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

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

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.

The two teams combined for 25 points in the span of five offensive plays in the fourth quarter.

Damien senior running back Jalen Castille broke away for a 75-yard touchdown run to regain the lead for Damien, 45-38, with 5:53 to play in the game, allowing the Spartans to eventually escape with a 47-38 win.

The Spartans sacked South Hills’ Vincent Hernandez for a safety with 4:49 remaining, and Damien (6-1, 2-0) ran out the clock from there.

“They have a great offense; they made great plays, we made some great plays, and we made one more than they did,” Damien coach Greg Gano said.

“That’s the bottom line.”

After trailing 30-14 at the half, the Huskies scored two touchdowns and recovered a Damien fumble at their own 43-yard line. Senior Danny Sheehan’s 36-yard field goal gave the Huskies their first and only lead of the game, 31-30, with 7:15 left in the fourth.

Damien responded with a 62-yard Gage Pucci touchdown pass to Travion Boykins on the next play from scrimmage. Pucci’s two-point conversion made it 38-31.

South Hills answered with a touchdown on the very next play, a 71-yard pass from Hernandez to Jamie Canada, to tie the score at 38 with 6:42 to play. Two plays later, Castille slipped one tackler and was off to the races for the decisive touchdown.

“The kids are improving, they’re getting better,” South Hills coach Steve Bogan said of his defense. “There were a couple plays we’d like to have back.”

“At key times they hit us with a couple big plays, and if we could’ve gotten one or two of those back, it would’ve been different.”

Castille opened the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run to give Damien a 7-0 lead with 5:53 left in the first. Damien added a safety on the next possession before South Hills (3-4, 0-2) answered with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Brayton Newton. Boykins’ 14-yard touchdown run gave Damien a 16-7 lead.

Canada’s 75-yard touchdown reception from Hernandez on the next possession cut the lead to two with 5:32 left in the half. Damien junior Andre Gano’s 50-yard interception return for a touchdown gave the Spartans a 23-14 lead. Pucci’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Josh Savage made it 30-14 at the half.

A 53-yard reverse touchdown pass from Canada to Sheehan cut the lead to 30-21 to open the second half. Jamel Hart’s 2-yard touchdown run to open the fourth cut the lead to 30-28.

Canada had 10 catches for 193 yards and two touchdowns.

Read more: http://www.sgvtribune.com/preps/ci_19170457

On a night Santiago threw for 325 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed for 54 yards and three touchdowns, his evening might be best remembered for scrambling out of trouble and running over a defender for a first down that few quarterbacks have the guts to try.

When it was all over, Charter Oak had amassed over 500 total yards and ran South Hills off the field 63-28 in the Sierra League opener at Covina District Field on Friday.

Charter Oak, ranked sixth in the Inland Division, improved to 5-1 and 1-0 and the Huskies dropped to 3-3 and 0-1.

Back to Santiago.

“I’ve only been doing this for 44 years, the competitiveness and toughness in that kid is up there with the best of them,” Chargers coach Lou Farrar said. “He (Santiago) makes plays with his feet that matches the ability of his arm.

“I don’t know what to say, I’ve seen a lot of high school football games and high school football players. His ability to compete, think and his football IQ is phenomenal. There can’t be a better quarterback anywhere around here.”

Sophomore Kurt Scoby was nearly as difficult to contain, rushing for 154 yards and three touchdowns. Even receiver Aaren Vaughns contributed with seven catches for 121 yards, and Chris Gilchrist scored twice.

South Hills quarterback Vincent Hernandez threw for 234 yards and two touchdowns, and Jamel Hart rushed for 65 yards and two touchdowns to help keep the Huskies within striking distance, trailing 21-14 in the second quarter.

But the Chargers closed the quarter with 21 consecutive points to open up a 42-14 halftime lead.

“You could put them almost anywhere and that team is going to score points,” South Hills coach Steve Bogan said of Charter Oak. “They’re loaded. There’s lots of bullets in that gun and the bullets kept coming.”

And it didn’t take long for them to start firing.

After Gilchrist returned the opening kickoff 74 yards for a touchdown, Santiago completed a 37-yard pass to the 4, and then he ran it in a couple of plays later, scoring from a yard out for a 14-0 lead.

