SGV/Whittier Prep Sports Zone: Monday Morning QB - The Offseason Edition (Part 1)
We go inside St. Paul football with new coach Mike Moschetti; Take an in-depth look at the new SGV football leagues and much more.
(Photos: Escarcega)
SANTA FE SPRINGS - Mike Moschetti is a man that attempts to be humble as he possibly can. When you try and start a deep conversation about football, his comeback line is "I'm just a regular guy that coaches football."
His record and his resume would beg to differ.
He helped turn La Mirada High School (his alma mater) from a sleeping giant into a CIF State Football champion. With the help of his coaching staff that sees little turnover, he has turned players into college football Division 1 prospects. La Mirada, which was a thriving program that became a must-visit for college football coaches in the spring and fall, was on top of the world in Southern California and the man behind the resurrection was Moschetti.
But then came 2016 and a loss to Edison in a CIF Southern Section championship game that hurt him in ways most people didn't understand. That was then and this is now and it's a highly motivated Moschetti that is back in a second stint as coach.
"I took two years off because I just had another baby with kids, we have a fourth now, I'm 48 years old, I'm still young, I still have goals and dreams, I'm as big a competitor as you will ever find," Moschetti said, "There was still some unfinished business."
It was clear when we spent some time with Moschetti in 2018 that the fire was back. It hasn't changed any these days but, as with life, he felt that it was time for a change.
The fire was on display last Monday night at St. Paul High School as he was putting his team through a night workout at the Santa Fe Springs-based campus. The weather gods reminded those in attendance that there was nothing wrong with a little fall chill in the air. With empty metal stands providing a necessary background (with the antiquated press box with the words "The Pit," painted on the front walls), Moschetti was already in midseason form.
Each day provides Moschetti with a different message for his players. On this night, it was not taking anything for granted. One day you could be in perfect health, the next day you can be in a hospital trying to overcome stage 4 pancreatic cancer (as was the case of one of Moschetti's assistant coaches and his best friend).
It brought back memories of a night in the 2016 season when La Mirada defeated Los Alamitos in a CIF Southern Section semifinal, only for Moschetti to first talk about a Whittier Christian football player (Ethan Hawkes) that died earlier in the day in a freak automobile accident. At the end of his opening statement, Moscetti dropped his voice in saying "a football game doesn't mean shit."
Mike Moschetti Post-Game interview - 2016
It has been several weeks since Moschetti shocked the high school football world in Southern California when he submitted his resignation as the football coach at La Mirada to accept a similar role at St. Paul. He admits in his first in-depth interview since taking the job that "it's surreal, it's exciting, it's an honor. I wake up each day, can't wait to get here and be around these boys."
The circumstances behind this move are so wild that a Hollywood producer would throw away this script. The chain of events first started in February when the school announced that Rick Zepeda would no longer be the football coach at St. Paul. It was a shock because Zepeda was not only a graduate of the school, but had been a successful football coach at St. Paul and was a popular figure around the school community.
The news was not welcomed in the St. Paul community on social media. The early conjecture was that Frank Mazzotta, the longtime La Habra football coach, was going to leave the school and go to St. Paul. Whether he met with school officials is another matter for another time. However, when I texted him with the speculation that he was leaving, he texted back "Someone said that, but I haven't talked to anyone."
After that decision was made, no one was talking on or off the record at St. Paul. However, behind the scenes, school officials were in scramble mode. Several plans had been set in place, with one of them being Moschetti taking over the football program. There were other plans, but, St. Paul officials decided to go all-in on the Moschetti sweepstakes.
They understood that Moschetti was a tendered teacher at La Mirada and that he would most likely still teach at the school unless he left on his own. St. Paul officials said they would work around his schedule. Moschetti wanted to have his coaches come with him from La Mirada – St. Paul officials had no problem with that.
All the boxes were checked and the next thing anyone knew, Moschetti was taking over at St. Paul.
