Large contingent of area football players earn All-Pacific League honors
It proved to be an incredible football season in the Pacific League.
Two teams advanced to CIF Southern Section championships games, four of the seven squads recorded winning records and four made the CIF Southern Section playoffs.
Backed by a large contingent of standout athletes from Crescenta Valley High, Burbank, Burroughs and Glendale, a combined 38 players from the four schools were bestowed with All-Pacific League accolades.
In all, Crescenta Valley had 16 players pick up honors, followed by 11 by Burbank, seven for Burroughs and four for Glendale. In addition, Crescenta Valley first-year coach Hudson Gossard was selected the league’s coach of the year.
A trio of competitors from Crescenta Valley picked up some top honors after helping the Falcons win their first league crown since 2016. Crescenta Valley went 14-0, 6-0 in league en route to winning the CIF Southern Section Division X championship.
Crescenta Valley junior running back/linebacker Sebastian DeLeon was named the league’s player of the year for the first time after he rushed for 324 yards in 50 carries and scored 11 touchdowns. He had four touchdown receptions and collected 163 tackles and 5 1/2 sacks in 14 games.
“With Sebastian, not only was he a physical player, but he’s very durable and intelligent,” Gossard said. “He’s versatile and he puts in the preparation in each week on offense and defense.”
Crescenta Valley senior quarterback Chase Center was tabbed the league’s offensive player of the year after he completed 89 of 137 passes for 1,330 yards. In 10 games, Center tossed 18 touchdowns and three interceptions and completed 65% of his pass attempts before suffering an injury late in the regular season.
“It’s pretty cool when you can have a dual threat like that in Chase,” Gossard said. “He had an injury, but he was doing great leading up to the injury because of his durability and overall toughness.”
Chuck Meyer, a Crescenta Valley senior, was recognized as the league’s lineman of the year. Meyer finished with 37 tackles, including 5 1/2 for a loss, and six sacks in 14 games.
“Chuck is a giant and was an absolute beast out there on both sides of the ball,” Gossard said. “He did a lot of everything, from making big tackles to batting down passes.
“Overall, I’m very happy with our players getting all-league honors. They all paved the way for us to have lots of success.”
Armen Erdoglyan, Benicio Herrera, Colby Rees and Maximus Grant of Crescenta Valley, Burbank’s Brandon Pena and Ben Burnham and Nick Garcia of Burroughs picked up all-league first-team offense honors.
Erdoglyan and Herrera, both seniors, paved the way on the line for the Falcons. Erdoglyan and Herrera played in 13 and 14 contests, respectively.
Rees, a senior receiver, caught 30 passes for 469 yards for 14 touchdowns. He added three rushing touchdowns in 14 games.
Grant, a senior running back, had 1,013 yards rushing in 196 carries and scored 12 touchdowns. Grant contributed three touchdown receptions in 14 contests.
Pena had 52 receptions for 928 yards and eight touchdowns in 11 games as a junior receiver for Burbank, which went 5-7, 3-3 to tie for third with Pasadena in league before reaching the second round of the Division VII playoffs.
Burnham enjoyed an impressive campaign as a senior receiver, as he caught 43 passes for 1,015 yards and nine touchdowns in 12 games. He broke a Burbank record for receiving yards in a game when tallied 308 yards in a league contest Sept. 19 against Arcadia.
Garcia, a senior quarterback, completed 142 of 277 passes for 1,980 yards for Burroughs (6-4, 2-4 to tie for sixth with Arcadia). Garcia tossed 30 touchdowns passes and had 11 interceptions in 10 games.
Among those who secured first-team defense nods were Crescenta Valley’s Angel Ochoa, Vincent Parrot and PJ Weinmann, Vincent Vang and Lucas Sheppe of Burbank and Burroughs’ Henry Diaz.
Ochoa, a senior defensive back, contributed 58 tackles and six interceptions in 14 games.
Parrot finished with 46 tackles in 14 games as a senior defensive back.
Weinmann, a sophomore defensive back, had 77 tackles (nine for a loss) and 5 1/2 sacks in 14 games.
Vang notched 54 tackles and two interceptions in 12 games as a senior defensive back.
Sheppe, a junior linebacker, had 44 tackles (seven for a loss) and six sacks in nine contests.
Diaz, a senior linebacker, finished with 105 tackles (seven for loss) in 10 games for the Indians.
Eight athletes garanared second-team offense accolades, including Lau Ibarra-Rocco and Donny Stuart of Crescenta Valley, Burbank’s Aram Araradian, Isaac Glover and Craig Rushton, Carson Cardenaz and Allen Arriaga of Burroughs and Glendale’s Ethan Aldrete.
Ibarra-Rocco and Stuart, both senior linemen, flourished throughout the season while competing in 13 and 14 games, respectively.
Araradian, a junior quarterback, completed 112 of 199 passes for 1,958 in just nine games before suffering a season-ending injury. The left-hander had 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Glover finished with 1,128 yards rushing and 15 touchdowns in 202 carries while playing 12 games as a senior running back.
Rushton sparked the Bulldogs in 12 games as a senior tackle.
Cardenez, a senior receiver, caught 53 passes for 591 yards in 10 games.
Arriaga helped pace the Indians as a senior tackle in 10 contests.
Aldrete stood out as a senior receiver for Glendale (1-9, 0-6 for seventh place).
Crescenta Valley’s Aaron Garcia and Logan Tourville, Ian Miller and Devin Householder of Burbank, Burroughs’ Aiden Forrester and Isaac Leiva of Glendale were picked to the second-team defense.
Garcia had 39 tackles and deflected 12 passes in 14 games as a senior defensive back.
Tourville, a senior lineman, finished with 59 tackles and 3 1/2 sacks in 14 games.
Miller contributed 55 tackles (four for loss) and four interceptions in 12 games as a senior defensive back.
As a senior defensive end, Householder recorded 49 tackles and two sacks.
In 10 games as a junior safety, Forrester had 67 tackles and 10 games.
Leiva shined as a junior Linebacker for the Nitros.
“I’m very happy with our players who got all-league,” Burbank coach Adam Colman said. “We had a very resilient bunch and our league proved to be very tough.
“Our players picked up a lot of good experience and we played a very tough schedule to help get us ready for league.”
Said Burroughs coach Rand Holdren: “Our guys bought into what we are teaching and they became better players and they deserved what they got in terms of league recognition. I agree with all of our selections and a lot of good things happened in our league this year.”
Crescenta Valley senior running back James Cho (92 carries for 611 yards and five touchdowns), Burbank senior lineman Thomas Chiaraville, Burroughs junior receiver John Alijijian (18 receptions for 274 yards and four touchdowns) and Glendale junior quarterback Juan Estrada received honorable mention offense.
Those picking up honorable mention defense honors were Crescenta Valley senior defensive back David Baek (19 tackles and two interceptions), Burbank junior linebacker Max Mendieta (62 tackles), Burroughs defensive tackle Eric Quintero (37 tackles) and Glendale senior defensive back Matthew Quiroz.
Kamar Watkins and Chuck Shull of Muir were named the league’s co-defensive players of the year. Watkins was a senior tackle and Shull was a senior linebacker for the Mustangs, who reached the Division XI title game.
Glendale statistics were not available.
