Coaching for Pizza: A Good Week Punctuated by What Else, High School Football

Mon.-Fri., Aug. 28-Sept. 1, 2023

The week started off calmly but there was indeed a flurry of action with two good high school games on Thursday and Friday nights.

Or the two minute warning . . .

After visiting my Mother in Pasadena on Thursday, I had a dinner date with Joanne and Paul Sabolic before attending an El Camino Real H.S. football game where their son Jason is the Head Coach.

Joanne picked out the dinner spot for us in North Hollywood near the game site, one that none of us had ever been to before.

I had never been in North Hollywood

or NoHo as the natives call it

Our dining spot was called the Granville. Because I had never heard of it, I looked it up on the Yelp website.

The Yelp review mentioned the type of people who would enjoy wining and dining at the Granville.

Since most people think of me as the

definitive "hipster," I knew that

I would like this spot

Since Joanne and Paul are the quintessential trendy, romantic and classy couple, I felt confident that we would all enjoy the menu and ambience to the limit.

The Granville building's murals

certainly peaked my interest

As for my review of the Granville, it was FANTASTIC!

We shared three amazing appetizers and then each devoured a delicious pasta dish.

If I'm ever near NoHo (I feel like a local now) again, the Granville will be my first stop.

GREAT CALL, JOANNE!

On to the game . . .

The El Camino Real Conquistadores

Wait, no, that is not right.

To appease the sensitive among us, the ECR changed their nickname from Conquistadores to the decidedly less ferocious Royals a couple of years ago.

During the game, the announcer kept referring to the ECR squad as the Bears.

Or as we finally called them, "Da Bears."

I was as confused as the announcer.

Or so I thought . . .

The school's new logo was

adopted in August of 2022

There it was, a bear on the Royals logo.

Anyway, this edition of Thursday Night Lights featured the El Camino Real H.S. Conquistadores, Royals, Bears (0-2) playing a "home" game on the road yet again.

After the artificial turf field at ECR literally melted in the Summer heat of 2022, the field was condemned and ECR was forced to play all of their 2022 games away from home.

Understandable.

Now, a year later, the ECR field has continued to sit defective and unusable forcing the Conquistadores, Royal, Bears to spend a second consecutive season on the road. The leadership of the school in mishandling the refurbishing of the field is appalling.

Unforgivable.

As for the "visiting" team playing a non-league game at home . . .

The North Hollywood Huskies

1-1 in 2023

It was a BEAUTIFUL night

for American football in NoHo

An old school natural grass field that needed mowing surrounded by a six lane, dirt track.

We were talking soon to be grass stained uniforms.

AWESOME!

A random old man at

North Hollywood H.S.

ECR in white came out

battling despite their 0-2 record

The score was 0-0 at the end of the First Quarter as ECR's much maligned defense was playing much better against the Huskies run heavy Double Wing offense.

ECR's offense was mixing it

up well in the First Half

"Da Bears" defense continued to come up big on key downs. At the intermission we were all pleasantly surprised to find ECR leading 6-0 in this slugfest.

A grass field and two teams relying heavily on their respective running games, I was in . . .

HOG HEAVEN!

A rare pass attempt

It ended up going through the ECR receiver's hands and into the waiting arms of a NoHo defender.

Back to the ground game.

At the end of the Third Quarter,

ECR was still holding on to

their slim 6-0 lead

This was largely due to a tremendous Goal Line stand by the ECR defense after "Da Bears" had fumbled the ball away deep in their own territory on a botched double reverse.

In the Fourth Quarter, the ECR defense was again put to the test after a NoHo QB sack fumble. This time the Huskies were successful on the Goal Line, punching it in on a Fourth and Goal situation.

NoHo's PAT kick was good giving the Huskies a 7-6 lead deep into the game's final stanza.

How would ECR respond?

By capping this long drive with a TD pass and a sparkling two-point PAT pass to retake the lead at 14-7.

The Defense was up to the task but in a strange way. They simply needed to fend off what would be the Huskies last, desperate drive.

Spectacular back-to-back tackles for loss created a Fourth and 29 situation deep in Huskies territory.

North Hollywood opted to punt.

El Camino Real opted to rough the punter.

Jesus, Mary AND Joseph!

Given new life near mid-field, the Huskies parlayed a 25 yard QB scramble to pose a real threat to the ECR lead.

The ECR defense came through yet again with a Fourth Down stop to seal the victory.

The Final Score was:

El Camino Real (1-2) 14

North Hollywood (1-2) 7

Next up for El Camino Real is, what else, another tough road game in Highland Park. This time the opponents are the 1-1-1 Franklin H.S. Panthers.

North Hollywood will travel to nearby Burbank to take on the 3-0 Burroughs H.S. Bears.

"Da Bears"

Thanks to Joanne an Paul for a fun night with friends and the opportunity to see their son Jason's squad earn a solid win.