"I was shocked as anyone when I heard that coach Zepeda was let go," Moschetti said. "I'm not good with dates. Shortly after he was let go, I was contacted by St. Paul. I thought it was important that I reach out to Rick and bounce some ideas off of him and get his thoughts. To this day, we stay in contact. It happened fast. If you told me a month and a half ago that this would come to fruition, I probably would have said no."
In our podcast, Moschetti goes in great depth about what his future might be like at La Mirada HS or the Norwalk/La Mirada School District. On this night though, Moschetti's only concern was about his football players and his program.
After a warmup and message, it was off to the weight room, where it is the job of the assistant coaches to get the energy up, "the juice" working, and to get kids to workout out to the best of their ability.
The noise was up, the kids were excited and the one person that appeared to be enjoying the moment more than Moschetti was St. Paul principal Robert Miller. He stood at the entrance of the weight room like a proud man that was happy that he was able to get a coach like Moschetti and to put behind what was not the smoothest of transitions.
"I think we got our man," Miller said. "I know that there are things out there on social media that are not true and I'm not going to go into it. As far as I am concerned, we hired a tremendous coach that has high aspirations and honors the traditions of what we are all about at St. Paul."
What are those aspirations? When you speak to Moschetti, it's all about one thing – winning a state championship.
"Not every team has winning a state championship on their PowerPoint," Moschetti said. "You can look around, there are numerous schools that want to win a CIF (Southern Section) championship. Our goal each year is to win a state championship. Win the last game on the schedule. 16 games. "
And if you think he stopped there, you would be mistaken.
"I've already talked to Mater Dei and I want to get them on the schedule in 2024, hopefully, we can continue to play (Bishop) Amat, play Servite every year, we're going to play the toughest schedule that we can. The ultimate goal is to beat Mater Dei and St. John Bosco in week 14 at the Rose Bowl and to play in the Mission League. We want to be competing about Amat and Serra."
Whether the school is on board with that from an infrastructure and resources point of view is another conversation for another day.
For now, it's all about reuniting the past with the present and future. That was the philosophy behind establishing "The Ghosts of St. Paul" Twitter account. The backstory on this is just as fascinating as the reason why Moschetti took the job.
"This is from the heart. When I came here to interview, I was walking with my uncle, it was late at night, there was nobody on campus, it was dark and it was cold," Moschetti said. "My uncle stopped me in his tracks and said 'You could almost feel a spirit about this place. It's almost as if the ghosts are walking these halls.' The Ghosts of St. Paul is the standards that the legends established for us. The players from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s.
"The standard is the sacrifice, this school was built from nothing, it is in an unincorporated area of Santa Fe Springs," Moschetti continued. "It doesn't have millions of dollars, but this place was as good as it could be in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Those guys set the standard of discipline and toughness for winning CIF championships. So, all of 'The Ghosts of St. Paul' is that they are watching us each and every day. And the standard has been set to win and to be successful off the field."
If this is true (if you spend enough time around Moschetti, you'll believe in these ghosts), then the standard of discipline and toughness was being taught the hard way on the school's all-weather track after the teams' lift was completed.
Each member of the team took a spot around Moschetti to learn the snap signal count. It had to be perfect three consecutive times before the team was excused for the evening. Perfection does come at a price, and the price on this night was that if one player was off cadence with a clap, the entire team would hit the track to do sit-ups and pushes.
For the next 40 minutes, the chase to perfection was on. There were times that it looked as if the drill was executed perfectly, only to see one player deliver a late clap. 30 minutes into the drill, Moschetti was attempting to teach his players that perfection comes from the heart.
"You have to draw the line in the sand," Moschetti barked out at the top of his voice. "Who's going to be the guy to stop this shit? Who's the senior that is going to set the standard?"
10 minutes later, the drill was concluded and the kids were dismissed for the night.
There are perks these days for the St. Paul players. On Thursday nights, the parents lay out food for the players and coaches after the workout is completed. It's a sign that when it comes to the Moschetti era, they are all in.
Whether that turns into wins and state championships, won't be determined until the fall of 2023. One thing that you can be assured of…
The "Ghosts of St. Paul" will be watching.
