Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Videos: Valley Center at Mt. Carmel football

Here are some video clips from the sideline of the Valley Center football game at Mt. Carmel on Friday night.

video by Kelly Kidder

Travis Bernard gets a good gain running left:


Beau Reilly finds David Last on the post for a nice gain:


Reilly hits Jean-Marc Brierre on fourth down to pick up a first down:


Reilly throws a perfect pass to Last on the corner route for the duo's first touchdown of the game:


Bernard heads toward the sideline before cutting it back into the middle of the field:


Bernard takes the handoff and plunges in for the touchdown:


Bernard gets some tough yards, running through a tackle on his way to a good gain:


Reilly finds Last in the flat, and the receiver turns upfield for a good gain:


Reilly fakes the toss on the option and keeps it himself for a long touchdown run:


Bernard gets hit at the line, but escapes the pile and picks up a big gain on the ground:

Valley Center on the PPR

Here is the Prep Pigskin Report video from the Valley Center game at Mt. Carmel on Friday:

Videos: Valley Center vs. Mt. Carmel field hockey

Here are some video clips from the Lady Jaguars' field hockey game against Mt. Carmel last week. I didn't get any video of either of the Valley Center goals...they're so quick out there, and I may or may not have been otherwise occupied with a bag of sunflower seeds. It was a fun game to watch though...the Lady Jags are tough to beat.

Kelly Hagadorn sends a pass in front of the Mt. Carmel goal, but nobody's home to get a shot for VC:


The Lady Jaguars get the ball in close, but Jackie Bishop can't get her shot on goal:


Hagadorn goes on a nice run through the Mt. Carmel defense, but when the rebound comes to Victoria Navarro, the defense gets to it first and prevents a score:

Photos: Valley Center at Mt. Carmel football

Here are some photos from Valley Center's 41-8 win at Mt. Carmel on Friday.
photos by Gabriel Santana

Kenny Thomas goes after the quarterback:
Jean-Marc Brierre looks for room after the catch, as John Watkins blocks:
David Last goes up for the catch:
Last gets open on the corner route...
...and makes the catch for his first touchdown of the night:
Jacob Beason (84) drags the runner down:
Zach Blanco gets the sack:
Shonta Chaloux (12), Beason and the rest of the Jaguar defense make the tackle:
Travis Bernard keeps his legs moving to run through a tackle:
Beason and Chaloux combine for a big hit:
Last turns upfield after a catch along the sideline:
Bernard runs through another tackle...
...and escapes into the open field:
Thomas gets his first sack of the night...
...and buries the Mt. Carmel quarterback in the process:
Bernard cuts to the outside behind a block from Travis Weddington (50):
The Jaguar defense swarms to the ball again:
Chaloux lines up a big hit:
Beau Reilly escapes for a long touchdown run (but it was called back on a penalty):
Last gets some serious air to grab his second touchdown of the night:
Valley Center's defense suffocated the Sundevils all night long:
Chaloux absolutely hammered the passer on a trick play:
Dylan Smith drags the runner down:
Reilly gets away from the defense on an option keeper for a long touchdown:
Bernard gets a big gain on his final carry of the night:
Martin Cunningham (52) chases down the runner:
The Jags line up to shake hands after the game:
Bernard shares his thoughts with our intrepid sports reporter:

