Another GREAT But Somewhat Sad Week in Ventura County!

It was another warm week in SoCal but American football was still in the air so all was good!

A mid-week lunch at El Rio's finest

 eatery with Martha Jimenez-Ito

was fun as usual

On Friday I was the

Color Commentator once again

on the Ventura County Star's

H.S. Game-of-the-Week

 The 2-0, #3 ranked in Division VIII

Rio Mesa Spartans

at

The 2-0, #5 ranked in Division V

Ventura Cougars

Ventura High School's

Larabee Stadium with the

Pacific Ocean and the Channel Islands

in the distance

 Rio Mesa QB Austin Maciel

had another great night

Maciel was 21 for 24 (87.5%) passing good for 289 yards, 4 TDs and no interceptions. 

As did RB Dylan Rusch

Rusch rushed the ball 25 times for 189 yards, a 7.6 yards/carry average) and scored 2 TDs.

Rio Mesa dominated the game by a final tally of 48-24, a huge win in a series that has historically been dominated by Ventura.

Saturday began with another of

Jacob's Ninja Sharks soccer games 

I was not able to attend his game because I opted to attend not one but two funerals for two wonderful people.

Judy Graves was a marvelous English teacher at Rio Mesa H.S. when I was teaching there.

Mary Chopp was an always positive parent and booster at Westlake H.S. when I served as the Head Football Coach.

We are all made better by having known people like Judy and Mary.

Coach Mike and his Ninja Sharks

Jacob on the run

Jacob, swing and a miss?

Run to the ball Jacob!

Coach Mike and his new assistant

Post-game Tunnel of Fun

Saturday night was perfect for

NCAA DIII American Football!

Pacific Lutheran (0-0)

representing the

Northwest Conference

California Lutheran (0-0)

representing the Southern California

Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

This has been a really good, hard fought series over the years with PLU leading in the previous 22 meetings, 12-10.

With the Kinsmen Mascot

Here come . . .

. . . THE KINGSMEN!

CLU on the attack

 #11 Aaron Lacombe about to make

a crunching Crack Back block

Lacombe had four catches on the night good for 132 yards and a TD.

PLU had a hotline to

President Putin on the sideline

in case things got hot

 PLU turning the corner

#73 is Trevor Martens

Trevor is a true Freshman offensive lineman for the Lutes who played his H.S. football at nearby Newbury Park H.S.

Our son Mike and I had the pleasure of coaching Trevor during his J.V. year in 2014.

GREAT KID! 

CLUs WR #9 Wendell O'Brien

O'Brien, no relation to Jim O'Brien, had four catches against the Lutes for 101 yards and a TD.

A good crowd of about 2500 fans

at CLU's Rolland Stadium

CLU Goal Line Stand at the end

of the contest ended on 4th Down

with a . . .

. . . Klayton Wood interception

in the CLU End Zone

A BIG thank you to CLU Head Coach Ben McEnroe for getting us sideline passes!

It was a great game for the spectators with lots of action and the kind of back and forth surges for which this Lutheran Brotherhood rivalry is known.

Final Score

California Lutheran 27

Pacific Lutheran 21

With Trevor and Mike after the game

Baking cookies with Jacob

on Sunday morning after

another AWESOME sleepover

In the afternoon after Jacob went home, Laurie and I had a movie and lunch date.

 We LOVE Spain!

No news there, this film had too much witty banter between the two stars and not nearly enough of the splendid scenery and fine food preparation scenes that we hoped to see.

Laurie and her Little Daddy Burger

at Cronies Sports Grill next door

to the Paseo Camarillo Theater

Has it really been SIXTEEN years

today since 9/11?

A total of 2,977 flags were planted today near the Camarillo Public Library on September 11, 2017, one for each of the persons who died on that horrible day 16 years ago.

Reading Is FUNdamental

Interesting insights into

Chinese culture with an

interesting crime plot to boot!

A New Cuban Restaurant and a Great College Football Saturday

Saturday, September 2, 2017:

It was the first full college football Saturday of the year and we opted to take full advantage of the many opportunities.

After watching Maryland upset Texas in the morning, we watched the premier game from the Mexican Liga Mayor as the UNAM Pumas, who our Europe Warriors played three weeks ago, took on the defending National Champion UDLAP Aztecas at the Templo de Dolor on Cholula.

 Live streamed at 11:00 a.m. Pacific

I love watching the Aztecas

Offensive Left Tackle,

Diego Bedolla, play the game

In Las Vegas, Grandson Kevin

was 100% behind the Aztecas

Great game to watch,

in Overtime the Aztecas

snuck by the Pumas 27-21

We were then off to Simi Valley to meet some good friends for dinner before watching another football game, this time live and in person.

If they serve Ironbeer then

they have my vote!

 Paul and Joanne Sabolic

joined us for our pre-game meal

We ordered Ropa Vieja and a Media Noche sandwich with a side of maduros plantains.

AWESOME!

With our host and owner of the

Cienfuegos Cuban Cafe

Tony Hernandez

A good guy who is proud of his excellent restaurant and for good reason.

We need an excuse to go back there soon.

