Whittier Pioneer (5-0) has perfect timing for revived football team

Unranked and under appreciated, Whittier Pioneer is having the kind of season that thrills its fans and excites its players.

After going 1-9 last season, the Titans are 5-0 and hoping to get recognition in the Southeast Division.

Chuck Willig, who has coached at St. Bernard, St. John Bosco and St. Paul, is in his fourth season. Many of the players who started with him as freshmen are now seniors and using their experience to finally deliver success to the team.

“We’ve been building a foundation as a program,” Willig said.

Lots of players didn’t make it. The ones who stayed around are being rewarded.

“There was a lot going on in terms of behavior and commitment to the school,” he said of the players who left.

One who stayed is senior quarterback Phillip Hernandez, who has passed for 1,032 yards and 13 touchdowns.

The timing couldn’t have been more perfect for the rise of Pioneer. The Titans are playing their first season in a new stadium. The team had been taking a bus and practicing off campus. The $17.5 million, 7,000-seat stadium has an all-weather turf field and was paid for by a $75 million bond measure that passed in 2008.

The football team’s succss “has changed the atmosphere around school,” Willig said.

Now the Titans must succeed in the Del Rio League against rivals La Serna and California.

Twitter:@LATSondheimer