The 2010’s

The great irony of the 2010s is even though Bonita won 7 Smudge Pot games against San Dimas, this was the most successful era of Saint’s football. Under Coaches Bill Zernickow and Mark Holman the Saints developed one of the strongest football programs in the Valley winning a CIF Championship in 2013 and were CIF Finalists in 2015. The Saints were league champions in 2012, 2013, 2017, 2019 and 2021 and made the CIF playoffs every year in the decade. San Dimas won 3 Smudge Pots during the 2010s.

Bonita has defeated San Dimas seven times in the 2010s. Teams under Podley won twice (2010, 2011), Medrano three times (2013, 2014, and 2015) and Bogan twice (2018 and 2019). During the decade the Bearcats made it to the CIF finals in 2010 and were league champions in 2012

In 2013, Bonita Coach Adrian Medrano won his first of three Smudge Pots in a 33 to 13 victory. Bearcat Quarterback Tanner Diebold threw for 247 yards and two touchdowns. Jacob Karim (#7) recovered a fumble for a touchdown and tackled a Saint in the endzone for a safety. Danny Gelalich caught a touchdown pass and ran for 84 yards on 3 receptions. On the defense, Christian McQueen sacked the Saints quarterback twice for a loss of 15 yards and caused 4 hurried passes. He also made 9 tackles. Controversial transfer from San Dimas, Jake Payton rushed for 142 yards on 14 carries

In 2013 the San Dimas Saints won its second title in less than five years in the CIF-SS finals game against Paraclete. The Saints won by a score of 20-14. The Saints finished their season with a 10 game winning streak. A major contributor to their success was Joseph Mayorga who scored two touchdowns and rushed for 157 yards. Fausto Martinez also played an important role in the game rushing 169 yards for the Saints. The Saints’ strong rushing attack was made possible by their six effective offensive lineman, from left, Mike Zapata, Derek Kearns, Fidel Castro, Nathan Alvarez, Jared Trujillo, and Noah Reep. On defense Josiah Erickson had 12 total tackles with 9 of them being solo while Colin Rubin had an interception.

The 2014 Smudge Pot rivalry game between the Bearcats and Saints took place at Citrus College where the Bearcats took home the Smudge Pot with a 23-14 win making it a second consecutive victory for Coach Adrian Medrano. Two players who played an important role in securing the win for the Bearcats were Quarterback Cody Brazzill accounting for 159 yards as well as Angel Verdugo who not only rushed for 165 yards but also scored three touchdowns. The Bearcats offense ran 78 total plays, achieved 20 first downs and had 27:05 time of possession.

The San Dimas Saints dominated the Bonita Bearcats 42-14 and won back the Smudge Pot trophy after 3 years in the 2016 Smudge Pot rivalry game.  It appeared San Dimas had something to prove after losing last season’s CIF championship game against Sierra Canyon. The Saints scored 28 of the  final 35 points in the game led by Senior back Jarrell Sykes who picked up 231 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns. Sykes rushed for 187 yards and caught a 44 yard touchdown pass on the third play of the game.

Two early touchdowns by San Dimas in the first quarter were enough for the Saints to defeat the Bearcats 19-8 in the 2017 game. The Saint’s Noah Maldonado would give San Dimas a 6 to 0 lead at 6: 41 of the first quarter when he raced 41 yards down the field for a touchdown. Just moments later, the Saints would take a 12-0 lead when Chima Mbgarugaru snatched up a fumbled kickoff return and made it 23 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown.

In 2018 new Bonita Coach Steve Bogan, won the first of his three Smudge Pot games. Bonita defeated San Dimas 28 -14 behind the excellent work of Senior quarterback J.P. Andrade who threw for 272 yards and was responsible for four touchdowns. He rushed for two touchdowns in the second half to ensure the Bearcats would take home the Smudge Pot trophy after watching San Dimas win the prize the last two seasons. The MVP of the game was Bearcat wide receiver Cade Cadam who caught three passes for 113 yards and a touchdown. For San Dimas, Jacob Buccola and Austin Rivera scored rushing touchdowns in the second quarter.

Bonita quarterback Sean Jastrab shined when he was needed most, completing 15 of 25 passes for 291 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Bearcats to victory against the Saints in the 47th Annual Smudge Pot game in 2019. After the great game, Jastrab gave all the credit to his offensive line and wide receivers. “The offensive line did a great job and the receivers were great all night,” Jastrab said. “The defense played really well, too. This was a great game in general for all of us.”