Jaguars ranked No. 1 in CIF Division IV after big win at Mt. Carmel

The Valley Center Jaguars are on the rise in the rankings after another big win this week.
The Jags traveled to Mt. Carmel on Friday night and ran all over the Sundevils for a 41–8 victory that launched them to the No. 1 rank in Division IV of the CIF San Diego Section, No. 4 in the entire section into the top 100 nationally, according to the Web site www.valleycenterjaguars.com/football/
Meanwhile, MaxPreps.com has the Jaguars ranked at No. 4 in the section and No. 22 in the state, with two games remaining in the regular season.
“We don’t want to get big-headed,” said senior tailback Travis Bernard after the big win. “We have to keep our eyes on the prize, and that’s winning a [CIF] championship. We have to stay disciplined, get in the film room, and get ready for Del Norte [in two weeks].”
Bernard certainly would be excused for showing a little bit of pride in his effort on Friday, as he carried the ball 26 times for 336 yards and three touchdowns. By halftime, the explosive runner had already amassed 185 yards and scored twice, but after the game, he gave all the credit to the rest of the team.
“Our blocking was great tonight,” he said. “We put in a lot of hard work in practice, and we listened to our coaches. I was able to read the blocks, find the hole and make my cuts, and it worked all night.”
The success of the Jaguars’ passing game certainly helped soften the defense for Bernard, as senior quarterback Beau Reilly completed ten of 13 passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns in the game.
“We’re starting to hit our stride on offense,” head coach Rob Gilster said. “We run the ball well every week, but Beau just keeps getting better and better. There’s still room for improvement, obviously, but I think this was his best game so far this season.”
Reilly’s favorite target of the night was David Last, the multi-faceted senior kicker, cornerback and slot receiver who hauled in six receptions for 104 yards and two touchdowns, kicked five extra points, sent five of his seven kickoffs into the endzone for touchbacks, and picked off a Mt. Carmel pass at the end of the game.
“Our defense is on fire right now,” he said after the game. “[On the touchdown receptions] the guy on me went inside, so I cut outside and Beau threw a perfect pass. It felt great to get a win, but we’re not thinking that far ahead. We have to keep taking it one week at a time.”
The Jaguars held Mt. Carmel scoreless until early in the fourth quarter, when the Sundevils finally broke a few long runs and converted an 11-yard touchdown. But the Jags sacked the Mt. Carmel quarterback three times, including two sacks by defensive end Kenny Thomas, and one by defensive tackle Zach Blanco. The Jags also got a takeaway on Last’s interception and the unit stopped the Sundevils on a pair of fourth-down conversion attempts in the game.
Valley Center’s defense got to start the game and after allowing a quick first down, the Jags held on the next three plays and forced a punt.
The Jaguar offense came out and did something it has only done one other time this season—score a touchdown on its first possession of the game, which it did last week against San Marcos.
This week, the Jags took over on their own nine yard line and marched 91 yards on nine plays to score a touchdown. On the drive, the Jaguars overcame two penalties that led to a second-and-19 situation, then converted a fourth-and-three play on a pass to tight end Jean-Marc Brierre. But the score came on the first of Reilly’s perfectly-placed corner passes to Last, who faked a post route before slicing back to the front corner of the endzone to haul in the touchdown pass.
Leading by seven with just over five minutes remaining in the first quarter, the Jaguars forced another punt on Mt. Carmel’s next drive, and looked to be headed for another blowout first half like the one last week against San Marcos.
On Valley Center’s ensuing possession, Bernard ripped off a 38-yard run on first down. But on second down, the normally sure-handed running back ran into one of his blockers on a run up the middle, and the ball squirted free. Mt. Carmel recovered at its own 16, looking to take advantage of the swing in momentum.
The Sundevils picked up two quick first downs, but the drive stalled when Blanco got his sack on first down, linebacker Shonta Chaloux forced an incomplete pass on second down, and a short run on third down led to another punt.
The short punt, combined with a penalty on the Sundevils for a chop block, gave Valley Center possession at the Mt. Carmel 47.
From there, the Jaguars didn’t waste any time getting another score, as the drove 53 yards in just three plays to go up by 14. Bernard got his first touchdown on a 12-yard run with just over nine minutes left in the first half.
But the Sundevils weren’t going to roll over, and they responded with a big play to begin the ensuing drive. After another touchback on the kickoff, Mt. Carmel picked up 56 yards on first down on a quarterback keeper from the shotgun formation. Backed up at its own 24, the Jaguar defense responded, however, and held Mt. Carmel to an incompletion and two plays for a loss on the next three plays. Thomas picked up his first sack of the game on third down, setting up a fourth-and-22 situation for the Sundevils. They went for it, but a long pass down the sideline fell incomplete, and the Jaguars took over at their own 37.
Once again, the Jags drove down for a touchdown, this time covering the 63 yards in seven plays. Bernard scored again, this time on a fourth-and-three conversion attempt that he broke for a 40-yard touchdown. On the run, Bernard kept his legs pumping, ran through an arm tackle, and cut to the sideline, where he outran the safety to the goal line.
The teams traded punts, and on Mt. Carmel’s final possession of the half, Thomas and Martin Cunningham combined to drop the Sundevil runner for a three-yard loss that ran out the clock.
Leading by 21 at the break, Valley Center kept the pressure on in the third quarter and put together another touchdown drive on the first possession of the second half.
The Jaguars recovered a bouncing kickoff at their own 12, then drove 88 yards in just five plays for another touchdown. After the first two plays resulted in a first down at the Valley Center 35, Reilly hit Last on a hitch route that turned into a 21-yard catch and run. Two flags on the play—one on Valley Center for holding, the other on Mt. Carmel for a late hit out of bounds—resulted in a first down for the Jags at the Mt. Carmel 46. On the next play, Bernard turned on the jets on a run up the middle, but got dragged down at the four yard line. From there, Bernard took the handoff and walked into the endzone to put the Jags up 28–0 with just under 11 minutes left in the third quarter.
The Jaguars held Mt. Carmel to a three-and-out on the ensuing drive, leading to a ten-play, 73-yard touchdown drive. The Jags converted on a fourth-and-one attempt, setting up another pass from Reilly to Last, this one for a 24-yard touchdown. Last once again beat his defender with an inside-to-outside move, but had to out-leap the defense for the ball. He held on to the ball, but landed square on the upper part of his back, which he later said simply knocked the wind out of him. But because he was attended to by the training staff on the field, he was required to sit out at least one play before returning, which left the Jaguars without a kicker for the extra-point try. The Jags chose to go for the two-point conversion, but Reilly couldn’t find an open receiver and his pass fell incomplete, making the score 34–0 with just over six minutes left in the third quarter.
Mt. Carmel went backwards on the ensuing drive, losing five yards on first down, dropping a pass on a trick play on second down, then losing five more yards on a formation penalty before losing seven yards on a reverse on third down.
Punting out of their own endzone, the Sundevils could only get the kick to the Mt. Carmel 34, and the Jags made the most of the great field position right away. On the first play of the drive, Reilly ran the option to his right, faked the pitch back to Bernard, escaped a tackle and outran the defense down the sideline for a 34-yard touchdown.
Mt. Carmel put together its lone scoring drive of the game on the next possession, going 80 yards in 11 plays to score on an 11-yard run by the quarterback. On the extra point attempt, the Sundevils tried to kick it for one point, but the holder bobbled the snap, picked it up and ran it in for two.
The final 11 minutes of the game played out without a score, as Valley Center held on fourth down after Mt. Carmel successfully recovered an onside kick. The Jaguars ran six more plays on offense, all rushing plays, and Mt. Carmel turned the ball over on an interception to bring about the end of the game.
“We always seem to get out to a slow start,” Gilster said. “It’s just one of those things where we can’t duplicate the other team’s speed and athleticism in practice. But Randy Cowell, our defensive coordinator, does a great job. He knows how to find the tendencies in the opposing offenses, and he gets kids to buy in to what we’re doing as a team.”
The Jaguars are now 8–0 and have two weeks to prepare for the next game, which is on Nov. 5 at Del Norte. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Jaguars win twice in water polo

