Fryer: Mater Dei left dazed and defeated by St. John Bosco, but it might get a rematch

• October 14, 2023

BELLFLOWER — Last year Mater Dei beat St. John Bosco in the regular season. St. John Bosco beat Mater Dei in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 football championship game.

Flip the script?

Mater Dei has to hope so. The Monarchs were shut out by St. John Bosco 28-0 in their Trinity League game Friday at St. John Bosco’s very full, 5,000-capacity Panish Family Stadium.

What happened in 2022, when either St. John Bosco or Mater Dei wins their Trinity League game and the other team wins the CIF championship game, has happened in other years.

In 2019, Mater Dei beat St. John Bosco in the regular season. Bosco beat Mater Dei in the CIF-SS Division 1 championship game.

In 2018, Mater Dei lost to St. John Bosco in the regular season and beat St. John Bosco in the CIF-SS Division 1 final.

Mater Dei was shut out Friday for the first time since 2011, when the Monarchs lost to Orange Lutheran 28-0.

Mater Dei quarterback Elijah Brown gains yardage on a keeper play against St. John Bosco in a Trinity League football game in Bellflower on Friday, October 13, 2023. (Sam Gangwer, Contributing Photographer)

The Monarchs came up with only 182 yards of offense – 121 passing, 61 rushing. Their leading rusher Jordon Davison was injured in the first half and had an ice pack wrapped around his right shin after exiting the game. He did not return, but that is not why Mater Dei had difficulty getting the ground game going.

Credit St. John Bosco. The Braves’ quickness and size dominated line play when they were on defense and on offense.

Their offensive line is big and it is excellent: Adrian Tavui, a sophomore who is 6-3 and 301 pounds; Mathays Moe, junior, 6-1 and 376; Matai Jefferson, junior, 6-4, 342; Matthew Perdue, junior, the lightweight of the group at 6-1 and 273; and the wonderfully-named King Large, a senior committed to SMU, 6-4 and 294.

The Braves rushed for 169 yards on 35 carries. That’s not an overwhelming ground game, but it was superior to what opponents had done to Mater Dei thus far.

The Monarchs defense had been on quite the roll.

Mater Dei held JSerra to 107 yards of offense last week in a 42-0 win. And they clogged Servite to minus-19 rushing yards two weeks ago in the Monarchs’ 49-0 win over Servite.

Mater Dei longtime defensive coordinator Eric Johnson expected what the Monarchs got Friday from the Braves.

“This is kind of how it is every game,” Johnson said, “but they’re going to try to run the ball on us and we have to stop them from running the ball.”

After a scoreless first quarter, St. John Bosco’s first touchdown drive was nine plays, all running plays, with Cameron Jones scoring on a 1-yard run for a 7-0 lead.

St. John Bosco needed to show some formations that Mater Dei might not expect. That might have been one of those on the Braves’ second touchdown.

On third-and-16 on the Mater Dei 17 with 55 seconds to go in the second quarter, Jones, who had done significant damage from the backfield, lined up at tight end. Braves quarterback Caleb Sanchez found Jones alone in the backfield for the touchdown pass that gave Bosco a 14-0 lead.

Johnson’s other prediction: “I expect them to go real quick,” meaning plenty of no-huddle action from the Bosco offense. And Bosco presented plenty of that.

St. John Bosco running back Cameron Jones breaks through for a touchdown in the second quarter against Mater Dei in a Trinity League football game in Bellflower on Friday, October 13, 2023. (Sam Gangwer, Contributing Photographer)

Johnson hoped that the Monarchs’ pass rush could be disruptive.

“Their quarterback is good,” Johnson said, “but he’s had time to throw. We’ll have to see how he does against pressure.”

Sanchez was sacked only once, by junior defensive lineman Semi Taulanga in the first half. He had to hurry some throws while completing 10 of 21 passes for 115 yards. Those are not exactly wild numbers, but he did not throw an interception, and St. John Bosco committed no turnovers.

That’s how St. John Bosco beat Mater Dei, the No. 1 team in various national rankings going into Friday’s game.

Mater Dei won’t be No. 1 next week. They won’t be No. 1 in the Trinity League, either. St. John Bosco is 3-0, Mater Dei is 2-1.

But there could be a chance to be No. 1 in CIF Southern Section Division 1 next month. And given the history, that chance could come again against St. John Bosco.

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​ Orange County Register 

Offense powers Tesoro football to victory over Capistrano Valley

• October 14, 2023

LAS FLORES –Tesoro had no problem moving the ball down the field and wracking up yardage on long scoring drives in a 37-14 victory over previously undefeated Capistrano Valley in the South Coast League opener for both teams Friday at Tesoro High School.

In addition to the victory being critical in a four-team league, as teams play only three leagues games, it also gave the Titans (5-3, 1-0) a fifth victory overall, which is a necessary benchmark in order to be selected as an at-large team for the CIF-SS playoffs, Tesoro coach Matt Poston said.

“We were sitting at four wins, so we wanted to get to five to kind of make sure we have that winning record, to make sure we get a chance to go in the playoffs,” Poston said. “So that was our goal for this week, to punch our ticket to the playoffs.”

A victory over Mission Viejo next week would almost guarantee the Titans a playoff berth.

The Cougars (7-1, 0-1) will take on a tough San Clemente team next week.

The Tritons defeated the Diablos, 20-10, in the other South Coast contest Friday.

Tesoro kept the Cougars guessing with an array of passing and running plays.

Travis Wood ran for 141 yards and two touchdowns and had a receiving touchdown in the Titans’ 37-14 victory over Capistrano Valley on Friday, Oct. 13. (Photo by Lou Ponsi)

The Titans scored touchdowns on drives of 80, 61 and 67 yards in the first half to take a 21-0 lead at halftime.

Travis Wood capped the first drive with a 7-yard touchdown run, O’Byrne hit Campbell Schamel for a 1-yard score on the second drive and threw a 2-yard scoring pass to Wood for the third score.

Tesoro’s defense, meanwhile, held the usually high-scoring Cougars to three-and-out drives on three of of four first-half possessions.

The Cougars did put together 60-yard drive by running a no-huddle offense late in the second quarter.

The drive stalled, however, at the Tesoro 15, forcing the Cougars try a 32-yard field goal.

But Drew Wong managed to get through the line and block the attempt, preserving the shutout.

The Cougars received the second half kickoff and put together a 66-yard scoring drive and getting back in the game on quarterback Tommy Acosta’s 1-yard touchdown run.

But the Cougars’ momentum was short lived because O’Bryne connected with Schamel for a 75-yard touchdown two plays into the ensuing drive to give the Titans a three-touchdown cushion again.

Schamel finished with 94 receiving yards and two touchdowns and teammate Todd Nelson had six catches for 149 yards.

Nelson’s receptions were a factor in four of the Titans’ five touchdown drives.

“Our offense carried us tonight, I felt,” Poston said. “To put 37 points up is a good effort. And especially once they started battling back into it, we had that huge play for the touchdown that reassured us a little bit.”

Wood, an Force Academy signee, was often difficult to bring down and ran for 141 yards and two touchdowns along with a receiving touchdown.

“When we run and pass that well, I don’t think we’re very easy to stop,” Wood said.

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​ Orange County Register 

Tustin football shuts out Crean Lutheran to stay unbeaten

• October 14, 2023

IRVINE — Tim Ioane had seen that Wildcat formation before.

The sophomore outside linebacker for Tustin sprung out of his defensive stance against Crean Lutheran on Friday night and took two strides into the backfield before realizing what was coming next.

He stopped in his tracks after the ball was pitched out wide to Crean Lutheran quarterback Jeremiah Finaly, who then tried to throw a screen pass to his running back on the opposite side.

Ioane leaped up, however, tipped the pass in the air and then wrapped it in his arms as he sprinted into the end zone for a 45-yard interception return, the key defensive play in the 21-0 Empire League victory at Crean Lutheran.

