South Hills High School Varsity Football Team

One day after longtime Bonita coach Eric Podley and Covina’s Darryl Thomas resigned after spending more than a decade as head football coaches at their respective schools, one of the winningest in San Gabriel Valley history decided to hang it up after 19 years and a 70 percent winning clip in nearly two decades.

South Hills football coach Steve Bogan, who was named the Huskies’ head coach in 1992, resigned on Tuesday after winning four CIF-Southern Section titles, 13 league titles and compiling an overall record of 172-73 and 31-10 mark in the playoffs.

“It’s been a great, great ride,” Bogan said. “When I look back I’ve been very fortunate to be here this long. I’m not exactly sure where I’m going, but I couldn’t have asked for a better experience.”

Bogan, a government and history teacher at South Hills since 1985, will remain at the school and continue to teach.

Bogan, who nearly left South Hills to take the Maranatha head coaching job last year, had thought about stepping aside in recent years.

“I just thought it was the right time,” Bogan said. “When I first got hired my goal was to go 10 years without being fired, because you heard of so many quality guys getting fired and you’re like, `It’s what have you done for me lately?’

“To be here this long and accomplish everything we did, I couldn’t have asked for anything more. South Hills is my home, it’s a great place and I will continue to be here. I’ve always thought I was a teacher first, and that’s what I’ll continue to do.”

Bogan said it’s too early to decide whether he’s finished coaching, he just knew he needed time off.

“I don’t know exactly what you want to call it,” Bogan said. “I’m going to look at possibly getting an administrative credential. I just felt like the Lord was saying you have to see what life is like on the other end. There were a lot of factors and the biggest one was our kids. I love them all, this is why we do what we do.”

Damien coach Greg Gano started his career as an assistant with Bogan in 1992 at South Hills. Gano later won four championships as the head coach at Los Altos and remains close friends with Bogan.

“I don’t think anybody has any perspective of what he’s accomplished at South Hills High School,” Gano said. “Not just the wins and losses, but his influence on kids, even after they graduated. He’s always been a class act.”

Bogan was named the San Gabriel Valley Tribune coach of the decade from 2000-09 – a span in which he won four CIF titles in five finals appearances, and reached at least the quarterfinals all 10 years during that stretch. He also was named the Tribune and CIF-SS divisional coach of the year twice.

Bogan won his first championship in 2000, a 19-14 victory over La Habra in the DivisionIX title game that gave South Hills its first football title in 26 years.

After getting knocked out in the divisional semifinals in 2001, the Huskies won again in 2002, beating Walnut 36-8 for the Division VII title.

South Hills’ back-to-back bid came in 2003, which might have been Bogan’s best team of all. The 2003 championship team, led by brothers Bryan and Jeremy Payton, who went to Oregon State and Arizona State, respectively, allowed just six points in the playoffs, and that came in the Division VII championship game, a 25-6 blowout over San Gabriel.

After losing to rival West Covina in the Division VII championship game in 2004, spoiling the Huskies’ three-peat bid, South Hills came right back the following season.

Bogan’s final championship campaign was a rout at Covina District Field for the 2005 Division VII crown with a 41-16 victory over Orange.

South Hills’ football program grew into a divisional and area power under Bogan, which promoted South Hills’ move to the more difficult Sierra League and the Inland Division (equivalent of Division 2) in 2009 – a climb of seven divisions since the Huskies won the Division IX crown in 2000.

South Hills struggled the past two years, going 3-7 in 2010 and ’11. The Huskies missed the playoffs both years, the first time they had missed the playoffs since 1998.

“I thought about leaving two years ago, but we were in transition,” Bogan said. “Our principal (Judy North) was retiring and we were moving into a much tougher league and division.

“I wasn’t at peace with leaving then, but I just got to the point where it was time, and I’ll still be here to help make the transition (for the next coach) as smooth as possible.”

Read more: http://www.sgvtribune.com/preps/ci_19717630#ixzz1jGYT5qhl

CLAREMONT – Klyvens Delaunay, playing safety for Claremont High School, stepped in front of a South Hills receiver for an interception in the second quarter Friday and landed on the turf.

Maybe Wolfpack quarterback Gabe Schaper wanted to reward Delaunay for his interception. Maybe Schaper glanced at the stat sheet and noticed Delaunay had only one catch for negative receiving yards.

Regardless, on the next play from scrimmage, Schaper dropped back and threw to Delaunay in stride up the sideline for a 54-yard touchdown play. Life was good.

In a game in which they moved the ball almost at will, the only downer for the Wolfpack (6-4 overall, 2-3 Sierra League) in Friday’s 45-28 win over the Huskies is it came one day after they were eliminated from postseason contention.

“Our message was that we wanted to treat this as a playoff game,” Claremont Coach Michael Collins said. “How would we have prepared? How would we have played? How would we have executed? How would our emotions be if it was a playoff game?”

The answer to the last question was hard to gauge as some seniors were in tears after their final high school game.

But composure was the only thing they lost. For Schaper, Delaunay and the other Claremont seniors, it was a good way to go out.

Schaper finished 13 of 21 for 361 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. Will Reeves ran for one touchdown and returned an interception 60 yards for another. Dylan Kegans was a perfect 6-for-6 on extra points and tacked on a 29-yard field goal for good measure.

Junior receiver Washington Reeder caught three passes for 144yards and two touchdowns as the Wolfpack racked up 442 total yards – 383 in the air.

Reeves’ 5-yard scoring run and DeAndre Manus’ 47-yard touchdown reception from Schaper made it 14-0 early in the first quarter.

South Hills (3-7, 0-5) responded. Manny Alvarez recovered a Claremont fumble in the end zone and Huskies quarterback Vincent Hernandez (8 of 24, 111 yards, two interceptions, one touchdown) scrambled to tie the game at 14 less than three minutes into the second quarter.

But not until Jamel Hart’s touchdown run with 3:47 left in the third did the Huskies score again after Claremont scored 28 consecutive points.

The right arm of Schaper did most of the damage, but South Hills also hurt its own cause with four turnovers, beginning with a lost fumble on the opening kickoff.

“It was really a great game for him,” Collins said of Schaper. “I thought that for the most part the defense played well too.

“They should be proud of themselves.”

Hart finished with 205 yards rushing on 27 carries.

Read more: http://www.sgvtribune.com/southhillshighpreps/ci_19321227

COVINA – The Chino Hills Huskies (6-3, 4-0) continued to look impressive as they stayed undefeated in the Sierra League after beating South Hills 36-13 in a soggy matchup on Friday.

Chino Hills used multiple big plays in the air and on the ground to shred the South Hills defense. Chino Hills was led by quarterback Andrew Chavez, who was 13 of 17 for 188 yards and two touchdowns.

The Chino Hills rushing attack was led by the duo of Louis Napoles and Darin Abarcherli, who ran for 85 and 75 yards respectively. Napoles scored one touchdown while Abarcherli ran for two touchdowns.

South Hills (3-6, 0-4) was led by Vincent Hernandez who passed for 118 yards including a 7-yard touchdown pass to Brayton Newton.

Running back Jamel Hart rushed for 73 yards and the only other score for the Huskies as the running game was consistent throughout the game. Senior Brayton Newton caught three passes for a total of 53 yards.

Chino Hills finishes the regular season with a game at home against Charter Oak (8-1, 4-0) with both teams having a chance for the league title.

South Hills finishes the season at Claremont.