BONITA: 14 – SAN DIMAS: 3
Friday, November 7, 1997 at San Dimas High School
In the 1997 annual Smudge pot game, the Bearcats defended the pot and beat the Saints 14 to 3. The game belonged to the Bearcats defense because they only allowed 1 field goal in the entire game by B.J. Litchfield in the first quarter. Chris Huson and Brett Johnson rushed for touchdowns to lead Bonita to the victory over San Dimas and enabling the Bearcats to retain the Smudge Pot.
The Saints Quarterbacks Jesse Anderson, and Cory Haygood had trouble with the Bearcats defense with Haygood passing 3 for 5 and only getting 14 passing yards. Anderson did a little better by going 5 for 10 and getting 56 passing yards. San Dimas struggled stopping Bonita’s Ricci Grant who was in the San Dimas backfield all night. Grant recorded two sacks and also recovered a key fumble in the fourth quarter. The Saints running back, Brian Moses, had a 78 yard run which allowed them to get the field goal in the first quarter.
The Bearcats had a total of 202 yards on the ground with most of the yards coming from Chris Huson who had 132 yards rushing and 1 touchdown. Bonita’s Quarterback, Brett Johnson, only had to throw the ball five times in the whole game with two of them getting them 28 yards. On the Bearcats defensive side, the Saints could not stop Ricci Grant who seemed like he was in the Saints backfield on every play. He had two sacks in the game and also had a fumble recovery in the fourth quarter. Bonita’s first touchdown came in the second quarter after a 11 yard run from Tommy Belin to the Saints 1 yard line which set up a quarterback sneak by Johnson for the score. Bonita score again during the first possession of the second half when Belin ran 8 yards to the one yard line. This time Johnson handed off to Huson for the touchdown.
“Our game plan was to keep them under 14 points and hope we could score more.” Bonita Coach Larry Hatley said. “We knew they had a really good defense.” The Saints troubles were self-inflicted, wracking up 95 yards in penalties. “I think we were tired,” San Dimas coach Ted Clarke said. “I thought our kids played well in sports. I think they worked hard. Obviously, this is very disappointing. This was a very big game for us. It’s a rivalry game. You have to give credit to Bonita, they came out here and took it to use.”
For the rest of the game, Bonita’s defense stopped the Saints from getting a touchdown and won the game 14 to 3 keeping the Smudge Pot. Hatley laughed when asked about the importance of the game while his players were celebrating their victory. “To some people, it’s life or death,” Hatley said. “It’s our biggest rivalry. It’s a lot of fun. This makes next week a whole lot easier.” Huson the star player of the night for Bonita exclaimed after the game, “It’s huge! It is for bragging rights: it’s an enormous game.”
Varsity Bearcats
Top Row: Anthony Davis, David Zygielbaum, Eric Mclntire, Jason Broderick, Jeff Carnack, Bryan Segal, Derek Bishop, Richard Coffman, Allen Irving.
Row 3: Brett Johnson, Jim Stansauk, Coach Robles, Coach McCook, Coach Austin, Coach Hatley, Coach Fuqua, Coach Casas, Zach Bussey, Ernesto Garcia
Row 4: Tommy Belin, Ricardo Stewart, Josh Aguirre, Minh Vuong, Daniel Gliniak, Chris Cappello, Ricci Grant, Ryan Tolan, B.J. O’Neal.
Bottom Row: Louis Sheppard, Damien Randles, Chris Huson, Josh Carrillo, Mike Schardien, Steve Gustin, Jon Rosburogh
The Bearcats conclude the 1997 sea- son with an overall record of 6-4 and a league record of 3-3. For the second straight year, the Smudge Pot has remained at Bonita. The mighty Bearcats beat San Dimas 14-3 in their home field. This year we fell short of a CIF berth by a coin toss. That will help to motivate next year’s team to go to the playoffs. Congratulations to the Varsity team for all their hard work.
- Junior quarterback, Brett Johnson threw for 1037 yards and 9 touchdowns.
- Senior Running Back Chris Huson was a bright spot for the Bearcats this year having 1320 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns.
- Riccardo Stewart was a wide receiver for the Bearcats with 536 receiving yards.
