First win feels good

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Jeff Engilman, pictured left, was prepared for a long season at Arleta because this is the team’s first season of varsity football. His only hope was not to go winless.

Hope became reality when Arleta (1-5, 1-2) shut out Van Nuys (2-5, 1-3) on Friday, 24-0. The Mustangs got rushing touchdowns from quarterback Bryan Choto and running backs Nick Ferlini and Omar Barrera-Sanchez. On defense, Ferlini had two of the team’s three interceptions.

Engilman, who previously guided Sylmar to two City titles, had 205 career victories on his resume before coming to Areleta. Still, there is no win like the first one for a new program.

‘It was so gratifying to see the joy in the kids’ eyes,’ Engilman said. ‘All of these kids, even the 11th graders, had never played varsity football before. So the whole year’s been shock to the system -- at least mine, anyway.’

- Mike Terry

-- Image by Lawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times