BONITA: 34 – SAN DIMAS: 33
October 7, 2005
Bonita High School Football had the nail biting victory over San Dimas in the 2005 Smudge Pot. With the Bearcats final score of 34 points, they beat San Dimas by one point in Friday night’s game. Coming into the game San Dimas was the underdog with a record of 0-5 to Bonita’s 5-0; however, they put up a strong fight with the game going to the wire.
In the first quarter Bonita’s senior star receiver Mike Bentz scored a 65 yd. TD from senior quarterback Curtis Gold. Bonita’s senior Sean Vasquez converted for an extra two points from a pass by junior Jeff Chavez. The first quarter ended with a score of 8-0 with the Bearcats ahead.
San Dimas punched back early in the second quarter with a 17 yd. TD run from senior Roy Curry. The senior kicker Eric Samples kicked the extra point. Slightly over a minute later Bonita fought back with junior Cole Sander receiving an 18 yd. TD pass from Chavez. However, Bonita’s kicker Pablo Garay missed the PAT, this string of events put Bonita at a 7 point lead. Not long after, San Dimas returned fire with a hard fought drive ended with a short 2 yd. TD run from senior Ryan Richard. Samples yet again successfully kicked the PAT. Bonita drove down the field after this and Gold scored a 1 yd. TD run. This time Garay redeemed himself and successfully kicked the PAT. Not only the PAT, but after Bonita got the ball back, Garay kicked a 37 yd. field goal with no time remaining in the half, putting Bonita up 24-14 at halftime.
Although Bonita won the first half, the Saints took over the third quarter starting with a 76 yd. rushing TD from Ryan Richard in the first 30 seconds of play. Yet again Samples successfully kicked the extra point, putting the score at 24-21 Bonita leading. The last points in the third quarter came from Garay with a 26 yd. field goal. The third quarter ended with a score of 27- 21 Bonita.
Again at the beginning of the quarter, the Saints scored on the first play of the fourth with a 17 yd. TD reception by junior John Joe, coming from Eric Samples. This time however Samples missed the point after attempt, making it a tie game at 27-27. After a muffed punt, Saints regain possession and Richard scores another rushing touchdown, this one 1 yd. Samples yet again missed the PAT, which would later come back to haunt the Saints who were now leading 33-27. With a minute left in play, Bonita’s Cole Sanders scored with a 6 yd. TD pass coming from Jeff Chavez. Garay kicked the extra point, putting the Saints down one point with a minute left to score. The Saints were not able to score in the minute, and lost the game 33-34 in a hard fought Smudge Pot battle.
The defense did not go unnoticed either. On the Bearcat side, Pablo Garay had 19 tackles, Mike McDonald had 13, and Cody Borquez had 12. On the Saints side, Jason Keilty had 13 tackles and David Flaig had 11. The Saints had 4 sacks costing the Bearcats 19 yds. The Bearcats had 2 game changing interceptions, both from junior Sean Vasquez, which helped with their victory.
-by Nicholas Turoci, BHS ’22
Varsity Bearcats
Gil Alcarez, Mike Hooper, Eddie Gaeta, Curtis Gold, Ramon Perez, Alex Rocha, Phil Aguayo, Sean Vasquez, Sean Dawson, Jeff Chavez, Mike McDonald, Chris Naanough, Ray Fakhoury, Cole Sanders, Eric Campa, Fito Padilla, Chris Estrada-Salazar, Mike Bentz, Travis Dyer, Pabol Garray, Frank Sahagun, Tanner Zylstra, Brett Dawson, Mike Ortega, Cody Borquez, Travis Burton, Jarmel Ingram, Mack Pullee, Andrew Arellano, Nick Devranos, Mitchell Pike, Mike Gonzalez, Jeff Rothrock, Travis Marshal, John Beaucar, Daniel Bustos, Mousa Kahish, Kevin Normington, Dominic Zerpoli, Spencer Zagurski, Acero Gabe, John Reiff, Travis Collins, Justin Cleveland, Jake Mowdy, Andrew Ramirez, Antonio Valdez, Andrew Seraa, Mike Crocker, Daniel Ramirez, Eric Holguin, Aaron Michaelis, Andrew Grant, Hunter Gelger, Hunter Marti, Ron Hopkins, Nick Crocker, Carlos Gonzalez, and Anthony Ortiz
Varsity Football In The End Zone
Football games are exciting to go to; no matter what the level of play is. This year our boys came into the season not knowing what to expect. They ended the season with a record of 8-2, with an un- lucky loss to Wilson that kept them out of CIF. They practiced hard and played even harder. Having a young team, with only 23 seniors, does have its advantages and disadvantages. Our boys were proud home or away. Great job this season!