South Hills cut the lead in half on Hernandez’s 45-yard touchdown pass to Brayton Newton, making it 14-7.

But Santiago continued beating the Huskies with his feet too, scoring on a 5-yard run to make it 21-7.

After Hart cut the lead in half again with a 2-yard touchdown to make it 21-14, the Chargers broke the game open.

After Scoby scored on a 3-yard run, Santiago showed his brilliance on the next drive, completing a 33-yard pass and a 21-yard pass, then finishing the drive with a 16-yard TD run – the Chargers going 70 yards on three plays to go up 35-14 with 3:49 until halftime.

Scoby later scored his third touchdown of the half to put the Chargers up, 42-14, at the break.

Santiago, who along with teammates Gilchrist and Vaughns started at South Hills before transferring to Charter Oak, knew there would be a lot of emotion.

“I was dedicated to this game,” Santiago said. “I was here my freshman year, but I came to compete with my team tonight and we played together as one.”

Scoby’s 16-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter and Gilchrist’s 31-yard touchdown reception put the game out of reach for good.

Read more: http://www.sgvtribune.com/preps/ci_19119824

Need him to fill in at quarterback for injured starter Vince Hernandez? No problem.

Need him to play wide receiver when Hernandez is healthy? No problem.

Need him to hit the game-winning field goal as a place-kicker?

Consider it done.

All this from a senior who strongly considered not playing this season because of a serious concussion suffered last year. For the Huskies’ sake, though, thank goodness football is in Sheehan’s blood.

“We’d be in a lot of trouble if we didn’t have him,” South Hills coach Steve Bogan said. “He has a Jim Thorpe-like quality; multi-talented and can kick, throw, play baseball, play football. It’s not surprising to us that he can step in and play any role we need filled.

“We’re grateful, but we’re not surprised.”

The original plan this season was for Sheehan to handle kicking duties and serve as a nice No. 2 receiver next to standout Jamie Canada. Due to Hernandez’s shoulder injury, that plan has been scrapped. Sheehan is the quarterback until Hernandez returns. His foot is also the one South Hills turns to when the Huskies are in a close game.

Thursday, Sheehan’s job was to drive the Huskies from their own 20-yard line into scoring position to break a 28-28 tie against powerful Los Osos in the final two minutes. Sheehan did just that, then hit the game-winning 27-yard field goal with 10.1 seconds left to send South Hills to a 31-28 victory.

“I’m just going to do whatever Coach Bogan asks me to do to help our team win,” Sheehan said. “If he needs me to play quarterback, I will play quarterback. My team needs me to step up, so I do it. It’s not like I also play defense.”

Sheehan’s game-winning kick Thursday took the sting off of a potential game-tying extra point he missed earlier in the season against Colony. In that game, the Huskies scored near the end of the game, decided to go for two, but a penalty pushed the Huskies back and they decided to kick the extra point. Unfortunately, though, Sheehan missed and South Hills lost, 30-29.

“That one hurt,” Sheehan said. “I felt like if we went into overtime, we had the momentum on our side and we could have pulled through. I felt like I really let the team down, but they helped me and picked me up and helped me push through it.”

So when Sheehan again got a chance to help his team with his leg, he wasn’t about to pass it up. South Hills had blown a 21-0 lead against Los Osos, but had a chance to eek out the victory with a field goal from Sheehan. But things started eerily similar to the Colony miss as he set up for the kick.

“It was kind of deja vu because we had a false start again,” Sheehan said. “I was thinking I was going to nail it because I didn’t want that taste in my mouth again. I had all the confidence in the world. I didn’t want to let my team down again.

“When I hit it, I was super excited. It was a good team win.”

Handling multiple roles on a football field is no surprise given his bloodlines. Sheehan is the son of former Covina coach Dick Sheehan, who is now the Superintendent of the Glendale Unified School District.

Before that, Dick Sheehan was the principal at Northview.

Danny Sheehan also has two uncles who played football at South Hills.

“I know the game,” Sheehan said. “I grew up around football with my dad being a coach.”

Despite the family lineage, baseball is Sheehan’s first love. He’s a second baseman and leadoff hitter for the Huskies’ strong baseball program. And because baseball is Sheehan’s biggest endeavor, his dad gave him the OK to give up football, especially after last year’s head injury.