The Jaguars got two key wins this week, giving them momentum as the season winds down.
(photo by Cathy Schwickert)

The Valley Center varsity boys water polo team played two big games this week with the playoffs looming, and the Jaguars pulled out a pair of wins to gain momentum heading into the final stretch of the regular season.
To start the week, the Jags took on Del Norte last Tuesday at Del Norte High School and held on for a 9–8 win.
The Jaguars had a good start defensively, holding Del Norte to only one goal but were able to score only one in the first. The Jags were able to score one goal in the second holding Del Norte scoreless to take a 2-1 lead at half. Del Norte gained some momentum in the third putting away four goals. The Jags adjusted defensively and slowed them down and were able to put away three goals of their own to tie the game at five going into the fourth. Both teams traded goals throughout the fourth quarter.
Cody Wolf scored with 1:45 left to play to take an 8-7 lead. Del Norte was able to capitalize on a mistake and tied the game at eight with 1:20 left on the clock. Wolf again stepped up and was able to put away a key goal with 17 seconds left on the clock to take a 9-8 lead. Del Norte took a timeout to set up a play giving the Jags an opportunity to set up their defensive plan. Ian Macfarlane came up with a huge steal allowing the Jags to take their final timeout and run out the clock for the win.
“This was a big win for the guys,” said head coach Kyle Kline. “They battled hard all four quarters and came up with some key goals at the right time.”
Dylan Peters was on fire with five goals, one assist, one steal, one exclusion, and one penalty shot. Ian Macfarlane played well with two goals, five steals, two blocks, and saved the game with a huge steal at the end. Cody Wolf had a big game with two goals, including the game winner, and three assists. Connor Macfarlane had one assist and four steals. Shea Swartz had a huge game with 16 goal saves.
The Jags then took on Orange Glen at Washington Park on Thursday, and came out firing on all cylinders to take a 14–3 win.
Valley Center scored two in the first and held Orange Glen to just one for a slim early lead. But the Jaguars broke the game open with four goals in each of the final three quarters, while holding the Patriots to just one goal in the third quarter and one more in the fourth.
Ian Mcfarlane led the way with four goals, while Walder had three goals, Wolf had two goals and three assists, Kevin Murphy and Lucas Coch each had two goals and an assist and Dylan Peters had an assist. In goal, Swartz made eight big saves to get the win.
Valley Center is now 7–10 overall and 4–1 in league play, with the San Diego Open Tournament continuing this week, as well as a game at Army/Navy on Thursday at 3:15 p.m.