“I seen the toss to the quarterback and as I seen the toss, I seen the running back flare out, so that was the key,” Ioane said. “I was like ‘Oh yeah, I know that’s a setup.’ “

The Tillers (8-0, 3-0) made it difficult for the Saints (6-2, 2-1) to gain momentum all night.

The closest Crean Lutheran came to scoring was a 45-yard field goal attempt as time expired in the first half, but it fell short.

“They played out of their mind,” Tustin coach Anthony Lopez said of his defense. “They did a great job. To hold that team to zero points, that’s something special.”

Tustin took a 7-0 lead on its first drive of the game. Facing a fourth-and-10 from the 20-yard line, Jack Stupin connected with Marques Guzman in the end zone with 6:38 left in the opening quarter.

Crean Lutheran kept the game close thanks to interceptions by Troy Hill and Ben Byszewski on back-to-back possessions in the second quarter.

Crean Lutheran reached midfield following Byszewski’s fourth interception of the season. Facing a third-and-4, the Saints tried a trick play out of the Wildcat formation and Ioane made them pay.

“We always work on retracing a lot of screens and trick plays and everything,” Ioane said. “Shout out to my coaches for doing those drills. … If we didn’t do that, if we didn’t have the right preparation, it might not have been the same.”

The Tillers took the 14-0 lead into the half after holding Crean Lutheran to 48 total yards.

Tustin leaned on running back Eimesse Essis in the second half as the junior rushed for 103 of his 161 yards after halftime, giving him 1,186 rushing yards on the season.

Tustin’s success on the ground opened up for another big play in the air, as Stupin hit MacKenzie Alleyne on a deep post and he broke several tackles before completing the 55-yard touchdown reception, stretching the lead to 21-0 with 7:18 left in the game.

All that was left was securing the shutout and the Tillers stopped Crean Lutheran on downs at the Tustin 25 with just under two minutes left to fulfill that goal.

The Tillers have allowed a combined seven points in their past three games.

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​ Orange County Register 

Santa Anita horse racing consensus picks for Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023

• October 14, 2023

The consensus box of Santa Anita horse racing picks comes from handicappers Bob Mieszerski, Art Wilson, Terry Turrell and Eddie Wilson. Here are the picks for thoroughbred races on Saturday, October 13, 2023.

Trouble viewing on mobile device? See consensus picks

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​ Orange County Register 

Photos: High school football action at SoFi Stadium and other big games Friday, Oct. 13

• October 14, 2023

The Southern California News Group has photos from the biggest high school football games Friday, Oct. 13, including Mater Dei vs. St. John Bosco and Warren vs. Downey at SoFi Stadium.

Take a look at the great plays and exciting moments from the Week 8 games.

​ Orange County Register 

Lakers get another look at potential starting lineup in loss to Warriors

• October 14, 2023

LOS ANGELES — Lakers coach Darvin Ham still hasn’t revealed who the team’s fifth starter will be when the regular season starts in 1½ weeks, but Friday night’s 129-125 preseason home loss to the Golden State Warriors provided another look at two potential groups.

LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Austin Reaves, who were back in the lineup after sitting out Wednesday’s victory over the Sacramento Kings, started alongside D’Angelo Russell and Taurean Prince.

James, Davis, Reaves and Russell are already known starters, with the final spot remaining a mystery. But Prince was once again the fifth starter like he was in Monday’s win against the Brooklyn Nets in Las Vegas – the only other time all four known starters have been available, with Friday being James’ second preseason game.

Prince had a team-high 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including a 4-for-5 showing from 3-point range in 20 minutes.

The plan is for James (12 points, five assists in 18 first-half minutes) to play in at least half of the team’s preseason games – so he’ll likely play in either Sunday night’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks at Crypto.com Arena or Thursday’s preseason finale against the Phoenix Suns at Acrisure Arena near Palm Springs.

When asked pregame if he planned to use any of the preseason games as an actual dress rehearsal, Ham responded “somewhat.”

“I mean, we came in with an initial plan before any of these games got started and we’re trying to stick to it,” Ham added. “It’s been kind of difficult to get everyone there at the same time. But we’ve been able to get some great stuff done at practice and our scrimmaging and doing different breakdown work with our main guys.

