Mestizo, Harper get 1st-team notice
GLENDALE — The following are odds and ends from the local sports scene.
VAQS PICK UP
CONFERENCE HONORS
Seven members of the Glendale Community College football team recently earned All-Pacific Conference accolades, as voted on by the conference’s seven coaches.
The Vaqueros finished 1-9, 1-5 in the conference’s American Division, but had two players earn first-team honors and five placed on the second team.
Those named to the first team were sophomore Nate Mestizo on the defensive line and freshman Ra ‘Shon Harper in the defensive backfield. Mestizo finished with 32 tackles, including 18 solo, and recovered a fumble. Harper registered 24 tackles, with 18 of them being solo.
Those named to the second team were sophomore linebacker Jean Khajarian and sophomore special teams player Reinaldo Reyes. Khajarian, a Glendale High graduate, finished with 55 tackles (30 solo) and recovered a fumble. Reyes had 10 kick-off returns for 320 yards.
Sophomore wide receiver Patrick Donahue also earned second-team honors. Donahue caught 50 passes for 774 yards and nine touchdowns.
Also earning recognition on the second team were freshman lineman Sam Campbell, a Crescenta Valley High graduate, and sophomore lineman Matt Buckley.
REID, EAGLES
MAKING NEWS
The Philadelphia Eagles and Coach Andy Reid, a former Glendale Community College offensive lineman, have been making plenty of news in recent days.
To start, the team’s game on Sunday night against the Minnesota Vikings in Philadelphia was pushed back to a rare Tuesday night game due to a blizzard. Then, with the New York Giants’ loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, the Eagles clinched the National Football Conference’s East Division title, essentially from their couches, and on Monday it surfaced that President Obama reached out to Jeffrey Lurie, the Eagles’ owner, to congratulate him on giving troubled quarterback Mike Vick a second chance.
Indeed, it’s been a busy few days for Reid and Co. and it doesn’t figure to lighten up, as the Eagles will host the Vikings tonight with a second game five days later against the rival Dallas Cowboys to conclude the regular season.
“I don’t think it’s a problem,” Reid told nfl.com about playing twice in five days. “I think we’ll be all right.”
Both games have the utmost importance despite the Eagles already having clinched their division. They can still clinch a first-round bye — which would prevent them from playing three times in the span of 12 days — should they win against the Vikings and Cowboys and the Chicago Bears were to lose to the Green Bay Packers.
Sunday night’s game was postponed due to a blizzard that caused a snow emergency, as declared by Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter. Some opposed the decision, including Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell. Ultimately, the NFL put the game off and, publicly, Reid agreed with the league’s decision.
“We’re OK with it,” he told NFL.com. “We’re organized and prepared for this, and we completely support what the league did from a safety standpoint for everybody. We got the guys out of the hotel and home, and they’ll come back for a walkthrough [Monday] and then to the hotel, and it will be just like a Saturday night before a Sunday game, just a normal Saturday night-Sunday schedule.”
Vick, who has established himself as an MVP candidate this season in Reid’s West Coast offense, was arrested and imprisoned for his involvement in a dog fighting ring, but has garnered notice for his efforts in turning around his life and career. The latest praise came from Obama, who reached out to let the Eagles know he commended their decision.
The Eagles-Vikings matchup, which was scheduled for NBC’s Sunday night game, will air at 5 p.m. PST on NBC. It will be the Eagles’ sixth primetime game of the year, with them having won their first five en route to a current 10-4 record.
The Giants’ loss garnered the Eagles their first division crown since 2006, while Tuesday’s game will be the 23rd NFL contest to be played on a Tuesday and the first since 1946.
WALTON READY
FOR DAYS AT BEACH
Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy volleyball senior standout Alyssa Walton was recently selected among 25 of the country’s top girls’ junior beach volleyball players to attend the USA Volleyball Holiday High Performance Camp, which began Monday at the Arco Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista.
Walton is an All-Mission League selection who will play volleyball at Delaware State next season.