The next day was indeed offering us a Friday Night Lights opportunity.

I would be joined by Michael and Jacob for our own Game of the

Week choice.

We decided to watch our friend Ryan Bolland's Buena H.S. team's Channel League opener in Ventura.

Buena is the team that asked me to do analytics work on their game videos this season, so I also had a vested interest in seeing them play live for the first time.

On to yet another game . . .

Dos Pueblos H.S. Chargers

2 Wins - 0 Losses

Buena H.S. Bulldogs

0 Wins - 2 Losses

The non-league records were polar opposites but throw them out, this was the first game of the 2023 Channel League season!

We, as always, passed by this

mural on the way to Buena's

Stadium that is appropriately found

on the wall of the school's pool

Chargers, in white, on Offense

While a Bulldog is being mugged

on the left, the Bulldogs are

SWARMING on defense

Second and Goal at the Six

It was another night of Goal Line stands. This time Dos Pueblos was able to score a TD on the last play of the First Quarter.

Jacob and Michael pondering

the mysteries of the Great Game

of American Football just before

the DP TD

After one period of play, Buena led 8-6.

The Chargers were about to punt

when, suddenly and without any

prior notice . . .

The DP Punter had a vision

He did gain some yardage but not enough for the first down.

The Bulldogs had GREAT field position.

Michael and Jacob talking to

a referee just before a kickoff

As it turns out the ref is one of Michael's old high school friends and Jacob's Middle School Principal.

At the half, Buena was in complete control having built up a 22-6 advantage.

Buena about to score yet again

By the end of the Third Quarter, the Bulldogs were DOMINATING the game, 32-12.

I just LOVE the Buena

run through tunnel

Buena's football program Mantra

This is the business end of about a six foot long oar that the Bulldogs proudly bring on to the field each game.

The only way that a team can make progress is if everyone can Row the Boat TOGETHER.

Especially when you start the season 0-2.

Why I cherish our Friday Nights

together in the Fall

The Final Score was:

Buena (1-2, 1-0 Channel League) - 39

Dos Pueblos (2-1, 0-1 Channel League) - 12

It was gratifying to see the great strides that this Buena team has made since their poor first game effort. The coaching staff and players are definitely in the proper Row the Boat mentality.

Next Friday, Buena hosts probably the Channel League's best team, the Pacifica H.S. Tritons (3-0, 1-0 Channel League).

Dos Pueblos will also be at home next week against the tough Ventura H.S. Cougars (2-1, 1-0 Channel League).

Meanwhile, across the pond . . .

The Third European League of

Football's third Championship

game is looming

Seeing our beloved Barcelona

Dragons ranked 15th hurts

I am not saying that the 2-9 Dragons are being disrespected, the truth just hurts.

The ELF's final regular season

slate of games

The last game on this list, the 11-0 Rhein Fire at the 10-1 Frankfurt Galaxy, could be an instant classic.

The three Conference Champions

are guaranteed playoff spots

As for the other three playoff spots, four teams still have at least a mathematical chance of playing in the post season.

Tie breakers include won-loss records, head-to-head competition and season long point differentials.

A fairly simple route for the

7-4 Tirol Raiders

A bit more complex for the

also 7-4 Wroclaw Panthers

The once again 7-4 Berlin Thunder's

path to the playoffs is also complex

Now as for the fourth team still in the hunt . . .

The 6-5 Munich Ravens playoff

path looks simple enough

It starts with having to literally beat the 2-9 Barcelona Dragons by at least 150 points on Sunday.

Then all three of the three 7-4 teams have to lose this weekend.

It's a mathematical chance, but it is a chance nonetheless.

What just happened?

Three of the Varese Skorpions' best Flag Football coaches have jumped to the rival Legnano Frogs.

Trouble in paradise?

Thursday through Labor day Monday

YAHOO!

The Washington Huskies will host the

always dangerous Boise State Broncos

on Saturday

The changing landscape of college athletics hammered the old PAC-12 again this week.

From the Atlantic Coast Conference

The ACC announced that in 2024, they will be adding the state of Texas' Southern Methodist University Mustangs from the American Athletic Conference.

Also joining the ACC in 2024 will be two schools from the soon to be defunct PAC-12 Conference, the University of California Bears and the Stanford University Cardinal.

With ten of the PAC-12 teams now slotted for 2024 inclusion in the Big-10, Big-12 and Atlantic Coast Conferences, only Oregon State Beavers and Washington State Cougars remain without a 2024 conference.

Unless . . .

. . . they hang together to

become the 2-PAC

The poster boy for the state

of college football today

Daniels is in his sixth season of college football at his fourth university.

Also, remember that Daniels skipped his Senior year of football at powerhouse Mater Dei H.S. to enter the U.S.C. Trojans' program where he started immediately during what should have been last season of high school ball.

More news from the net . . .