“We feel like we’re in a good place continuity-wise and so just sticking to a plan that was already set up before we got into the actual preseason gameplay. I feel good about where it’s headed. Probably by the last one, we’ll be able to get close to seeing – well, we’ll be able to see what we plan to do as we go forward into the regular season.”

Davis had 13 points, six rebounds and four assists in a preseason-high 22 minutes. Russell finished with 12 points, six assists and four rebounds in 26 minutes. Christian Wood added 13 points and seven rebounds in 13 minutes off the bench.

Either Prince, Rui Hachimura or Jarred Vanderbilt is expected to claim the last starting spot. The Lakers also got a look at Hachimura alongside the other four starters to close the second quarter.

Vanderbilt, a starter during the Lakers’ run to the Western Conference finals last spring, was sidelined for the third consecutive game because of left heel soreness. Ham previously said he doesn’t expect the injury to force Vanderbilt to miss the start of the regular season.

Cam Reddish also missed his third consecutive game because of right ankle soreness. Gabe Vincent sat because of back tightness, with Ham saying “it’s just precautionary.”

“We just wanted to let it calm down a little bit,” Ham added. “When you play deep into June, those things are going to happen a little bit – those soft tissue issues. But he’s good. It’s just something we wanted to be proactive about and allow him to rest it for the night.”

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Friday was also Reaves’ second preseason game. The Lakers have been easing Reaves into the group after he played for Team USA in the FIBA World Cup, with the Americans’ last game being on Sept. 10.

“I feel great,” Reaves said. “Anytime I can get out there and play I’m happy. But I’ll stick to the script and I know I had a long summer playing with the USA team and had to trust the process of sitting down and relaxing a little bit.”

Reaves said he wasn’t completely sure how many more preseason games he’ll play in after Friday.

“We’ll just sit down every day and talk as a collective group,” he added. “We have a plan, but there are obviously, depending on how I feel and what we’re doing as a team, we’ll make those decisions. But we have a plan right now and we’ll see if stick to that, if we do a little more, a little less. It just depends on a lot of stuff that happens in-game, whatever, minutes, et cetera.”

​ Orange County Register 

Southern California News Group Boys Athlete of the Week: Jason Hong, San Marino

• October 14, 2023

San Marino football player Jason Hong is the Southern California News Group’s High School Boys Athlete of the Week for Oct. 2-8 after he received 66.88% of the vote at the deadline Thursday.

Edison’s Julius Gillick (football) finished second with 26.11% of the vote, and Aguinas’ Jusyis Solis (football) finished third (2.55%).

Congratulations to all of the candidates for this week’s honor.

To read more about Jason, click here.

The SCNG Athlete of the Week winners are announced online each Friday morning during the school year.

About the poll: The Southern California News Group includes the Orange County Register, L.A. Daily News, Press-Enterprise, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Whittier Daily News, Pasadena-Star News, Long Beach Press-Telegram, The Daily Breeze, San Bernardino Sun, Daily Bulletin and Redlands Daily Facts.

​ Orange County Register 

Southern California News Group Girls Athlete of the Week: Julia Klenk, St. Anthony

• October 14, 2023

St. Anthony golfer Julia Klenk is the Southern California News Group’s High School Girls Athlete of the Week for Oct. 2-8 after she received 62.03% of the vote at the deadline Thursday.

Glendora’s Hailey Heflin (volleyball) received 27.94% of the vote to finish in second place. Sierra Canyon’s Lauren Lynch (volleyball) finished third at 5.61%.

Congratulations to all of the candidates for this week’s honor.

To read more about Julia, click here.

The SCNG Athlete of the Week winners are announced online each Friday morning during the school year.

About the poll: The Southern California News Group includes the Orange County Register, L.A. Daily News, Press-Enterprise, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Whittier Daily News, Pasadena-Star News, Long Beach Press-Telegram, The Daily Breeze, San Bernardino Sun, Daily Bulletin and Redlands Daily Facts.

​ Orange County Register