Pioneers’ Stoneham Makes the Grade

He’s on the losing end of most football games now, but Chris Stoneham feels as much like a winner as he did sacking quarterbacks for Notre Dame High last year.

Stoneham, a 6-foot-5, 285-pound senior defensive lineman, transferred to Simi Valley over the summer after failing three classes last spring.

He made up all three classes in summer school, however, taking two during the day and one in the evening, and gained eligibility after Simi Valley’s first game of the season.

Entering Friday’s games, Simi Valley was 1-5 and Notre Dame was 5-1. But Stoneham is simply grateful that the mistakes of his past didn’t end his career.

“It was heartbreaking to have to leave Notre Dame,” he said. “I still see my friends from there. But my spirits are up.”

Stoneham’s future is bright. He is a major-college prospect, although he has yet to take the Scholastic Assessment Test.

“At first he was a little unpredictable, but there has been a complete change,” Simi Valley Coach Ron Veres said. “With his size and quickness, he’s definitely a Division I kid.”