BONITA: 35 – SAN DIMAS: 14
October 06, 2006
Under the careful tutelage of Coach Eric Podley, Bonita maintained their winning streak over San Dimas with a 35 to 14 win in the annual Smudge Pot game. Bonita’s current winning streak in the inter-district rivalry game that dates back to 1972 has closed the gap in total Smudge Pot wins with Saints (16-18-1). The final score did not represent how close the game was in the first half. The Bearcats tied the score on Jeff Chavez’s second touchdown run of the game. Then took a 21-14 lead on a 7 yard pass from Chaves to Sean Vasquez 3.59 before halftime. On the final pivotal drive of the half, the Saints had the ball at their own 40 and drove inside Bonita’s 10 yard line during the final minute. On first and goal at the 3, San Dimas runner Danon Palmer was not able to get out of bounds to stop the clock and the half ran out before the Saints could score. “That made a big difference, not scoring at the end of the half,” San Dimas Coach Bill Zernickow said. Podley stated “[the touchdown] was a big momentum swing and confidence builder for our defense. That was important.”
Bonita put the game away by scoring on their first two possessions of the second half. The Bonita star of the night was Jeff Chavez who while sustaining a chin injury, had completed 14 of 22 passes for 240 yards and two touchdowns while running for two others. Bonita finished strong with Chavez throwing a 61-yard pass to Philip Aguayo for a touchdown. Even though Bonita was out gained by the Saints in offense, the Bearcats passing game made the difference. Sean Vasquez caught 6 passes for 104 yards and a touchdown. “We didn’t run as much as we should have. Gil Alcaraz is getting better and we’ll be better when we get our fullbacks back from injury. We made some defensive adjustments,” Podley said. “Their wing-T looked much better than our guys saw in practice.”
The Saints had 21 first downs and 369 yards of total offense. San Dimas scored on their first two possessions of the game on a 34-yard pass from Cory Barett to John Joe and a Barbone 5-yard run to take a 14-7 lead. Saints sophomore, Nico Barebone, had a stellar game running for 152 yards on 28 carries and a touchdown. Three second half turnovers were the differences in the game and prevented the Saints from any comeback. “We’re an extremely young team,” Zernickow said. “We’ve got six or seven sophomore playing. We’re getting better and we’ll be ready for them next year.”
Varsity Bearcats
Gabe Acero, Phil Aguayo, Gil Alcaraz, Andrew Arellano, Louis Banales, Ryan Barns, John Beaucar, Andrew Brown, Nathan Burgette, Travis Burton, Daniel Bustos, Nicco Calderaro, Marco Canzono, Devin Castruita, Jeff Chavez, Justin Cleveland, Travis Collins, Mike Creger, Santiago Cristobal, Mike Crocker, Nick Crocker, Sean Dawson, Justin Delatorre, Chris Estrda-Salazar, Eddie Gaeta, Littleton Gardner, Duane Gatti, Jeff Gelaich, Doug Grapes, Doug Griffith, Alex Gurtis, Ryan Henley, Robert Herrera, Marlo Hinojos, Erik Holguin, Mike Hooper, Brain Hubbard, Johnny Hyatt, Jarmel Ingram, Mousa Kaklsh, Daniel Kroah, Randy Lesh, Daniel Lugo, Hunter Marti, Kevin McCoy, Brandon McGuckin, Ruben McQueen, Jiovanni Meir, David Mercado, Aaron Michaelis, Jake Mowdy, Thomas Munson, Christopher Naanouh, Kevin Normington, Dylan Ornales, Mile Ortega, Terry Paredez, Mitchell Pike, Andrew Price, Derrick Price, Brett Quarto, Tim Quintero, EJ. Reyes, Alex Rocha, Jeff Rothrock, Vincent Salvati, Calvin Sanders, Cole Sanders, Andrew Sierra Derek Stogsdill, David Stupplebeen, Martin Tohmasi, Antonio Valdez, Anthony Vance, Peter Vasquez, Sean Vasquez, Mike Wong, Dominic Zerpoli, and Tanner Zylstra
Smudge pot:
The most anticipated football game of the year. The rival between the Bonita Bearcats and the San Dimas Saints is recalled once every year in the battle to regain the Smudgepot. Originally, “smudgepots” were used in La Verne’s orange fields to keep the oranges from freezing in the winter. The game against San Dimas is not just about winning or losing something as simple as a Smudgepot, but about coming together as a school and showing our Bearcat spirit. This year’s Smudgepot game was held at Glenn Davis Stadium, where the Bearcats reigned supreme, 35-14, Bonita wins! This year, Bonita won the Smudgepot for the third year in a row. We here at Bonita hope to keep the Smudgepot for many years to come!
In Memory: Kevin Normington
Kevin Scott Normington passed away on March 1, 2007 in an auto accident. He was 17 years old. Kevin was born on March 22, 1989 in Glendora, CA and was a resident of La Verne / Upland. He played 6 years in La Verne Little League and participated in 5 years of La V erne Youth Basketball. He attended Oak Mesa Elementary and Ramona Intermediate School before attending Bonita High School in La Verne. He was a senior at Bonita and was senior captain of the varsity football team. Kevin played football all 4 years, 3 of those as a varsity starter. He was named 2nd team Al1 League as a junior and 1st team All League as a senior. He also received the Most Valuable Offensive Lineman award his senior year. Kevin’s love was football, and he was making plans to play in college.
Kevin worked at Warehouse Pizza in La Verne for the past 2 years. He enjoyed fishing, playing Guitar Hero, and spending time with his friends. Kevin was a proud member of “Team Sideburns.” As part of his senior project Kevin coached the Cavaliers in the La Verne Youth Basketball league. He will be receiving his high school diploma posthumously with his fellow Bonita High classmates on June 19, 2007. Kevin was a great young man with a bright future who was loved by all his family and friends. He will be missed by everyone who was lucky enough to have known him.
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Varsity Saints
Adam Norwood, Corey Geer, Daniel Joesph, Jacob Borzilieri, Erek Brown, Devin Washington, John Joe, Deryck Marquez, Tyler Barbone, James Lominac, Wesley Dean, Garrett Smith, Chris Pace, Mickey Kalmar, Matt Woodard, Carter Crawford, Brandon Brawley, Bronze Withem, Anthony Torres, Ryan Segovia, Nico Barbone, Kevin Paulsen, Jordan Elliott, Matthew Thrall, Drew Annas, Rasheed Curry, Kenneth Fuqua, Ryan Doll, Jesse Rodriquez, Kyle Withem, Cecil Sullivan, John Todd, Danny Zaminrano, Chris Ruiz, Cory Barrett, Chaz Tyler, Cheyne Mascarenas, William Umanzor, Nick Shultz, Aaron Lindquist, Justin Wallace, Danon Palmer, Gio Mantilla, Ricky Ochoa, Kyle Salm, Matt Garcia, Randy Hoskins, Anthony Mancuso
A view to a thrill
The varsity football team had a successful season thanks to hard work and raw talent. The superior coaching and the team’s effort helped the Saints make it into CIF. “A large part of our success was due to the fact that a lot of effort and hard work was put in by the players and the coaches.” stated wide receiver senior Jon Joe. “The season was an overall success because we made some huge improvements, ” said Coach Zernickow. The Saints marched through league and came out with a final record of three wins and two losses. “We worked more as a unit; this and our better running game helped us go into CIF, said junior Cory Harrison. Overall, the season turned out to be a sensational experience.
By Tommy Messinger, El Santo ’07
Smudge Pot Quotes
""It is probably the biggest rivalry I've ever seen in Southern California." Zernickow said. "It's standing room only. You'll get people calling you, wishing you good luck and you don't even know who they are. It doesn't matter how bad or how good one of the teams are, everyone comes out in their Saints blue or Bonita Green"."
Bill Zernickow | San Dimas Head Coach, 2006