“I was deciding this year whether or not to play football again,” Sheehan said. “I really figured that down the line I would miss it if I didn’t because I come from a football family.”

Read more…

From: sgvtribune.com ~ Aram Tolegian, Staff Writer

Sheehan’s 27-yard field goal with 10.1 seconds remaining lifted the Huskies to a 31-28 victory over visiting Los Osos in nonleague action.

Los Osos (2-3) trailed 21-0 at one point, and tied the game 28-28 with 3:17 to play when quarterback Stephen Johnson scored on a 1-yard run. Michael McNicholl ran in the two-point conversion.

South Hills, however, led by Sheehan and running back Jamel Hart, drove the ball down to the Los Osos 5-yard line before an offside penalty on South Hills pushed the ball back to the 10.

Sheehan had no problem, however, with the extra yardage, handing the Grizzlies a tough defeat.

Sheehan hit Jamie Canada on a 10-yard scoring strike to get South Hills (3-2) out to a 7-0 lead with 8:38 left in the second quarter.

Adam Goss then recovered a Los Osos fumble in the end zone, and Manny Alvarez picked off Johnson and brought it back 42 yards to give the Huskies a commanding 21-0 first-half lead.

Los Osos got its first score of the game when Victor Bolden took a reverse 15 yards for the score, but the extra- point attempt failed.

McNicholl then rumbled 33 yards for another Grizzlies touchdown to close the gap to 21-12 when another point-after attempt failed.

Hart scored on a 1-yard run to extend the South Hills lead to 28-12 with 22 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

McNicholl was able to pound the ball into the end zone on a fourth-and-goal play from the 4-yard line, and he scored the two-point conversion to get Los Osos to within 28-20.

Johnson struggled most of the night for Los Osos and finished 12 of 36 for 86 yards.

McNicholl had 61 yards and two touchdown on 11 carries, and Luke Johnson rushed for 79 yards on 12 carries for the Grizzlies.

Bolden had a game-high six catches for 42 yards for Los Osos.

Hart led all rushers with 166 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries, but he lost two fumbles in the red zone for the Huskies.

Canada not only scored the game’s first touchdown, but he also had an interception.

Sheehan completed 9 of 21 passes for 117 yards for South Hills, but his field goal and four extra points were the difference.

From: sgvtribune.com ~ Brian Baiotto, Correspondent

The senior delivered, scoring two of his three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to help South Hills rally past host Monrovia 34-30 on Friday to improve to 2-2. The defending CIF-SS Mid-Valley Division champion Wildcats lost their third consecutive to fall to 1-3.

Hart, who finished with 155 yards on 30 carries, took over late in the third quarter after Wildcats quarterback Blake Heyworth hooked up with Anthony Craft for a 49-yard touchdown to take a 24-20 lead with 4:42 left in the third.

On the ensuing series, the Huskies marched 65 yards in 11 plays, with Hart carrying it nine times on the drive for 56 yards. He capped the march with a 10-yard touchdown run to move the Huskies in front, 27-24, a minute into the fourth quarter.

“That’s kind of what you want to do, score early and run the ball late to secure wins,” South Hills coach Steve Bogan said. “Jamel was able to wear them down, you can see it in the third and fourth quarters. He was getting big chunks of yards.”

After a 33-yard run later in the fourth, Hart scored again on a 4-yard touchdown to extend the Huskies’ lead to 34-24 with 9:09 left.

The Wildcats made it close on the final play of the game when Heyworth threw a 37-yard Hail Mary that Luke Williams came down with as time expired to make it 34-30.

Heyworth, who split time at QB with George Frazier, had a solid night, throwing for 236 yards and two touchdowns. Frazier, meanwhile, threw for only 69 yards with an interception.

The Wildcats had problems running the ball consistently. Marquise Bias had 37 yards on nine carries, and De’Shawn Ramirez had four carries for a net minus-two yards.

Ramirez did catch four passes for 83 yards – one a spectacular one-handed grab for a 54-yard touchdown in the first quarter that tied the score 7-7.

Even though it was a another loss, Wildcats coach Ryan Maddox thinks it will be worth it down the line.

That was the feeling after West Covina survived a furious fourth-quarter rally from visiting South Hills to pull out a 35-33 victory on Friday.