(Be sure and catch our full interview with Mike Moschetti on a special edition of the "SGV/Whittier Prep Zone Podcast," which will posted on Thursday)
COMPETITIVE EQUITY HAS HIT THE SGV
Tuesday’s Mt. SAC area releaguing meeting hit us by surprise a little when the day arrived – that’s what happens when you’re covering baseball and softball from wall to wall (BTW, 20 games covered live – more to come).
As was expected, the proposal from the football coaches was approved with only one league having a four-team league in 2024. Here are the leagues…
Conference 1: Ayala, Chino Hills, Damien, Etiwanda. Rancho Cucamonga and Upland
Conference 2: Bonita, Charter Oak, Claremont, Colony, Glendora, Los Osos
Conference 3: Alta Loma. Baldwin Park, Diamond Ranch, Northview, San Dimas, and West Covina
Conference 4: Chino, Covina, Diamond Bar, Los Altos, South Hills, and Walnut
Conference 5: Chaffey, Don Lugo, Montclair, and Rowland
Conference 6: Azusa, Nogales, Ontario, Pomona, Sierra Vista, Wilson
Conference 7: Bassett. Duarte, Ganesha, Garey, La Puente, Workman
The question that has been asked is this, “What was the one driving force that led to the formation of these leagues?” The answer is simple, Calpreps.com Ratings.
Let’s take a look at the two-year average ratings that were used as a “template” for putting these leagues together.
As you can see, most of the leagues went according to the two-year averages. The top six teams in the ratings were coupled together (we called them Quad 1) to form the new Baseline League. The new team in the mix in quad 1 is Ayala and the main reason why was their improved power ratings. Even if you looked at the four- and six-year average data, the numbers showed that it was time for Ayala to move into the Baseline.
Conference 2, which we will call for now the new “Palomares League,” pretty much went down the ratings line – with a caveat. Five of the top six rated teams that were slotted into what we will call “Quad 2” were inserted for the Palomares. With Northview being viewed as not one of the teams to take that slot (due to geographical reasons it appears), it looks as if Los Osos got the call over Alta Loma. In my opinion, this was not a correct decision. Alta Loma had the higher rating and should have been slotted into the “Palomares.”
These could have been situations (another example is Covina), we’ll never know for sure, if factors such as a senior-heavy roster last year or two years ago (which could have caused their rating to spike a little bit higher than usual) or if there were other extenuating circumstances.
Conference 3, which we will call the new “Valle Vista League” also went down the ratings line with a caveat. Three of the four teams in our “quad 3” were slotted into the Valle Vista League (along with Northview from Quad 2). The tricky part was slotting teams into the new “Hacienda League.”
When you start putting the pieces together, it was clear that ratings and geography were “married” together. Chino, Diamond Bar, Walnut, and Los Altos are schools on the 60-freeway corridor, and it was easy to slot those teams into the Hacienda from “Quad 3”. Take those teams “off the board” and you can understand why Baldwin Park and Diamond Ranch were slotted as the final two teams in the Valle Vista.
The school that clearly got a big break was Covina. In our opinion, Covina should have been slotted for the Valle Vista League and Baldwin Park should have been placed in the Hacienda. As we mentioned earlier, there could have been a mired of situations that went into placing Covina into the “Hacienda.”
With one open slot left in the “Hacienda” South Hills was the only logical team from “Quad 4” to be inserted into the league and for the rest of the teams to be grouped together for an “Mt. Baldy League.”
The final quad of teams in “Quad 5” were teams that could encompass the Montview and Miramonte League.
There are many fans that are not happy with the Calpreps ratings. As we are finding out though, football coaches are beginning to embrace it.
Let’s get something totally understood here – overall team records were not in the conversation – nor should they ever be. As we’ve seen in the playoffs in the last two years under the new football playoff divisional system, teams with 10-0 records from “soft” leagues were turning in their pads after week 11. If you are under this misnomer that records should matter, maybe you can start watching Bonanza and turn back the time machine.