After a GREAT meal, the four of us were off to the opening game of the Junior College football season.

It would be the . . .

Brahmas (0-0)

at

 also (0-0)

 Pierce College Head Coach

Jason Sabolic leading out the Brahmas

Yes, Joanne and Paul are the proud parents of Pierce's Head Coach starting his third year at the helm of the Brahmas program.

 Lots of action on yet another

HOT, HUMID night

It was indeed a BEAUTIFUL

night for American football! 

 Pierce about to punt

Pierce on Offense

Pierce is much improved over last season as the Brahmas took full advantage of Moorpark's mistakes and fought hard to the end of this wild encounter.

The Raiders won the game 36-34 thanks to a last minute TD but it was a fun game to watch.

Next up for the 0-1 Brahmas is a home game against the also 0-1 Los Angeles Southwest College Cougars who dropped their opener 74-8 to El Camino College.

Week One Ventura County Star Game-of-the-Week Podcast

Friday, September 1, 2017:

It was time for another edition of the Ventura County Star's High School Football Game-of-the-Week podcast and I was going to work once again as the color commentator with play-by-play announcer Danny Page and sideline reporter Will Cowen.

These podcasts are always fun for me and tonight we had a special game, after a five season absence, the renewal of one of Ventura County's best rivalries . . .

The visiting Warriors were

1-0 on the campaign

They also held the lead in the all-time series between these two schools 17-13-3 thanks to having won the previous four games against the . . .

 Thousand Oaks Lancers

0-1 this season

The blow-up run through

tunnels was ready

 The Lancers would have to play

with a ton of pride tonight against

the heavily favored Warriors

 The Freshmen teams played the

preliminary contest

The Lancers have had to cancel their 2017 JV season due to only having seven Sophomores out for football.

How is that even possible at this school with such a rich football tradition?

Since I coached and taught at both of these schools back in the 1970s and 1980s, I got to enjoy seeing lots of familiar faces before the Varsity game began.

 With former TOHS players,

coaches and counselors

From L. to R.: Dave Hilliard, Dale Ackerman, George Contreras, Jack Loritz and Steve Ornelaz

With former WHS 1978-79

halfback Dave Halub

I loved coaching this meticulous athlete back in the day but it looks like Dave is a TOHS fan now.

It was a HOT, HUMID night

The Warriors took the field first

The Lancers in the distance

Warrior Jalen Turner about to

be tackled by Lancer Paul Worthy

High and tight, Jalen, HIGH AND TIGHT!

Lancer QB Chase Artopoeus getting

introduced to Westlake's Will Lyman

Lancer Ryan Vasquez

carrying the rock

TD LANCERS!

Chase Artopoeus on the score

57-31 Westlake was the final score

The game was as wild and woolly as the score indicated.

The Westlake Warriors were clearly the better team but their numerous penalties kept the Lancers in the game for a long time.

As for the Lancers, I thought that they played a gutty game against overwhelming odds. Their coaching staff got as much out of them as possible given the circumstances.

We'll be at it again next Friday night to podcast our next game as the Rio Mesa Spartans (2-0) travel up the coast to play the Ventura Cougars (2-0).

It should be another high scoring affair if the results of the first two weeks are true to form.

A Fun Return to the Alma Mater, St. Francis H.S. for an American Football Game

Thursday, August 31, 2017:

The heat wave continued in Southern California today but, undaunted, Laurie and I trekked one hour to the city of La Cañada-Flintridge to witness my alma mater's 2017 opening game at home.

The contest featured two schools that sanely opted not to play a Zero Week game last weekend . . .

The Mira Costa Mustangs

(0-0, 7-4 in 2016)

at

The St. Francis Golden Knights

(0-0, 9-2 in 2016)

It was . . .

a BEAUTIFUL night for an

American football game

The San Gabriel Mountains make for a great backdrop the Jack Friedman Field.

Jack Friedman was our Head Football Coach when I went to St. Francis H.S. from September of 1961 to June of 1965.

With Terry Terrazone

St. Francis H.S. Legend and

fellow SFHS Class of 1965 alumnus

We had a great time visiting with Terry throughout the game, he's a legend for a reason.

This huge Golden (Silver?) Knight

sculpture near the end zone is

MAGNIFICENT!

It is made mostly of chrome bumpers

The knight's chain mail is made out of spoons.

Extremely cool.

Nearly an hour after the

opening kickoff, it was still

SIZZLING!

Speaking of the opening kickoff

The Golden Knights defense

swarmed to the ball all night long

Friday NIGHT Lights at last

The Golden Knights got their season off to a solid start with a 48-21 victory tonight.

#7 SFHS QB Darius Perrantes

picture courtesy of the

Pasadena Star-News

St. Francis QB Darius Perrantes, a Junior transfer from Crespi H.S., threw an astounding SIX touchdown passes in his first Varsity game for the Golden Knights. He was 15 for 26 passing good for 314 yards.

The future for the Golden Knights looks bright.

As for me, I thoroughly enjoyed our evening at our old stomping grounds. A lot has changed on the SFHS campus over the last 52 years to be sure, but it still feels like home.