Lady Jags come back to beat Mt. Carmel in field hockey

Valley Center's Emily Sanders scored the game-winning goal against Mt. Carmel
(photo by Cathy Schwickert)

Valley Center’s varsity field hockey team pulled out an incredible late-game win over Mt. Carmel at home this week.
The Lady Jaguars took an early lead, allowed a game-tying goal, but came back to score late in the game for a 2–1 victory.
Mt. Carmel held off a flurry of early chances for the Lady Jags, as Kelly Hagadorn, Victoria Navarro and the rest of the Valley Center offense kept the pressure on in the Sundevils’ zone.
Late in the first half, the Lady Jaguars broke through when the offensive pressure led to a blocked shot, but the rebound came to Cassidy Nowak, who put the ball in the back of the net to give Valley Center a 1–0 lead.
Mt. Carmel came back to tie it up early in the second half on a breakaway that led to a rebound goal.
But the Lady Jaguars held on through a physical half to get the game-winner late in the game, when Hagadorn took the ball down the field, put the ball on goal, and Emily Sanders drove home the rebound to give Valley Center the win.
The Lady Jaguars are now 15–4–1 overall and 4–2 in league, with the next game coming on Thursday at home against Del Norte at 3:15 p.m.

Both Jaguar varsity cross-country teams finish in top five in Jaguar Invitational

Valley Center’s cross-country teams brought home a pair of top-five finishes after hosting the Jaguar Invitational at Kit Carson Park on Friday.
The Jaguars boys varsity team finished third in the large school division with a final score of 80, behind Mt. Carmel in first with 41 and Woodbridge in second with 66. La Jolla took fourth with 131 and Westview finished fifth with 151 behind the Jags.
Individually, Nicasio Westlund led the Jaguars with a ninth-place finish on the 3.1-mile course (16:26), while Stephen Lopez finished ninth (16:51).
For the Lady Jaguars varsity team, Kaylee Hudson was the lone top-ten finisher on the 2.6-mile course, as she finished second (16:07).
The Lady Jags finished fifth in the small school division with 198, behind Canyon Crest Academy in first with 23, Del Norte in second with 61, Our Lady Of Peace in third with 83 and San Dieguito Academy in fourth with 124.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Photos: VCHS Homecoming 2010


Valley Center High School celebrated Homecoming on Friday night, and despite the fog, the stands were packed with enthusiastic Jaguar supporters.

When the votes were tallied, the Homecoming king and queen crowns went to Nico Carrasco and Andreina Gervasio:
(photo by Gabriel Santana)

Here are more Homecoming photos, courtesy of Cathy Schwickert:

Freshman prince and princess Dustin Miller & Bridget Murphy:
Sophomore prince and princess Frankie Romero & Kaley Prudham:
Junior prince and princess Tom Aguilar & Sidney Reilly:
Senior prince and princess Stehly Reden & Cayla Ferrington:
Senior prince and princess Nico Carrasco & Denia Valdovitos:
Senior prince and princess Nicasio Westlund & Andreina Gervasio:
Carrasco & Gervasio receive their crowns:

The senior court:
The entire Homecoming court poses for a few photos:



Here are some photos I (Dan Kidder) snapped with my phone (sorry that some are blurry...I'd love to post more shots of the floats and stuff, so send them in to sports@valleycenter.com if you have any...thanks!)

The freshman float, featuring Aphrodite:
Another shot of Aphrodite:
The AVID club, I believe:
Yep, there's the banner...AVID club:
I didn't catch what club this is...leave a comment if you know:
The sophomores had a float featuring Ares, god of war:
Ares looked suspiciously like Daniel Henderson:
The Spirit & Drama Club re-enacted the famous Trojan War...I didn't know the Greeks fought with styrofoam bats. History comes alive:
The juniors' float featured Poseidon:
...and I missed the seniors' float about the underworld, so here's a shot showing how foggy it was before the game: