Two Good Weeks of High School Football

The past two weeks have been busy preparing for the Christmas holidays, buying presents and food of course but we were able to get in a couple of really good high school football games as well.

Saturday, December 14th

Corona del Mar Sea Kings (14-0)

vs.

Nordhoff Rangers (13-1)

at Orange Coast College

C.I.F. Southern California

Division III Bowl Game

Corona del Mar in the blue jerseys 

This match up was for the right to play in the Division III California State Championship Bowl the following week.

It was a hard fought game but the Sea Kings were clearly the better team and won 24-8.

With Gregg and Alida Campbell

We met for dinner with the Campbells and then went to Orange Coast College with them to watch the game. That is Gregg's son sitting next to him and his step-mother and and father Dick sitting behind us.

Gregg, Alida and son P.J. who took this picture will be heading to Lyon soon to enjoy a season coaching our beloved Bron-Villeurbanne Falcons in the upcoming French Division II season.

We were invited to Gregg's mother's beautiful home in the shadow of Anaheim Stadium for a farewell brunch for Gregg, Alida and P.J.

Great family and definitely a great time was had by all in attendance.

Saturday, December 21st

De La Salle Spartans (14-0)

vs.

St. John Bosco Braves (15-0)

at StubHub Center

California State Championship

Open Division Bowl Game

Jorge Zaragoza and Matt Klinger 

Our son Mike and I drove to Carson to see the two best high school teams in California tangle in what should have been an instant classic.

At the StubHub Center, we met up with Jorge Zaragoza who coaches at Channel Islands H.S. and played for me us about 15 years ago at Rio Mesa H.S.

Jorge had former standout Camarillo H.S. lineman and coach Matt Klinger in tow, now these are two really good guys and it was fun watching the game with them.

Most polls have St. John Bosco, from Bellflower, ranked somewhere in their top five in high school teams in the entire United States.

De La Salle, from Concord, came into the tussle as the four time defending California State Open Division Champions. 

 St. John Bosco in the blue jerseys

These were two exceptionally big, fast and very well coached squads!

 Mike and George Selfie

Did I mention that they were BIG!

#72, Elijah Zabludoff, 6'2", 286 lbs., Senior (188cm, 130 kg)

#55, Matthew Klink, 6'2", 296 lbs., Junior (188cm, 134 kg)

#75, Damien Mama, 6'5", 353 lbs., Senior (196 cm, 160 kg)

#77, Kahlil McKenzie, 6'3", 316 lbs., Junior (191 cm, 143 kg)

Now for my EuroBall friends, a Senior in high school is usually 17 years old at this time of the year while Juniors are 16 years old. Yes, that means that in France they would all be playing Cadet football.

 Coach's Kids

P.J. Campbell is seen here with Mike Contreras at the SJB-DLS game. We met up with Gregg Campbell in the fourth quarter.

The game saw St. John Bosco earn a 20-14 victory that was not as close as the score indicated. The Braves were extremely impressive with many experts saying that they may be the best team ever assembled in the history of Southern California high school football.

Keep those "Christian Outreach" vans rolling.

In a game played earlier in the day, Corona del Mar (16-0) captured the Division III California State Championship by beating Sacred Heart Prep (13-2) from Atherton, 27-15.

Monday Lunch at Dinah's Restaurant

near the Los Angeles Airport

I thought that I was just picking up two tickets to this coming Friday's Fight Hunger Bowl Game in San Francisco with our beloved 8-4 Washington Huskies taking on the 8-4 BYU Cougars.

Instead it was a gathering of Washington Huskies from the late 1960s.

In the picture above, from left to right: Paul Sabolic, Ken Lee, me, Tom Verti, Tom Failla and Mark Johnson. After this picture was taken, we were joined by the infamous Loren Brucker as well.

GREAT LUNCH!!!

GO HUSKIES!!!