Monday Morning Quarterback: Week 5 Edition
San Gabriel's resurgence; La Salle's better than looked performance against Cathedral; the Football Life of Mike Mooney, plus 5 Things That I Think I THink and much more.
San Gabriel Coach Kevin Encinas talks to his team after Thursday’s win over San Marino. (Escarcega)
San Gabriel coach Kevin Encinas is a curious person.
The pride of Charter Oak HS, who counts the late great Lou Farrar as his mentor in life, Encinas seeks knowledge from anyone that he’ll engage with. It could be a family friend, someone who has a camera, or someone who is covering a game.
In the final stages of halftime in last Thursday’s 28-24 home win over San Marino, Encinas finally got to meet the writer of this column for the first time ever. We’ve talked over the phone, for an article in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune that helped him become a Positive Coaching Alliance Double-Goal Regional Coach of the Year honoree. After shaking hands, his first words to me were, “Well, does this feel different?”
It does.
San Gabriel football has been resurrected from the grave. This used to be the home of respected coaches such as Keith Jones and Jude Oliva. However, in the four years before Encinas’ hiring, the Matadors were the laughingstock of the Almont League. With records of 3-7, 2-8, they were relegated to the bottom tier of the Almont League power structure. They were the team that other schools would use for their homecoming nights.
Not anymore.
Not this team, this program, this school.
San Gabriel is back and that is not good news for anyone that is in the Almont League. Encinas decided to do a complete makeover of the entire program from the bottom up starting in 2016. While it took a little while for the culture of the program to be ingrained in his players, the program is on solid footing these days and with it, a jilted fan base has been revitalized.
There were just about 1,000 fans in attendance at last Thursday night’s home game, and that’s pretty good considering that the Los Angeles Chargers were playing the Kansas City Chiefs on Prime Video. But the success of the Matadors program runs a little deeper for Encinas. He decided that to revive the program, he needed to invest in his players, one player at a time.
It didn’t manner if you were the scout player on the defensive line or the starting quarterback, Encinas was going to know who you were, find out about your family, and much more. In the coaching circles, this is called “connection.” And it has worked.
“These guys didn’t think winning was possible,” Encinas said after the game with Mexican music playing in the background. “Our kids come from Rosemead and low-income housing. They didn’t think that winning was a possibility. Now they have pride, and they now know the responsibility that comes from winning.”
He’s had to be a father figure to offensive lineman Raul Garibay, who lost his father to COVID several years ago. Yes, COVID was much more than a number to the program, it got personal. He’s had to nurture a young quarterback in Jacob Muniz, who is the west SGV’s version of Brett Favre (making plays when the play breaks down).
And the players have responded. There is a connection that is unbreakable these days and it stems from the work Encinas and his staff have done.
“Look we only have three coaches on our staff and that’s it,” Encinas said. “We all are using a football as a positive influence on our kids. Football is the vehicle to positively change the lives of these kids. That’s all we are doing.”
And the school (along with the Alhambra Unified School District) has responded. They’ve decided to invest in the program, much like a business investor would do to a fast-rising company. Each of Encinas’ coaches is teachers or staff members on campus. That’s right, the school has gone away from hiring walk-on coaches that are only available for a short amount of time during the day.
And the school has been rewarded as the Matadors had their first winning season in 8 years in 2021 (9-3 overall record). With the success, the kids are coming out in droves. The Matadors have close to 100 students playing football. Which is a far cry from their neighbors at Gabrielino HS who’ve had to forfeit two games because of lower numbers within the program.
And yet when you speak with Encinas, you get the feeling that he’s just scratching the surface of what the program can be moving forward.
One of the first changes that he has made is by opening the offensive playbook. The Matadors are stretching teams out with game-changing Wide Receiver Tijani Daley making terrific catches as an outside receiver.
Don’t be mistaken, when the occasion calls for it, he’ll channel his inner Lou Farrar and return to the ground and pound attack that he learned from his days at Charter Oak. That’s where he’ll tap the shoulder of Robert Lucero to gain those hard-earned yards.
