San Dimas: 37 – Bonita: 36
Thursday, August 23, 2012
In one of the most exciting and closely fought games in the history of the Smudge Pot rivalry, the San Dimas Saints were able to pull out a victory against the Bonita Bearcats in a 37-36 triumph. The Saints lost a 23 point lead late in the game but converted a costly Bonita fumble with two minutes remaining into the winning touchdown.
San Dimas earned a safety on Bonita’s first punt of the night when the snap sailed over the punter’s head and was kicked out of the back of the end zone less than a minute into the game. Jake Payton collected 126 yards and 3 touchdowns on his first 10 carries. He scored a 30 yard touchdown on the first play of the second quarter. The Saints were winning the game 23-0 until the Bearcats finally turned the game around scoring on their next five possessions to take a 36-30 lead with 10 minutes left in the game. Victor Mallagnes caught two Tanner Diebold touchdowns passes on Thursday night, including one for 26 yards. Reggie Turner also had a strong game rushing for a 15 yard touchdown run and catching a pass for another.
With 2:53 left in the game Bonita stopped San Dimas from scoring a touchdown on fourth-and-one from the 15 yard line. The Bearcats fumbled the ball and the Saints regained possession. A few plays later, Andrew Espinoza raced eight yards into the end zone with two minutes to play. Bonita kicker, Brandt Davis, had a chance to win the game on a long field goal at the end of the game but it was just short.
Two Minute Drill: Pre Game
Video Highlights
Varsity Bearcats
DJ Theard, Spencer Hoff, Jesse Garabay, Morgan Ruiz, Brandt Davis, Frank Gamez, Shane Pitts, Ryan Contri, Adam Ung, Michael Cross, Victor Magallanes, Reggie Turner, Ryan Ramirez, Victor Rojas, Jet Ramirez, Joey Hubbard, Marl Salce, Riley Brungard, and Chris Rios
After nearly winning the CIF-Southern Section Southeast Division football championship in 2010, last season’s 6-5 record and first-round playoff exit felt like disappointments for Bonita High School. Perhaps it’s a good thing the Bearcats have such high expectations that simply reaching the postseason without making a run is considered a disappointment.
With those types of expectations comes the pressure to deliver. And nobody will be feeling it more than new head coach Adrian Medrano, who took over for Eric Podley. But have no fear, Podley remains on the staff, as does longtime defensive coordinator Ray Medina. Their presence will make the transition easier for the energetic Medrano. “The bottom line is there’s going to be little margin for error,” Medrano said. “We do have the potential to be a pretty good football team, but we don’t have too much room for mistakes.” A big reason Bonita took a step back last year was an offense that went missing at key times against top competition. Sure, the Bearcats were fine against teams they should handle, but in step-up games the quarterback play was inconsistent.
Coaches are hopeful junior Tanner Diebold is ready to live up to his potential. But just to make sure, there was an offseason-long competition for the job.
Diebold has the arm to give Bonita’s offense the explosiveness it will need to compete in the Hacienda League. The running game should be fine with Reggie Turner now the full-time feature back.
Losing receiver Garrett Horine to graduation was a big blow and the new receivers are light on experience. Victor Magallanes should be the top target and could be poised for a big season. Mark Salce also figures to see plenty of balls thrown his way. The line just might be the strength of the offense and there’s good size in veterans Spencer Hoff (6-foot-2, 255 pounds) and D.J. Theard (6-4, 270). “We named them `The Anchors’ for us throughout the offseason,” Medrano said. “They worked hard. They’re going to be our two tackles and will both be two-way linemen on offense and defense.” Like the offense, Bonita’s defense had moments last season when it disappeared at the wrong time. The Bearcats also proved to be quite stout when on their game, such as the San Dimas win. With the top-five tacklers from last season all graduated, the rebuilding process must be swift. It doesn’t help that all-league defensive end Ryan Ramirez and linebacker Nick Todorovich suffered offseason knee injuries and will miss the season. There’s little experience returning in the linebacker corps, but junior Thomas Loy projects as a special player and showed signs of it last season as a sophomore. Replacing Horine in the secondary is impossible, but coaches think junior Brendan Smith could develop into a big-time player over the next two seasons. Bonita better be ready right out of the gate with rival San Dimas still smarting from last year’s loss in the Smudge Pot. South Hills, La Serna and Claremont are other games on the nonleague schedule, so the Bearcats had better be on their best behavior early.
“It’s a tough league, everybody’s very well-coached,” Medrano said. “It’s not going to be an easy task for anyone.”
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Varsity Saints
Ezekiel Nobile, Joey Erickson, Tyler Nance, Nathan Alvarez, Daniel Halbert, Ricky Beltran, Justin Bugh, David Custodio, Fausto Martinez, Julius Taylor, Derek Kearns, Andre Geoldjian, Brett Browning, Robert Foster, Adam Berard, Ricky Ramirez, Al Douglas, Sal Sanchez, Ryan Fitzgerald, Colin Rumblin, Manny Elizalde, Fidel Castro, Reece Alvarado, Jason Kuizon, Denzel Mitchell, Seth Hanes, Jason Wallace, James Lopez, Andrew Espinoza, Austin Hilpert, Erick Ware, Grant Young, Acuna Nathan, Noah Reep, Chris Salcido, Gabriel Maldonado, Darrick Sullivan, Jared Trujillo, Mitchell Giles, Daniel Zanolini, Mike Zapata, Austin Hill, Jesse Toro, Seth Haynes, Josiah Erickson, Adam Casillas, Jonah Phipps, Jake Payton, Josh Avila, Jake Barbosa, Abram Popham, Michael Terlizzi, Justin Lopez, Anthony Keeler, Cody Mcneal
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Smudge Pot Quotes
""Their size is always a concern," Zernickow said. "Plus, Podley is such a great coach. He goes to all those (big- time) clinics and learns all the new stuff. I hope we can adjust by halftime.""
Bill Zernickow | Saint Head Coach, 2011
