La Cañada football receives plenty of all-league recognition
Though the La Cañada High football team missed qualifying for the CIF playoffs by the nose of a football, it still had many players who stood out in the Rio Hondo League.
La Cañada finished 6-4, 3-2 in league to tie for second place with South Pasadena and San Marino. However, the Spartans lost a league tiebreaker and were declared the fourth team out of the league.
Still, plenty of players shined on the field for La Cañada, as 10 players were bestowed with all-league recognition as voted on by the league’s five coaches.
“I think all of our players who got all-league honors very much deserved it,” La Cañada Coach Ryan Zerbel said. “They all contributed in so many ways.”
David Vardanian, Theo Chamberlain, Bryce Benton, Brandon Sharman and Jamie Washington picked up all-league first-team honors. Vardanian and Chamberlain received all-league first-team offense and defense selections.
Vardanian, a senior offensive lineman/defensive end, enjoyed another superb season. Vardanian, who also got reps at running back, finished with 245 yards rushing in 49 carries and scored six touchdowns. He contributed 101 tackles, including 19 1/2 for a loss, 7 1/2 sacks and one interception in nine games.
“He’s somebody who could go out there and play almost any position,” Zerbel said. “He’s big and very physical and somebody with great vision of the whole field. He showed he could dominate on both sides of the ball.”
Chamberlain, a senior tight end/defensive end, collected nine catches for 133 yards and two touchdowns. He added 78 tackles, 17 for loss, and contributed 7 1/2 sacks.
“He’s a big kid who loved to practice and got stronger,” Zerbel said. “He got a bunch of sacks and he proved to be an excellent blocker.”
Benton, a senior safety, finished with 79 tackles, 8 1/2 for loss, and two sacks in eight games to earn a spot on the all-league first-team defense.
“We saw him do a lot of great things,” Zerbel said. “He’s an ultra-competitor and proved to be a big reason why teams overthrew passes because of the way he naturally defended.”
Sharman, a senior running back, rushed for 923 yards in 116 carries and scored three touchdowns. He finished with 1,225 all-purpose yards and added 47 tackles at safety in eight games.
“He was the biggest surprise to me,” Zerbel said. “Last year, he showed some flashes, but didn’t always have that consistency.
“Brandon came back this year and he often carried the load offensively. We gave him the ball 15 or so times per game and he responded.”
Washington came to La Cañada from Muir and sat out the first five games because of the transfer rule. The senior corner back finished with 25 tackles and three interceptions in four games to pick up all-league first-team defense recognition.
“Jamie was somebody who always seemed to be around the ball,” Zerbel said. “It took him a little while to adjust to our system, but then he caught on and made things happen.”
Seniors Lionel Humphrey, Tyler Jacinto and Tyler Rubendall were tabbed to the all-league second-team defense.
Humphrey, a lineman, had 66 tackles, 11 for loss, and 3 1/2 sacks in nine games.
Jacinto, a defensive back, collected 47 tackles, 6 1/2 for loss, and two sacks in nine games.
Rubendall, a quarterback/linebacker/punter, rushed for 614 yards in 83 carries and four touchdowns in eight games. He registered 74 tackles, 5 1/2 for loss, three sacks and two interceptions. He had 31 punts for 935 yards for a 30.2 average with five punts landing inside the 20-yard line.
Senior defensive tackle/offensive lineman Raffi Hairapetian and senior fullback/linebacker Luke Johnson received honorable mention.
Hairapetian had 50 tackles in eight games. Johnson collected 57 tackles in nine contests.
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Charles Rich, charles.rich@latimes.com
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