Talk to anyone that is an administrator at San Gabriel and they feel like they’ve hit gold with Encinas as their coach. This is huge because now everyone within the school is pulling in the same direction. Will this guarantee the Matadors an Almont League championship or a precious CIF Southern Section title, nope.
But the one thing it will guarantee is that a player who enters the program will come out a better man and a winner in life. And that is much bigger than winning any sectional title.
Will Clougherty of La Salle in action on Friday night against Cathedral. (La Salle Athetics)
LA SALLE SHOULD BE JUST FINE
The goal on Friday night was to see how La Salle would play against a Cathedral team that is bigger, faster, and stronger than the Lancers. Don’t believe me, just ask La Salle Principal Jamal Adams. As he arrived for Friday night's game, he exchanged a greeting with this person and the first thing he said was, “Man, are these guys big or what?”
Here’s the thing, the Lancers stood toe to toe with the Phantoms in the first half. With a quick, concise passing game, along with an effective run scheme, La Salle more than held their own against a Phantoms team that had athletes all over the place. The score at the end of the first half was Cathedral 17, La Salle 6.
Check out the halftime stats: First Downs: La Salle 9, Cathedral 4. Total Yards: Cathedral 155, La Salle 107.
The level of play that La Salle executed in the first half was impressive to see. David Mysza, the UCLA baseball commit that is playing quarterback due to the departure of Richie Munoz to Charter Oak, was taking what the defense was giving him. Despite a bad read on the second play of the game that resulted in an interception for a touchdown, Mysza was doing just fine.
Will Clougherty, the “Jack of All Trades” player for the Lancers, maybe 5-8, 170 pounds when he’s dripping with sweat but plays bigger on the field. He runs with the ball with purpose and is the quarterback of the defensive secondary.
“Will is a champion,” La Salle coach Ben Buys said after the game. “He plays every position, and in the last couple of weeks, he’s had a blocked punt for a touchdown, he’s thrown for touchdowns, he runs for touchdowns, he’s caught (passes) for touchdowns. He told me from the very beginning, ‘Coach, I’m ready to go.’ You have to love a kid like that because he loves to play football.”
There are other players that make this team very dangerous when the Del Rey League competition starts. Anthony Balurdi is a tough kid that plays his heart out as does Aidan Leyland. The junior led the way in receptions with six catches for 43 yards and a touchdown.
Don’t get it mistaken, the Lancers simply didn’t have enough bullets to repel the offensive onslaught that Cathedral delivered in the second half. It was as if Cathedral was that champion boxer and looked at its opponent after the first half and said, “Is this the best you’ve got?”
The Phantoms scored 28 unanswered points in the third quarter and easily won 45-6, positioning themselves (in my eyes) as being the legitimate frontrunners to win the Angelus League this season.
However, if you are a team that has La Salle on your schedule for the next six weeks, and are evaluating the Lancers in the second half, that would be a big mistake that might come back to haunt you very badly. Chances are your team doesn’t have the talent nor the depth or the athletes that Cathedral has.
Ben Buys has done a terrific job with the cards that have been dealt to him by the dealer. And the great thing is that once his team hits the league, they’ll be a tough team to beat. They need to win the next three out of six games to get to the magic number of five that gives them a shot to be in the playoffs with an At-Large bid. (Chances are that St. Pius X-St. Matthias and Harvard-Westlake are the favorites to secure the automatic qualifying bid according to the latest Calpreps ratings).
And that’s important because the Lancers are buried in the Calpreps rating and will most likely play in Divisions 11, 12, 13, or 14. And that makes them one of the most dangerous teams in the playoffs. And the irony in all of this was that Richie Munoz left La Salle for Charter Oak. If he would have stayed, he could have been a part of a team that makes a memorable run in the playoffs.
That’s the chances a player takes when they decide to transfer.
One more thing, when the game was over, the players circled their heavily bearded coach for a final message before heading back to the Pasadena-based campus. The first thing that Buys told them was the “Cave In, Cave Out” theory. It caught me off guard. So rather than I explain it, take a good listen to Buys. It’s very interesting.
MIKE MOONEY’S FOOTBALL LIFE HAS COME FULL CIRCLE
Mike Mooney is a person that leads an uncomplicated life these days. On Thursday night, he sat with a family friend, near the 40-yard line at San Gabriel High School, and watched his son Mitch play on both sides of the line of scrimmage with the effort that he demanded of his players when he coached at Temple City and other places.
Back in 2002, when Temple City was a fine-tuned winning machine with Mooney at the controls, he probably would have paid anything to have the solitude that he had on Thursday night. In a sense, Mooney’s football life has come full circle.
“As soon as I had kids, I knew that I was on the clock,” Mooney said who played his collegiate football at the University of Southern California. “But if you would have told me back then that this is what would have happened these past couple of years, I wouldn’t have believed you.”
As is always the case with coaches, life gets in the way of the pursuit of wins and championships. These last four years, Mooney has spent his time watching Macy become one of the top softball catchers in the area and seeing the growth and development in Mitch. A little bit of a curveball has been thrown to Mooney this year as Macy has left home to become a student at the University of Oregon (a switch from her previous commitment to Indiana).
This means the gregarious-mannered Mooney can go back to becoming a coach to his son Mitch, something that the San Marino Unified School District can’t take away from him. There is a rule that states that a parent can’t coach his son/daughter while on the team. It is truly one of the most incomprehensible rules we’ve heard in some time. For a school district to rob Mooney of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to coach his son is one of the major tragedies of the football season.
“(Mitch) would love it if I would coach,” Mooney said. “We watch film all the time after games. And the coaches on staff would love it too. It’s a tough deal.”
Mitch caught the eye of the coaching staff as a freshman last year so much, that he was immediately brought up from the freshman team to play the offensive line. You don’t see that a lot these days.
And then if that wasn’t enough, he got word over the spring that Mitch was also going to play some defense either as a defensive end or a linebacker. For Mooney, he was more than comfortable seeing his son play on both sides of the ball as a sophomore.
“My whole mind changed back in 2002 when I saw De La Salle play Long Beach Poly and they had seven or eight dudes going both ways,” Mooney said. “I knew that if De La Salle could have players going both ways, then my guys at Temple City are going to be going both ways. They’re doing a great job with Mitch with his increased workload by bringing him in three days a week to run, lift and do all that stuff.”
There aren’t many chances to become a full-time father these days and Mooney has enjoyed every single minute of it. “It has been so awesome,” Mooney said. “To see your kid play and I’m spoiled because he plays basketball too and is good at it. We put Mitch in everything when he was a kid and he loved basketball early. We tried soccer for five minutes and that didn’t work at all. He played flag football but then we put him in with the (Pasadena) Trojan (Youth Football) in seventh grade. He loved every minute of it.”
And if you think that Mooney has lost the coaching bug, you’d be wrong.
“I don’t think that I’ll be running a program,” Mooney said. “I would love to be part of a staff and continue to coach. I still love the game and feel like I can offer a lot to a team.”
In the meantime, he’ll continue to coach and support his son Mitch, no matter what San Marino Unified School District says.
ONE FULL GASSER
Every week, we are going to take a full “gasser” around the area and look at some of the games that were played on Thursday/Friday night, that were not the marquee games on the docket. It’s time to shine the light on some players that turned in outstanding performances that were “under the radar.”
Rowland 42, Ganesha 20: The performance of the week has to be Eric Egere from Rowland as he amassed 314 yards on 20 carries and scored three touchdowns. Rowland’s record for the season is 3-2.
Maranatha 41, Western Christian 24: It was a huge night for sophomore running back Miles Omalley has carried the ball 25 times for 248 yards and two touchdowns in the Minutemen’s win over Western Christian.
La Canada 45, Crescenta Valley 42: What a night for Corey Cheung as he once again played the main role in the Spartans’ upset win over the Falcons. The senior carried the ball 17 times for 169 yards and scored a touchdown. Quarterback Macky Plocher completed 9 of 13 passes for 247 yards and three touchdowns. The Spartans are 3-2 on the season.