- Tommy Belin, the talent young Bearcat running back said, “We had a good team this year, we could have done better if we have better discipline.”
Smudge Pot Game
The Bearcats celebrate beating San Dimas 14-3 on the Saints home field, embarrassing them in front of their home crowd. We have held the Smudge Pot for two years in a row.
-Echoes, ‘1998
| Bonita | Score | Opponent | Score |
| Bearcats | 15 | Azusa | 7 |
| Bearcats | 7 | Gabrielino | 26 |
| Bearcats | 21 | Keppel | 0 |
| Bearcats | 14 | South Hills | 35 |
| Bearcats | 12 | Northview | 32 |
| Bearcats | 21 | Workman | 18 |
| Bearcats | 12 | Covina | 35 |
| Bearcats | 42 | Redlands | 8 |
| Bearcats | 14 | San Dimas | 3 |
| Bearcats | 27 | Ganesha | 8 |
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Varsity Saints
Front Row: Head Trainer Jill Tunstall Trainer Michelle Spaulding, Trainer Amanda Kennan, Mike Fowler, Rob Garcia, Danny Thornton, Mike Spaulding, Bryan McDonald, Trainer Kristin Gavrity, Trainer Esther Lazcano.
Row 2: Jake Tibbetts, Jeff Coleman. Joey Mastrosimone, Jeff Cheske, Carlos Cabana, Brian Moses, Sammy Corder, Kirk Yee.
Row 3: Coach Tom Keller. Coach Fernandez, Head Coach Ted Clarke. Jay Smith, Jeff Smith, Adam Malouf, Danny Tilbury. Coach Kevin Grist, Coach Mark Haygood, Coach Omar Uresti.
Row 4: Coach Lonnie Valentine, Chris Horn, Tom Blank, Daniel Martin, Matt Hunnicutt, B.J. Litchfield, Jordan Nichols, Carl Fink. Coach Rick Martin.
Row 5: Tim Wilkerson, Jeff Runnells, Jimmy McCullion, Ryan Purnell, Russell Kyle Shannon Murphy, Joey Mason, Cory Haygood, D.J. Hackett. Back: T.J. Woods, Brian Hochenedel, Jason Tugmon, Roosevelt Hackett, Jesse Anderson, Anthony Fletcher, Robert Santiago.
Something to Cheer About
Fans cheered along with cheerleaders and excitement filled the air. “GO Saints!” could be heard through the stands as the varsity football team brought victory time and time again. “We finally started to win. We had good leadership, said senior Danny Tilbury. Danny wasn’t the only one who said their winning streak was due to such excellent leadership by Head Coach Ted Clarke. Junior DJ Hackett said. “He was a very good coach, very encouraging. And the coaches were not the only ones who got praise. Senior Sammy Corder thought that sophomore Cory Haygood stood out : “He’s a madman on defense, said Sammy. Seniors Jake Tibbetts and Anthony Fletcher were mentioned by junior Bryan McDonald who said. “They led the team, and they were pretty good.” Other things that helped to build up team spirit were shout outs over the loudspeaker before every game wishing the team good luck. Also every Friday a trivia question about the team was asked at the end of the announcements. The team only lost a couple of its games, and the games they lost were heartbreakingly close. The homecoming game was so close that it even went into overtime. Another close game was with Bonita for the Smudge Pot. A fan of the team, sophomore Ned Mason, had a positive outlook for the next season, saying, “If we continue doing this good next year and keep working hard, we’ll get the Smudge Pot back.”
-Jennifer Moody, El Santo.1998
| San Dimas | Score | Opponet | Score |
| Saints | 17 | Don Lugo | 0 |
| Saints | 28 | Azusa | 0 |
| Saints | 14 | Gladstone | 13 |
| Saints | 14 | Covina | 20 |
| Saints | 7 | Wilson | 28 |
| Saints | 14 | North View | 41 |
| Saints | 7 | Ganesha | 0 |
| Saints | 21 | South Hills | 24 |
| Saints | 3 | Bonita | 14 |
| Saints | 14 | Workman | 10 |
Smudge Pot Quotes
"I couldn't care less about the Smudge Pot Trophy. It's just another game we have to win if we're going to CIF."
Ben Drake | Bonita Running Back, 1996
