Crescenta Valley, Glendale, La Cañada football teams see progress at Gordy Warnock Tournament
Though the high school football season will come earlier than ever when it kicks off in mid-August, it’s still very much the early days of the spring/summer season.
Crescenta Valley High, Glendale and La Cañada took to the annual Crescenta Valley High Gordy Warnock Passing Tournament on Saturday at Glendale High and achieved varying results, but all seemed to have the common interest of progressing and bringing along young squads as the spring rolls into the summer.
“We’re in the beginning process right now,” said first-year Glendale coach Cary Harris. “It’s a big process.”
Glendale went 2-3 on the day, collecting a victory over Crescenta Valley in pool play and going 1-1 in the ‘D’ bracket thereafter with a 19-0 win over Kennedy before it ended the day with a 31-13 defeat against Granada Hills.
The host Falcons also went 2-3, defeating Cathedral in pool play before going 1-1 in the ‘C’ bracket with a 14-12 loss to Sylmar in front of a day-ending 16-0 triumph over Bell to send defensive coordinator Dennis Gossard home happy on the night he was enshrined into the Crescenta Valley Hall of Fame.
La Cañada went out a winner with a 31-0 triumph over Kennedy following losses to Granada Hills, Eagle Rock, Bell and Golden Valley.
“I left here really happy with our progress,” said Spartans coach Jason Sarceda, who might have had the smallest team at the tournament with just nine players as many were taking SATs or absent for other reasons. “We’re looking at the season as still rebuilding, but we’ve improved a lot.”
The Spartans struggled to a 0-10 year in 2017, but Sarceda likes where the program is headed and was impressed by the play of receiver/defensive backs Dezin Delgatty and Rio Ramos.
“The direction we’re going is good,” Sarceda said. “We just have to stay united as a front.”
Harris, still in the early days of coaching the Nitros, who went 2-8 last year, saw plenty to like, but first and foremost was happy to see his team get some competition.
“It was good just to see the guys out here against another team,” he said. “I really want to see how these guys react to adversity.”
Among the players Harris lauded for their Saturday performances were quarterback Trent Lousararian, running back/linebacker Chris Ibarra, a reigning All-Area selection, corner back/receiver Jaylen Avazian and tight end Andrew Issagholian.
“I think a lot of players stepped up,” Harris said.
With four starters missing for various reasons, Crescenta Valley’s afternoon saw players that aren’t always in the mix get more playing time, in particular quarterback Julian Walker, who impressed coach Paul Schilling.
“We got to get a lot of kids in that we don’t always see whether they were coming in from track or because of injuries,” said Schilling, who also complemented the play of receiver David Beck and receiver/outside linebacker Sebastian DeLeon.
However, health is a concern for Schilling who is without returning starters Chase Center (linebacker) and Angel Ochoa (safety).
“We need to get healthy,” Schilling said. “We just need time. We need more reps.”
A season ago, Crescenta Valley, which went 8-3, found myriad success in passing tournaments, but this is a different group that Schilling sees has talent and potential but is raw.
“This is diffent,” he said. “We’re not so polished at this as we were last year.
“We’re super young.”
Arcadia, which is reportedly brimming with transfers and a talented roster, won the tournament, defeating Golden Valley in the championship after previously defeating Valencia Valencia to win its pool and Grant in the semifinals.
Twitter: @TCNGrantGordon