South Pasadena 29, Alhambra 14: The Tigers jumped out to a 14-0 lead and never looked back in defeating the Moors over at Moor Field. Junior Jason Hong carried the ball 22 times for 104 yards and a touchdown. South Pasadena’s defense held the Moors to 142 yards of total offense. The Tigers are 4-0 this year.
Diamond Bar 28, Wilson 7: The Brahmas held the Wildcats scoreless in the second half and cruised to another impressive win. Isaiah Young had a solid night as he carried the ball 11 times for 154 yards and scored a touchdown. Diamond Bar is 5-0 on the season.
Rio Hondo Prep 35, Pasadena Poly 6: In the annual rivalry of the two of the top small schools in the area, Cal-commit Ryan Mcculloch scored three touchdowns and rushed for 105 yards in the victory at South Pasadena HS. The Kares are 4-0 this season.
La Mirada 27, Sunny Hills 13: The Matadores rebounded nicely from their loss to Mater Dei with an impressive win over the host Lancers. CJ Zachery spearheaded the offensive attack for La Mirada, as he rushed for 117 yards on 12 carries and scored three touchdowns.
Cantwell Sacred Heart 58, Verbum Dei 0: The Cardinals scored 50 points in the first half and cruised to a home nonleague win. Angel Cevallos carried the load for CHSM as he rushed for 119 yards on 15 carries, and scored two touchdowns.
Walnut 30, Ocean View 0: It was a big night for Walnut senior Dorian Hall as he amassed 156 yards on 16 carries and scored two touchdowns in the Mustangs' home win. The Mustangs had 16 first downs while Ocean View only collected four. The Mustangs are 4-1 on the season.
Sierra Vista 22, El Monte 7: Eric Terrazes showed that he is one of the top running backs in the area as he rushed 28 times for 181 yards and scored two touchdowns in the Dons’ win over the Lions.
5 THINGS THAT I THINK I THINK
I think that I found Bishop Amat coach Steve Hagerty’s quote very interesting buried in the bottom of last week’s game story by Damien Calhoun after their 38-14 win over Leuzinger. “A little sloppy here and there. I’m happy for the win, but I think they (Leuzinger) played more physical than we did,” Hagerty said. There are not many times when you hear from Hagerty that he thought an opponent was more physical than they were. You can be assured that will be a key coaching point when the Lancers travel to La Verne to play Damien.
I think that I might have pegged Pasadena perfectly at the beginning of the season when I projected them with a 9-1 record. I would call their nonleague performance absolutely extraordinary. They are currently 4-1 and will take a well-deserved week off before beginning Pacific League play with a home game against Burbank. And if you think that Pasadena doesn’t have that game circled on their schedule, you’d be wrong. The Bulldogs were on the other end of some lopsided losses. Pasadena has a great opportunity to dish back a nice piece of humble pie.
If you think that Pasadena had an extraordinary preseason, La Serna can’t be far behind. The Lancers SHUT OUT Damien 7-0 last Thursday night. It was the first time that a Matt Bechtel-coached team failed to score any points in a game in the 10 years he has been a head coach. The Lancers have one more nonleague game against Culver City (in which they are heavily favored to win by Calpreps) before they dive into Del Rio League play with a key game against California. This could be the best coaching job that Andy George has turned in and it wouldn’t surprise me to see La Serna make a nice/deep run into the playoffs.
I think that it’s anybody’s guess what happens at Damien at the end of the season. I know that many of you are defending head coach Matt Bechtel after another 7-0 head-scratching loss to La Serna. Yes, if you are befuddled, join the club. I can’t put my finger on it. But I was reminded over the weekend, that people kept receipts when it came to Bechtel’s expectations when he came to Damien. Do you remember the photos of kids with signs that said, “Unleash Bechtel”?” How about the video of the players jumping up and down after Damien defeated Upland during COVID-19 spring football in 2021? There is nothing to be unleashed these days and the only “possible” wins that I see on the schedule are Chino Hills and Etiwanda. Where does that leave Damien at the end of the year? With another 3-7 record. Astonishing.