The Bulldogs built a 35-14 lead going into the fourth quarter behind four touchdowns and 242 yards from Jimmy Frazier.

But the Huskies scored three touchdowns in the fourth to nearly send it to overtime.

Just when the Bulldogs were about to apply the finishing touches, the Huskies’ Vince Hernandez returned a fumble for an 83-yard score to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 35-27 with 7:48 left.

After another Bulldogs fumble deep in South Hills territory, Hernandez hooked up with Jamie Canada for a 69-yard touchdown pass with 1:29 left to cut it to 35-33.

The Huskies, who had an extra point blocked earlier, missed the game-tying two-point conversion when Hernandez’s pass attempt came up short.

South Hills certainly had reason to feel like it let one slip away.

Hernandez threw for 389 yards and three touchdowns, but he also had three interceptions – one at the goal-line at the end of the first half, and another in the end zone early in the second half.

Canada also had an amazing night, hauling in eight receptions for 242 yards and two touchdowns, showing why he’s considered the best wideout in the Valley.

But the Huskies couldn’t stop the Bulldogs on the ground. In addition to Frazier’s 242 yards, Aaron Salgado rushed for 160 yards and a touchdown as the Bulldogs amassed over 400 yards on the ground.

But it also was Salgado who committed two fourth quarter fumbles in the red zone that kept West Covina from sealing the deal much earlier.

But it was one of those games, the Huskies with four turnovers, the Bulldogs with three and enough offense from both to produce a thrilling finish.

West Covina improved to 2-1 while South Hills dropped to 1-2.

“They had trouble stopping our run, and we had trouble stopping their pass,” West Covina coach Mike Maggiore said. “I didn’t want it to be that close, not after we were up three touchdowns. We ran the ball well, especially against a defense that knew we were going to run the ball, but we turned it over late when I thought we were going to score.

“But it works both ways. we got some breaks too. They threw a couple picks in the end zone.”

After Brayton Newton caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Hernandez to trim West Covina’s lead to 21-14, Frazier went crazy, scoring on runs of 65 and 58 yards to close the third quarter, extending the Bulldogs’ lead to 35-14.

From: sgvtribune.com ~ Fred J. Robledo, Staff Writer

The visiting Mariners made the long drive from Santa Monica and proved to be no match for the Huskies, who rolled to a 61-0 victory.

The Huskies (1-1) raced out to a 33-0 halftime lead, were able to play three quarterbacks and saw all four of their running backs score touchdowns.

St. Monica (1-1), a defending league champion in its own right, was unable to do anything on offense, crossing the 50-yard line just once.

“I think they were just outmatched tonight,” South Hills coach Steve Bogan said. “It’s nice when you’re in a situation where we executed well and took care of business.”

Took care of business they did, with quarterback Vince Hernandez completing 14 of 17 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns. All three touchdowns went to wideout Jamie Canada, who finished the game with 82 yards on five catches.

South Hills running back Jamel Hart rushed for three touchdowns, carrying the ball 13 times for 124 yards.

Even after pulling many of its starters, the Huskies’ offense, which outgained St.Monica 439 yards to 121, kept the ball on the ground and still couldn’t be stopped.

Sophomore running back Lewon Carney gave South Hills a 47-0 lead late in the third quarter, running over several defenders for a 12-yard touchdown.

Senior Michael Bridgewater got his opportunity next and carried the ball four times for 45 yards, including a touchdown run from 3 yards out.

Another senior, Ralph Bingochea, capped off the scoring for the Huskies with an 8-yard touchdown run with 2:40 left to play.

“It was great to give a lot of kids opportunities to touch the ball and get on the field, mix it up, and have a good time,” Bogan said.

Leading 13-0 early in the second quarter, Manny Alvarez ended St. Monica’s only scoring threat by intercepting quarterback Lukas Dretzka’s pass at the South Hills 22.

That led to the first of Hart’s three scores, a 16-yard burst up the middle.

The Mariners gave it right back to the Huskies, fumbling the ensuing kickoff. Adam Goss scooped up the loose ball and returned it to the St. Monica 4.

Hernandez followed with his third touchdown pass of the game, lobbing the ball to Canada in the corner of the end zone.

From: sgvtribune.com ~ Bruce Little, Correspondent