Crescenta Valley football focused on finishing strong in 2018
For the first seven games of the 2017 Crescenta Valley High football season, nary a defeat was to be found.
Then came a first-place showdown with Burbank.
Therein lied the beginning of the end for Crescenta Valley, as a 37-20 loss to the Bulldogs was the first of three defeats over the final four weeks of the season for the Falcons, who seemed poised to be the favorites for a Pacific League championship and a contender for a CIF Southern Section Division VI title.
Instead, an 8-3 season with a 5-2 third-place mark in league and a first-round loss in the playoffs served as a campaign somewhat successful on paper, but otherwise disheartening.
Now, as Crescenta Valley is ready to kick off the earliest season in school history with three games in August, 2017 is fueling a 2018 squad that is largely inexperienced but ready to go with a chip atop its collective shoulder pads.
“Last year, everyone on the team felt like it was on us,” senior inside linebacker/running back Daniel Cho said. “It was our mistakes.
“This year we’re trying to get mentally focused.”
Cho, a team captain along with senior quarterback Cole Doyle and junior center Armen Erdoglyan, is part of a smaller core of returning starters that also includes receiver/defensive back Vinny Parrott, receiver Colby Rees, defensive back/receiver Angel Ochoa and linebacker Chase Center — all juniors.
In large part, the Falcons are a group that will gain experience as it goes, looking to improve upon last season’s sputter down the stretch.
“A big question mark is our offensive line and our youth as a whole,” Falcons coach Paul Schilling said. “For us, and I say it every year and I think it’s for every team in our league, we have to stay healthy. We can’t afford to get beat up and rack up injuries.”
While question marks as to how newcomers will step up abound, one certainty is that Doyle will be looked upon to lead the way.
“Our quarterback experience, that’s definitely our strength,” Schilling said of Doyle, who has already started 23 games over the previous three seasons.
Doyle, a first-team All-Area selection last season, was a dual threat with 1,573 yards passing and 20 touchdowns and 759 yards and nine scores on the ground. On top of leading the offense — in the passing game and running game – he’ll be slotted as a starting corner back.
Ochoa (44 tackles and five interceptions, five offensive touchdowns) is the team’s other All-Area returner and, like Doyle, will see plenty of reps on both sides of the ball as a receiver and safety.
Elsewhere in the receiving corps will be Rees, Parrott, senior Stone Schaefer and tight end/H-back Max Grant, a junior.
“Our strength is going to be our offense, our speed and our quarterback Cole is amazing,” Ochoa said.
Cho, Grant and sophomore Sebastian DeLeon are likely to line up in the backfield, with Ochoa also a possibility to get some carries.
For the aforementioned skill players to succeed, though, much will rest upon the offensive line.
“One hundred percent,” said Erdoglyan of the line’s progress through spring and summer ball leading into the season. “I’ve seen a lot of improvement in the O-line and in the team in general.”
Erdoglyan saw time as a starter last year, but junior left tackle Chuck Meyer, senior left guard Roy Ernster, junior right guard Donny Stuart and senior right tackle Tom Lee make up the rest of an unproven offensive line.
Expanding on Schilling’s thoughts on the Falcons’ health being paramount to success, plenty of players will be called on to play on both sides of the ball.
Lee will man one defensive end spot opposite Lau Ibarro Rocco with Stuart splitting time at nose tackle with Valentin Nunez.
At linebacker, Cho and DeLeon are on the inside with Center returning to start in one outside spot.
The defensive backfield is filled with familiar names as Doyle and Schaeffer are at the corners and Parrott and Ochoa are set for the safety spots.
Senior Kevin McCullom will handle all the kicking and punting duties.
With all the changes in the lineup, there’s also the change in the CIF Southern Section athletic calendar, with week one on Aug. 24. Therefore, the Falcons, like many, will kick off in week zero on Aug. 17.
“It’s definitely strange,” Cho said. “We’re still ready; it’s just a little different.”
Erdoglyan might have a more positive outlook than anyone when looking at the early start.
“I like it honestly,” he said. “We have a game before school [starts] and two days after school begins. I like it; it’s playing football and that’s the best thing.”
Another major change from last season is that Crescenta Valley, which was a league favorite and Division VI heavyweight, is an underdog in terms of vying for the Pacific League title and has been moved down to Division VII.
Following the loss to Burbank in week eight, Crescenta Valley lost to Arcadia in a regular season finale it seemed poised to win and then had another winnable contest vanish against Mira Costa in the first round of the playoffs.
“We have to be mentally tough,” Erdoglyan said. “I think last year after the Burbank loss ... we weren’t that mentally tough.”
As the 2018 season draws near, matters aren’t helped by most predicting the same Arcadia and Burbank teams that downed CV in 2017 as big favorites in the Pacific League.
So, as with any season, there are plenty of question marks, with the Falcons looking to gain experience and improve a focus that waned during the worst time a year ago. If potential is realized, though, Schilling likes the talent and ability his team has.
“We want to be in the league championship mix,” Schilling said, “and we think we can.”
Twitter: @TCNGrantGordon