I think that these are my other thoughts on the week:
It was nice to see Arroyo in the winner's column for the first time this year with a 24-0 win over Whittier. Which has me asking this question, “How in the heck did Sonora lose to Whittier in the season opener?”
And speaking of Sonora, they have become a scoring machine since that loss to Whitter. They have won four straight games and have outscored their opponents 149-55. They were one of my “Surprise Teams” of the season and are making me look very good.
And speaking of the Freeway League, what the heck is going on a La Habra? The Highlanders got disheveled by Orange 43-6 and have been outscored in the last two games, 77-12. Week 9 features La Habra vs Sonora, mark that game down on your calendar.
That was a huge win for La Canada as they defeated Crescenta Valley, 45-42. Monrovia will be the overwhelming favorite to win the Rio Hondo League and South Pasadena should be the favorite to take the second AQ bid. As for the third-place bid, La Canada, San Marino, and Pasadena Poly will be all out to get it and it should be very interesting.
Let me repeat again, it is a travesty that the great Mike Mooney can’t be able to coach his son Mitch over at San Marino. Totally unacceptable by the San Marino Unified School District.
Next week, Schurr takes on San Gabriel for what should amount to the “Almont League Championship game.” I’ll be there!
I have Bishop Amat as a -27 point favorite over Damien HS. Calpreps has Amat winning 28-7. At least Calpreps has the Spartans scoring a touchdown.
It is my opinion that after seeing both quarterbacks in person Jack Jacobs of St. Francis is the best quarterback in the Angelus League with Cathedral’s Aidan Moss second best, and it’s not even close!
SGV/Whittier Prep Sports Zone Top-20 (We’ll have our 1-60 later this week).
1. Bishop Amat
2. Ayala
3. La Serna
4. Charter Oak
5. Pasadena
6. Northview
7. Monrovia
8. La Mirada
9. Diamond Bar
10. St. Francis
11. Bonita
12. Damien
13. St. Paul
14. San Dimas
15. Glendora
16. West Covina
17. El Rancho
18. Sonora
19. Rio Hondo Prep
20. La Habra
GAME STICKERS
Corey Cheung, La Canada: Carried the ball 17 times for 169 yards and scored a touchdown in La Canada’ 45-42 win over Crescenta Valley
Eric Egere. Rowland: Rushed for 314 yards on 20 carries and scored three touchdowns in Rowlands’ 42-20 win over Ganesha.
Dorian Hall, Walnut: The senior carried the ball 16 times for 156 yards and scored two touchdowns in the Mustangs’ 30-0 win over Ocean View.
Jason Hong, South Pasadena: Carried the ball 22 times for 104 yards and a touchdown in South Pasadena’s 29-14 win over Alhambra
Ryan McCulloch, Rio Hondo Prep: The Cal-commit amassed 105 yards and scored three touchdowns in Rio Hondo Prep’s 35-6 win over rival Pasadena Poly.
Caleb Morquecho, San Dimas: Rushed for 219 yards and scored a touchdown in the Saints’ 28-19 win over Schurr.
Miles Omalley, Maranatha: Carried the ball 25 times for 248 yards and two touchdowns in the Minutemen’s 41-24 win over Western Christian.
Joseph Rangel, Covina: Rushed 13 times for 125 yards and a touchdown in the Colts’ 41-0 win over Bell Gardens.
Eric Terrazes, Sierra Vista: Rushed 28 times for 181 yards and scored two touchdowns in the Dons’ 22-7 win over El Monte.
Isaiah Young, Diamond Mar: 11 carries for 154 yards and scored a touchdown in Diamond Bar’s 28-7 win over Wilson.
CJ Zachery, La Mirada: The senior led the offensive attack for La Mirada rushing for 117 yards on 12 carries and scored three touchdowns in La Mirada’s 27-13 win over Sunny Hills.
One More Thing
If you want to experience the best rivalry in the San Gabriel Valley, make sure and attend Tuesday night’s Rio Hondo League girls volleyball match between South Pasadena and La Canada. It is simply the best! I’ll see you at La Canada on Tuesday night!