Smudge Pot Game
Smudge pot is our annual football game that takes place between Bonita and San Dimas High School. Every year students and fans support our varsity football players at this big event. The winner of the game received a “Smudge Pot”, that has been passed back and forth for the last 34 years between Bonita and San Dimas. Our Varsity Football players did excellent in winning the Smudge Pot again. This year the game was very nerve racking The game was tied 27-27 in the fourth quarter. San Dimas scored a touch- down with two minutes left in the quarter, but they missed the point after kick. Cole Sanders made the touchdown for our Bearcats, and Pablo Garay made the extra point. Thy Bearcats held the Saints back until the end to win the Smudge pot again for the sixteenth time.
![]()
Varsity Saints
Front: Albert Vega, Jeremiah Ablaza, Kevin Paulsen, Danon Palmer, Robert Meyer, Ricky Ochoa, Kyle Tilbury.
Row 2: Justin Wallace, Ryan Richard, Jacob Borzilieri, Hector Rodriguez, Bronze Withem, Drew Annas, Luis Gomez, Anthony Mancuso.
Row 3: Chad Massey, Jordan Elliott, Asst. Jim Espalin, Asst. Mark Stevenson. Couch Bill Zernickow, Asst. Mark Holman, trainer Jim Clark, Roy Curry. T.J. Woodard.
Row 4: David Flag. Deryck Marques, Kenneth Fuqua, Matt Beveridge, Eric Samples, Daniel Sullivan. Kyle Cunnyngham, Jason Keilty. Aaron Lindquist.
Back: Joe Santiago. Jon Joe, Tim Rollins. Spencer Critchfield, Corey Geer, Brian Metcalfe, Kenneth McCraven. Phillip Ramirez, Ryan Buford.
And it’s good
“Our season was outstanding!” said right tackle senior Spencer Critchfield. The Saints worked hard and gave all they could to prove they were not a mediocre team. Although they lost the Smudge Pot and the semifinal game to Baldwin Park, they still accomplished a lot: “The thrill of winning [homecoming] was amazing, said second string kicker sophomore Wesley Dean. Many things aided in the team’s success. “Without the coach showing us what to do and telling us how to do it, and making us practice over and over again, we wouldn’t have been as strong as we are.” said offensive tackle junior Kenny Fuqua. “Practices were hard but they really paid off because they made us a better team, ” said full back senior Ryan Richard. Coach Bill Zernickow gave the players play sheets to study, and they were tested on which plays to run against an opponents formation. “Everyone on the team gets along really well, so when we were on the field we can anticipate what each other is going to do, which makes it a lot easier,” said quarterback senior Eric Samples. “The ‘dungeon’ helps pump up our spirits at games, which pushes us to work harder.” said tight end senior Ryan Buford about his friends in the stands.
-Saskia Darnell, El Santo ’06
Smudge Pot Quotes
"“It’s a symbol of the rivalry between the schools,” said Jim Clark, athletic director at San Dimas. “And it’s way of remembering our traditions as a couple of small, agricultural towns.”
"
Jim Clark | San Dimas Athletic Director, 2005