The other aspect that needs to be understood, student population never reached the conversation – nor should it ever be. This is not the 1980s! We’re in a new century and it’s time for that type of thinking to be thrown into the trash can.
For the first time in Southern California, in regard to public schools, the San Gabriel Valley took a leap of faith and put their trust into the Calpreps ratings – just as the CIFSS has done. The ratings have demonstrated that parity has arrived in most of the divisions in the CIFSS, and we endorse the theory that using the Calpreps ratings will bring parity and more competitive games in the area, with more exciting finishes and teams will be making deeper runs in the playoffs.
“Our focus is only on the things we can control and that’s putting the everyday work in to become the better football teams under the lights, no matter who the opponent is,” Baldwin Park coach Robert Maxie said. “It’s a league we can definitely compete in.”
Somewhere at the CIF Southern Section office, outgoing commissioner Rob Wigod has to be smiling.
MAXIE LIKES WHAT HE SEES AT BALDWIN PARK
Moschetti is not the only coach to have found a new home in the offseason. Rob Maxie, recognized as one of the top offensive minds in the area, is now the new head coach at Baldwin Park. He has spent the last several seasons as the offensive coordinator at Arcadia and Pasadena High School – helping them make deep playoff runs. Several months into his time, he reports that things are going very well.
“Things are going great, couldn’t ask for a better program or administration,” Maxie said. “The kids are working hard and are hungry from last year’s semifinal loss. I’m excited about this season but also look forward to the everyday process of growth as a head coach and also our growth as a head coach and also our growth as a team.”
Among the coaches that have moved with Maxie over the Baldwin Park is former Pasadena coach Dejuan Shamburger, who will be the defensive coordinator.
“My coaches are amazing, my boosters club is doing a tremendous job rising money so our kids at BP can have an exciting and memorable season.”
Baldwin Park will also be holding a 7 on 7 Passing League Tournament and lineman competition at the school on July 8th at the school and both are full. Among the teams that are in the lineup include Arcadia, Ontario Christian, Muir, La Salle, Cantwell Sacred Heart, Warren, Downey, Bosco Tech, and more.
Quick hits from the area…
- 45 schools have signed up for the 13th annual West Covina Lineman Competition that will take place on Saturday, June 24th at West Covina HS. The competition has a presenting sponsor, a product called Flipsled. It’s a new sled that allowed teams to use it as a “weighted tire flip, team sled, and the Pancake.” The video is very interesting. Here is the tweet on it.
- Coaches aren’t the only people moving around these days. Football players are also changing spots. Monrovia’s Jaylen Moore has officially transferred from Monrovia to Westlake…Chino Hills has picked up a quarterback Nolan Ellison from Roosevelt HS in Eastvale… Kimani Tuitasi has checked out of La Mirada and is expected to check in at Warren HS… Isaiah Lucero has transferred from Baldwin Park to Damien HS… Christian Breazeale has transferred from California to Schurr HS…
- One of the big changes coming for the high school football season from the National Federation of High School Associations (NFHS) was the modification of the enforcement of the penalty. Instead of the penalty being enforced where the penalty occurred, the penalty will be enforced where the line of scrimmage was at. For instance, if the ball is on -40 and an offensive lineman is flagged for holding at the -30 yard line, the penalty will be enforced from the -40. Instead of having 1st and 30 at the -20 (in the old rules), it will be 1st and 20 at the -30 (in the new rules).
We’ll go over all of the new rules and modifications in our preseason edition of the Monday Morning Quarterback late in the summer.
- Our condolences go out to the San Gabriel HS football family on the loss of Abel Ruiz. According to a GoFundMe posting, Ruiz passed away “with no warning (and) our family is trying to get back on our feet.” The family is accepting donations to help defray the costs of the funeral and other expenses. Here is the link to the fundraising campaign.
Abel Ruiz's Go Fund Me account...
-- Teams are already posting their schedules for the upcoming season. Here are a few. If you are posting a schedule, make sure and tag us on Twitter @James_Escarcega.
Talk to you soon!
