Victory still sweet for Tornadoes football coach at YMCA Quarterback Club
SOUTHEAST GLENDALE — The Glendale YMCA Quarterback Club, in its 70th year, meets Tuesdays at the Elk’s Lodge. The following are odds and ends from the sixth meeting of the year.
WARM APPLAUSE FOR POLICKY
Hoover High Coach Andrew Policky stepped behind the podium during Tuesday’s meeting to address his team’s 37-8 Pacific League victory against Pasadena on Friday. Before Policky spoke, many of the club’s members and several area coaches greeted him with an ovation.
Hoover (3-4, 1-3 in league) recorded its first league win against a team other than rival Glendale for the first time since 1994. In the process, the Tornadoes also snapped a 17-game league losing skid.
“From this reaction, it leads me to believe we won,” said Policky, whose team will meet Burroughs, which shared the league title with Arcadia last season, at 7 p.m. Thursday at Glendale High’s Moyse Field. “Everything was going good, and we got big games from [running back] Jesse Pina and [linebacker] Orlando Marin.”
Pina rushed for 138 yards and one touchdown in 20 carries against Pasadena. Marin finished with a team-high nine tackles and one interception. Marin also forced a fumble and recovered a loose ball for the Tornadoes.
Crescenta Valley Coach Paul Schilling, Glendale Coach John Tuttle and St. Francis Coach Jim Bonds also acknowledged Policky before they each spoke.
“It’s an awesome event [for Hoover],” Schilling said. “It’s good for the league and good for the Glendale area.”
DON’T EXPECT THINGS TO GET EASIER
The St. Francis High football team finds itself in a hole two weeks into the Mission League portion of its schedule. The Golden Knights suffered a 41-36 league loss Friday against host Harvard-Westlake, dropping them to 3-4, 0-2 in league.
St. Francis, ranked No. 10 in the latest CIF Southern Section Western Division poll, nearly rallied from a 41-15 deficit in the fourth quarter. Harvard-Westlake is No. 4 in the division.
“It’s just been that way for the least three weeks,” Bonds said. “Defensively, we just couldn’t get off the field.
“Harvard converted on some long third-down situations and a couple of fourth-down plays.”
The Golden Knights have lost their four games by a combined 18 points.
Now, St. Francis will begin a three-game homestand at 7:30 p.m. Thursday against Gardena Serra at Friedman Field. The Cavaliers are 5-2, 2-0 and ranked No. 3 in the division.
“We are in the middle of a five-game stretch that’s very tough,” Bonds said. “We know it’s not going to get any easier.
“We have a short week to prepare, so maybe we will catch them by surprise.”
Following the Serra contest, St. Francis will meet Chaminade (No. 2 in the division) on Oct. 26.
CHANGE ON THE WAY FOR VAQUEROS
It seems as though the Glendale Community College football team can’t catch a break when playing at home at Sartoris Field. In the Vaqueros’ latest home game, which was moved up five hours because of an issue with the stadium lights, they suffered a 41-6 loss against West L.A. in a Pacific Conference American Division contest. Glendale dropped to 0-3 at home this season.
“Because of a lighting malfunction, we had to reschedule the time of the game,” Glendale college Coach John Rome said. “Part of my job was to tell the other team to be there, but I just forgot to tell my team.
“We were flat.”
Glendale fell to 2-5, 0-3 in the division.
Rome also said that there will be a major change in the starting lineup when the Vaqueros take on host L.A. Southwest at 6 p.m. Saturday in a division contest.
Rome said reserve quarterback Ki Bae will be the starting quarterback for the Vaqueros. Bae replaced starter Nick Blackmon, who turned the ball over four times against West L.A. before being replaced by Bae midway through the fourth quarter.
Bae completed three of six passes and scored on a 16-yard run with 1:59 remaining in the fourth quarter against West L.A. Blackmon completed 11 of 24 passes for 88 yards and had a pair of interceptions.
