def. Carlsbad La Costa Canyon, 13-12 vs. San Diego Lincoln, Friday

16 OAKS CHRISTIAN (2-1) def. Sierra Canyon, 21-14 at Alemany, Friday

17 RANCHO CUCAMONGA (1-2)lost to Norco, 59-44 vs. Las Vegas Faith Lutheran at Moorpark HS, Sept. 14

18 NORCO (2-0) def. Rancho Cucamonga, 59-44 vs. Vista Murrieta, Friday

19 BISHOP ALEMANY (3-0) def. Dorsey, 34-8 vs. Oaks Christian, Friday

20 RANCHO VERDE (2-1) lost to Upland, 30-7 at Locke, Sept. 20

21 VALENCIA (2-0) def. Silverado, 69-19 vs. Sierra Canyon at Granada Hills, Sept. 14

22 LA HABRA (2-1) lost to Mission Viejo, 23-6 at Calabasas, Friday

23 UPLAND (2-1) def. Rancho Verde, 30-7 vs. Modesto Central Catholic, Friday

24 VISTA MURRIETA (2-0) def. Sacramento Capital Christian, 27-6at Norco, Friday

25 CAMARILLO (3-0) def. Royal, 56-0 vs. Oxnard at Moorpark College, Friday

THE TIMES PREP FOOTBALL RANKINGS

There were plenty of sto-
ries written and tweets sent
over the last few weeks about
how difficult it is to run
against the Mission Viejo
front seven.
Coming into Friday night’s
nonleague game against La
Habra, Diablos coach Chad
Johnson said the Highland-
ers’ offense would be the big-
gest test for his defense.
Mark it down as another
message sent by the Mission
Viejo defense.
The Diablos, a week re-
moved from allowing only
three yards rushing to Santa
Margarita, built upon that
performance against La
Habra, holding the Highland-
ers to minus-12 yards rushing
in 11 carries en route to a 23-6
road victory.
“They are as good as ad-
vertised,” La Habra coach
Frank Mazzotta said. “It
wasn’t a mystery and we had

some ideas, but our quarter-

back needed more time.”

Mission Viejo (3-0), No. 4 in

The Times’ rankings, gave up

a first-half score to No. 22 La

Habra (2-1) after a short punt

and a personal foul penalty

gave the Highlanders good

field position, but pitched a

second-half shutout.

“This is probably the best

front seven I’ve been around,”

Johnson said. “We’re special

up front and it allows our sec-

ondary to fly around and

make plays. When you have

four guys up front like we

have, it’s a nightmare for an of-

fensive coordinator.”

Mission Viejo’s offense

turned in a slightly better per-

formance than it did last week

and opened the scoring with

an 11-play, 80-yard drive and a

seven-yard touchdown run

from Tyson Scott. The Diab-

los added two more points af-

ter John Burns blocked a La

Habra punt that was recov-

ered by the Highlanders in the

end zone for a safety, giving

the Diablos a 9-0 advantage

with 32.4 seconds left in the

opening period.

The Mission Viejo defen-

sive line did its job in the first

half, holding La Habra to 42

yards of offense, including mi-

nus-six yards rushing, but the

Highlanders got on the board

after taking advantage of a

short field. The Diablos mis-

hit a punt that landed out of

bounds at their own 43-yard

line. Mission Viejo was then

penalized 15 yards on a per-

sonal foul, giving La Habra

the ball on the 29.

Highlanders quarterback

Ryan Zanelli connected on an

18-yard completion to Bran-

don Vasquez and moved to

the six after a face-mask pen-

alty on the Diablos.

After two incomplete

passes, La Habra took a

chance on fourth and four,

and Zanelli found Kristopher

Koontz in the right corner of

the end zone, cutting the defi-

cit to 9-6 at the 6:04 mark of

the second quarter.

Mission Viejo also con-

verted a fourth down, running

a fake punt for a 39-yard gain.

Jacquez Robertson scored

two plays later on a 10-yard

run for a 16-6 lead at the break.

Mission Viejo’s front seven

are magnificent once again

MISSION VIEJO 23
LA HABRA 6

By Devin Ugland

Friday’s results

CITY
NONLEAGUE
Angelou 42, Sotomayor 0
Arleta 29, Los Angeles University 18
Canoga Park 55, Grant 20
Chatsworth 28, Sun Valley Poly 26
Contreras 33, Roybal 2
Eagle Rock 47, Bell 7
El Camino Real 35, Sylmar 18
Gardena 36, Fremont 0
Granada Hills Kennedy 14, Monroe 7
Los Angeles Hamilton 6, Hollywood 3
Los Angeles Roosevelt 33, Los Angeles Marshall 0
Manual Arts 72, Van Nuys 0
Marquez 35, Los Angeles Wilson 10
Mendez 28, Maywood CES 14
Palisades 34, Granada Hills 8
Panorama 68, Rancho Dominguez 0
Portola 34, Cerritos Valley Christian 17
San Fernando 37, Franklin 7
San Pedro 77, Taft 7
Santee 35, Los Angeles Jordan 19
Torres 51, Belmont 6

