Weekly Football Previews: Crescenta Valley prepares to keep streaks going
There was no giant celebration and little fanfare following the Crescenta Valley High football team’s 38-8 victory over Muir last Friday evening.
With the win, the reigning Pacific League champion Falcons have now defeated the Mustangs, once considered a difficult feat, three straight times. That convincing victory quietly also extended Crescenta Valley’s league winning streak to 10 games and regular season consecutive wins total to 15.
CIF Southern Section Division VI second-ranked Crescenta Valley (5-0, 2-0 in league) will have another streak on the line when it travels to league foe Pasadena (1-4, 1-1) on Friday evening at 7.
The Falcons have defeated the Bulldogs in five straight seasons by an average margin of 23 points.
Once again, Crescenta Valley’s defense is one of the area’s best as the Falcons are allowing 20.2 points per game.
Crescenta Valley is averaging four sacks per game led by five from senior Jaedin Springfield. Perhaps the most pleasant surprise from the defense has been sophomore defensive back Angel Ochoa, who’s intercepted four passes and caused one fumble.
Offensively, the Falcons average 195 yards per game on the ground behind hard-charging senior running back Joe Suh (454 yards and seven touchdowns).
Pasadena enters Friday’s contest with a little wind in its sails as it rushed for more than 400 yards in a 67-14 victory over Glendale last Friday.
The triumph snapped a five-game losing streak for the Bulldogs.
St. Paul at St. Francis, 7 p.m. Friday: Over the last three seasons, St. Francis has dominated nonleague action unlike any other area squad.
The Golden Knights have won 10 straight nonleague contests and 14 of their last 15, which included Friday’s 39-14 nonleague finale at Buena Park, which closed out a 5-0 run.
Now, though, begins Angelus League play Friday evening as the CIF Southern Section Division III fifth-ranked Golden Knights host Division VI fifth-ranked Santa Fe Springs St. Paul at 7 at Friedman Field.
St. Paul enters with a 2-3 record although it could be argued the Swordsmen played a more rugged nonleague slate than St. Francis.
St. Paul’s five opponents combined for a 15-10 mark, while two are currently ranked in the Southern Section. On the flip side, St. Francis’ five foes finished 7-18 with no ranked squads.
St. Francis has dominated this series recently as the Golden Knights have won all three Angelus League meetings and nine straight overall dating back to 2007, when it took a CIF championship St. Paul squad to knock off the Golden Knights.
The big concern for St. Francis is at quarterback, where coach Jim Bonds has yet to announce whether starting quarterback Darius Perrantes will be healthy enough to start. Perrantes missed the Buena Park contest and was replaced by receiver Greg Dulcich.
The senior completed 15 of 22 passes for 149 yards, but was intercepted twice. However, he rushed for three touchdowns and 90 yards on 14 carries.
St. Francis’ defense and special teams rose to the occasion against Buena Park, limiting the Coyotes to seven points, while forcing two takeaways and blocking a punt.
St. Paul boasts a couple of standouts to be concerned about, led by defensive lineman Alexandra Dumais.
The senior has totaled five sacks and 10 hurries. On offense, the Swordsmen boast a three-player running attack.
The trio of Armando Velasco, Christopher Garcia and Que Allen are averaging 213.4 yards per game with 10 touchdowns.
Burroughs at Glendale, 7 p.m. Thursday: A 2-1 nonleague record and the vibes of positivity that accompanied the mark have changed after the Nitros opened Pacific League play with two deflating defeats.
Glendale (2-3, 0-2) fell to Burbank, 59-0, and last week to Pasadena, 67-14, to not only drop back-to-back contests, but also to extend a league losing drought to 16 straight setbacks.
The Nitros’ chances of an upset aren’t great as they host Burroughs (2-2, 1-1).
The Indians are coming off a thrilling contest they dropped at Arcadia, 31-26, in which they were denied on a fourth down in the Apaches’ red zone with just over two minutes remaining.
Despite shaky pass-blocking, Glendale likes to throw behind quarterback Van Haslett, who tossed for 138 yards and one touchdown last week.
Burroughs prefers to grind down opponents and has a talented back in Ben Peters, who rushed 41 times for 201 yards and a touchdown against Arcadia.
In the Indians’ final drive, the squad ran on 14 consecutive plays and wound down more than eight minutes.
Muir vs. Hoover at Moyse Field, 7 p.m. Friday: If there was anything positive to be taken from Hoover’s 47-14 loss to Burbank Friday, perhaps it’s that the Tornadoes kept their word.
The team vowed that it would not suffer a similarly humiliating 77-16 loss to the Bulldogs, as was the case in 2016, and nearly halved their deficit from 61 points to 33.
Following last year’s defeat to Burbank, Hoover rallied and turned in an inspired effort in nearly defeating Muir before losing, 28-26.
Perhaps the same can happen this week versus the Mustangs (2-3, 0-2), who are reeling after a 38-8 loss to Crescenta Valley.
The Tornadoes (1-4) will lean on a couple of playmakers, led by quarterback Quran Boldin, who rushed for 76 yards versus Burbank. Receiver Andrew Rangel also hauled in a 41-yard touchdown in that contest and is a proven threat.
Flintridge Prep on bye week: The Rebels might have hit their bye at the wrong time as they’ve won two straight games, including a hard-fought 22-20 win over Thacher last weekend.
A Rebels defense that has struggled throughout the season stood tall in stuffing Thacher on a game-tying two-point conversion at the one-minute mark in the fourth quarter.
The Rebels (4-2) will be back in action Saturday, Oct. 14 at Downey Calvary Chapel (2-2).
