South Hills High School Varsity Football Team

In a wild offensive show, South Hills picked up its first Sierra League win with a 36-33 decision over Ayala on Friday night.

Jamel Hart led the Huskies, carrying the ball 30 times for 213 yards and five touchdowns.

“Jamel ran well,” Huskies coach Steve Bogan said. “Our guys played hard, but we’ve got a lot of young kids, and it’s been a year of adversity in many ways, so this was a good win.”

Hart’s 40-yard touchdown run with 2:24 left in the game gave the Huskies (2-5, 1-1) a 36-26 lead, but the Bulldogs (4-3, 0-2) wouldn’t quit.

Nate Shaw caught a 32-yard touchdown pass from Caleb Carillo to close the gap to 36-33. The Huskies then tried to run out the clock, but gave the ball back on their 36-yard line. A penalty for too many defensive players on the field gave the Bulldogs a shot at a 37-yard field goal with 1.7 seconds left, but they came up just short as time ran out.

“I would have liked it (the kick) to be a little higher,” Bulldogs coach Tom Inglima said. “That’s just the Sierra League. Everyone has good skill players and good linemen. I just wish we were on the other side of it tonight.”

Hart put the Huskies on top 7-0 with 5:22 left in the first quarter. The Huskies defense, led by Peter Nonu, D.J. Kirkland and Ronald Johnson, tackled the Bulldogs for three consecutive losses to give the Huskies good field position, and the Huskies took a 21-20 lead with 1:26 left in the half.

Carillo took his team to the Huskies 25, but a field goal attempt went just wide. Carillo completed 12 of 20 passes for 234 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs.

Read more: John Honell – http://www.sgvtribune.com/southhillshighpreps/ci_16413598

Damien High School had been battered, bruised and frustrated during nonleague play.

But today, that’s ancient history.

The Spartans (4-2) are in first place in the Sierra League.

James Ramirez rushed for 97 yards and threw a touchdown pass, and Ryan Purrington returned the second-half kickoff 87 yards for a score as Damien opened league play with a 35-21 victory over South Hills on Friday night at Covina District Field.

The Spartans, also getting 102 yards and two touchdowns from Andrew Aguirre, improved to 4-2 overall.

Damien’s Jalen Castille scored on a 5-yard run with 52 seconds left to cinch it.

South Hills, which received 241 yards passing and two touchdowns from Vincent Hernandez and 106 yards rushing and a touchdown from Jamel Hart, slipped to 1-5.

“It was a huge win for us,” Damien coach Greg Gano said. “Our kids came to play.

“I knew it was going to go down to the wire, and it did. We got the touchdown late, but I expected a one-point game, and it could have been a one-point game. Our kids made some big plays tonight.”

None, perhaps, bigger than Purrington’s kickoff return, when he motored 87 yards down the right sideline to turn a one-score game into a 19-7 lead with the second half just nine seconds old.

“That was huge,” Gano said. “We were going to take him out, but coach (Dave) Merrill said no, let’s give him another shot.”

South Hills’ Jordan Gutierrez made it 19-14 on a 77-yard touchdown pass from Hernandez with 8:27 left in the quarter, but the Huskies couldn’t stop Damien, which seemed to catch the hosts off guard with some misdirection plays, including an 8-yard reverse for a touchdown by Aguirre to make it 28-14 with 11:23 left in the game. The junior also caught a 42-yard TD pass from Ramirez late in the half.

“We had to come up with some plays to utilize our speed a little,” Gano said. “I thought we could catch them, and we did.”

Hernandez threw 13 yards to Manny Alvarez to make it 28-21 with 7:55 left, but Purrington again came up big, returning the kickoff back to the 50.

Damien drove to the South Hills 25 before missing a field goal.

Read More: Steve Ramirez – http://www.sgvtribune.com/southhillshighpreps/ci_16354227

That’s because Chino Hills (5-1), with nonleague victories over Tesoro and Redlands East Valley, has become a huge league favorite as it prepares for Friday’s game against Claremont (5-1), another school projected to be in the playoff hunt along with Charter Oak (3-2), which visits Ayala (4-1).
South Hills (1-4) is hosting Damien (3-2) at Covina District Field in the league opener Friday following four consecutive losses, which include a 42-27 thumping by West Covina, a 59-6 loss to Tesoro, and a 43-28 loss last week to Los Osos.
In fact, the 42, 43 and 49 points allowed were the most points the Huskies have allowed in a single game this decade, and it all happened in a month’s time.
Although Damien has a winning record, in two games the Spartans had a chance to measure themselves, they were beaten soundly by Bishop Amat (42-7) and JSerra (42-7).
How times have changed for two of the area’s winningest coaches.
“It’s been humbling, it really has,” Gano said of the lopsided losses. “It’s been humbling for Steve too, but nobody’s feeling sorry for us, we’ve got a game on Friday we have to win, and so do they.”
Nonleague records are often misleading because of schedule strength, but it’s hard to make a case that South Hills and Damien are better off for playing tough schedules because they haven’t been competitive in big games.

“We’re in a similar boat,” Gano said. “The loser almost has no chance of making the playoffs, that’s just common sense.

“We’re both struggling, we both need a win, it’s important. It doesn’t guarantee you’ll make the playoffs, but the winner at least has a fighting chance and some momentum, because a win in the first game of league is always important for (your mental makeup)….”

Read more: Fred Robledo – http://www.sgvtribune.com/preps/ci_16315153#ixzz12U6hZGWd