SOUTHERN SECTION
NONLEAGUE
Alhambra 41, Temple City 0
Aquinas 14, Millikan 9
Arroyo Valley 42, Desert Hot Springs 0
Buena 28, Agoura 20
Cajon 24, Heritage 7
Camarillo 56, Royal 0
Citrus Valley 42, Colony 0
Coachella Valley 35, La Quinta 7
Corona del Mar 20, Palos Verdes 10
Cypress 42, Bellflower 7
Foothill 42, Beckman 14
Fullerton 40, Anaheim Canyon 33
Gardena Serra 26, Calabasas 20 (2OT)
Garey 40, Workman 7
Glendora 31, Charter Oak 6
Golden Valley 33, Quartz Hill 21
Grace Brethren 38, Muir 18
Great Oak 31, Shadow Hills 21
JSerra 38, Bishop Amat 14
Kaiser 49, Westminster 0
La Salle 38, Santa Paula 35
Loara 16, Costa Mesa 0
Long Beach Wilson 43, Huntington Beach 7
Mira Costa 37, Mayfair 26
Mission Viejo 23, La Habra 6
Montclair 25, Hacienda Heights Wilson 17
Norco 59, Rancho Cucamonga 44
North Torrance 28, El Segundo 13
Norte Vista 17, Moreno Valley 6
Oak Park 42, Nordhoff 18
Oaks Christian 21, Sierra Canyon 14
Orange Lutheran 17, Edison 14
Oxnard 31, Westlake 7
Oxnard Pacifica 65, Newbury Park 14
Palm Springs 35, St. Anthony 14
Rancho Mirage 30, Colton 12
Redondo 42, Saugus 21
Rio Mesa 48, Lompoc Cabrillo 6
San Juan Hills 42, South Hills 7
Santa Barbara 55, Channel Islands 7
Segerstrom 19, El Modena 14
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 42, Moorpark 0
St. Bonaventure 22, Highland 14
St. Pius X-St. Matthias 36, Bishop Montgomery 7
St. Francis 28, Damien 21 (OT)
St. Margaret's 30, La Mirada 22
Sunny Hills 55, Irvine 20
Upland 30, Rancho Verde 7
Valencia 69, Silverado 19
Ventura 37, Dos Pueblos 7
Villa Park 42, Trabuco Hills 0
Western 41, Baldwin Park 0

INTERSECTIONAL

Bishop Alemany 34, Dorsey 8

Cathedral 40, Carson 21

Chaminade 41, Birmingham 14

Compton 71, West Adams 0

Downey 41, Locke 13

El Rancho 35, Garfield 34

El Toro 23, Las Vegas (Nev.) Eldorado 20

Fillmore 55, Edwards AFB Desert 0

Gabrielino 29, San Diego Southwest 20

Greenwood Village (Colo.) Cherry Creek 35, Santa

Margarita 10

Hawthorne 40, Rivera 0

Lawndale 35, Carlsbad 16

Mater Dei 71, Peoria (Ariz.) Centennial 21

Narbonne 56, St. Paul 19

Palm Desert 43, Tucson (Ariz.) Flowing Wells 7

San Clemente 13, Carlsbad La Costa Canyon 12

San Diego Cathedral 44, Corona Centennial 41

San Marcos Mission Hills 52, Redlands East Val-

ley 7

St. John Bosco 49, Henderson (Nev.) Liberty 7

Vista Murrieta 27, Sacramento Capital Christian 6

Warren 48, Huntington Park 6

Westchester 28, St. Bernard 10

Wilmington Banning 42, Dominguez 13

Xavier Prep 17, Chandler (Ariz.) Seton Catholic 14

8 MAN

CITY

NONLEAGUE

North Valley Military Institute 46, Sun Valley 12

SOUTHERN SECTION

NONLEAGUE

California Lutheran 56, Indio Riverside County Ed-

ucation Academy 16

INTERSECTIONAL

Animo Robinson 54, Orcutt Academy 17

Malibu 22, Dymally 8

Thursday’s results

SOUTHERN SECTION

SOUTH VALLEY LEAGUE

Cornerstone Christian 36, Santa Rosa Academy

30

NONLEAGUE

Burbank Burroughs 41, La Palma Kennedy 24

California 22, El Dorado 16 (OT)

Citrus Hill 48, Pacific 7

Crescenta Valley 56, Montebello 21

Dana Hills 50, Saddleback 7

Fountain Valley 40, Woodbridge 7

Garden Grove Santiago 43, Century 21

Jurupa Hills 35, Arlington 28

Northwood 7, Troy 0

Riverside North 22, Temescal Canyon 16

San Gorgonio 32, Summit 26

Santa Ana Calvary Chapel 40, Capistrano Valley

Christian 14

Savanna 28, Morningside 25

Sonora 27, Lynwood 6

Tustin 21, Don Lugo 0

Whittier 35, San Dimas 26

Yorba Linda 34, Orange 27 (2OT)

INTERSECTIONAL

Brawley 43, Indio 7

8 MAN

SOUTHERN SECTION

NONLEAGUE

Hesperia Christian 30, CSDR 26

Noli Indian 49, United Christian 20

PAL Academy 54, La Verne Lutheran 6

INTERSECTIONAL

Desert Chapel 46, Borrego Springs 6

St. Michael's Prep 36, San Marcos St. Joseph

Acad. 14

Wednesday’s result

NONLEAGUE

San Jacinto Valley Academy 38, St. Jeanne de Le-

stonnac 0

SCORES

STOKED

Kevin ChangDaily Pilot

Edison High linebacker Mario Roberts (30) is

fired up after his tackle of Orange Lutheran re-

ceiver RJ Regan III (20) during the first half of a

game won by Orange Lutheran 17-14.