San Jacinto vs. Eastlake

In this week’s Game of the Week matchup, we bring you back to San Jacinto where the Tigers welcome Eastlake High into their stadium for a showdown that should bring great defense and offense for all spectators. Under center for the Tigers is Junior Quarterback Kajiya Hollawayne. Rivals.com currently has Kajiya as the 39th ranked player in the state and a 3-star recruit. He is coming off of arguably one of the best performances by a quarterback in San Jacinto High School History, three passing touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns, over 200 yards rushing and over 200 yards throwing. Hollawayne will need to bring the momentum and the same energy on Friday night if they are going to take down Eastlake. 

The Eastlake Titans are 0-3 to start the season but still ranked 109. They will be trying to come into San Jacinto to get their first win of the season. That means they are coming in hungry and willing to do whatever it takes to walk out of the stadium the victors. San Jacinto better is preparing for a dog fight, because it’s going to be a heck of a game. 

It appears that Eastlake is in the middle of an identity crisis; they are having a quarterback competition in the middle of the season between two juniors. That makes it difficult for both teams to prepare for the game. Eastlake is going to have a hard time rallying the team with no obvious leader to command the field and huddle. Ryan Cogdill (San Jacinto’s Defensive Coordinator) will have a hard time preparing for the week and adapting during the game, with quarterbacks coming in and out it’s hard to get a feel of what their tendencies and capabilities are. I expect Coach Cogdill to have it figured out by half time, that’s when San Jacinto’s defense will be able to exploit Eastlakes inconsistency. This game is going to be very entertaining and is a good preview of the quality of schools San Jacinto will have to play if they are going to make another deep run in the playoffs this season. 

In other Mountain Pass League games this week Hemet (395) travels to Riverside to take on John W North (287), Tahquitz (686) will head to Moreno Valley to play Canyon Springs (915), West Valley (564) is home and celebrating Homecoming against Vista Del Lago (568), Beaumont (229) has a home game against their rival Banning (746), and Citrus Hill(100) will take on Rancho Mirage (250). As always The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle will have a complete recap of this week’s action available on their Youtube channel, make sure to Comment, Like, Subscribe to stay updated on what’s happening in our valley’s high school sports.

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It’s not an easy job, but someone has to do it

One of the toughest and most underappreciated jobs in America goes to our recreational sports referees. They go through a rigorous training program to prove that they understand the sport they are officiating. They have to answer to their bosses, coaches, and parents for their decision making during the game. Every choice has a repercussion, and most parents/coaches are willing to let them know if they agree with them or not. They are hardly thanked for a job well done, but more often than not, do a great job. In my years as a Player, Parent, Coach, and Journalist I have seen a lot of good referees in the valley and my fair share of bad ones, but none better than Valley-Wide’s Tarius Baker.

Tarius Baker has a passion for sports and a passion for helping kids; he doesn’t choose sides or favor one team over the other because he is familiar with them. He honestly just wants kids to fall in love with sports the way he did. Tarius Baker is an excellent example of how all youth refs should act. During time outs, he teaches kids shooting techniques, proper passing, and dribbling. Tarius has a passion for helping kids after injuries, picking up their spirits if they mess up, and encourage them never to quit. Tarius Baker Referees all different levels of competition but loves to help the kids. He acts goofy and funny so the kids related to him, and they receive direction from him. Instead of trying to assert himself as superior, he brings himself down to their level, so they view him as an equal. When kids come to play, their faces light up and glow when they see that Tarius Baker is going to be officiating the game. That’s the kind of referees we need in our youth sports.

We need more referees in youth sports whose main priority is to help the kids, not collect a paycheck. Referees have just as much an impact on an athlete’s careers as parents, coaches, teammates, and opponents. They can help shape and mold a young athlete’s career. If there are more of them that don’t favor one team over the other because they are friends with the coach or a child they know is on the side, our youth program will grow by leaps and bounds.

Youth athletics are vital to our community; it gives kids a chance to express themselves, make friends, and get out of the house, but it’s frequently overlooked in our community. It takes hundreds of volunteers for organizations like Valley-Wide to work in our community. Referees are just a part of it, so next time you are out at a game to make sure to thank; referee’s, coaches, team parents, players, janitors, or any staff you might come across, because they aren’t easy jobs, but they are vital for our youth sports programs to continue.

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One thing is for sure. Barring any crazy unforeseen event, the starting quarterback slot is locked down. Kajiya Hollawayne is re-praising his role as the field general of the Tigers this year. Last year as a sophomore he led his team to a CIF championship game and even though they fell short, Kajiya looks poised and ready to run it back in his Junior year. He took command in the passing drills, Telling his guys when they were running the wrong route, not out of cockiness or spite, but like a true leader who cares about his team. One player who seemed to be newer to the program was told to run a 10-yard inside post. Instead of running straight for 8-yards and cutting inside the way the route was designed, he ran a 5-yard slant route.

This may seem like a like no big deal to most people, but Coach G runs a sophisticated offense and expects players to know their roles. If this player was to make a mistake like that in the middle of the game, it could kill the offensive momentum. Kajiya didn’t get mad, chew the player out, or tell the coach. He called the player over to him and took thirty seconds to explain why it’s important for him to know his route and what he is supposed to do. The player said sorry, and they smacked hands. The next time up, he ran a perfect route; a real demonstration of leadership from a future D-1 College Football player.

The defense is starting to come together with players like Sheldon Anchoring the defensive line, Sheldon is a man-child who pushes everything out of his way on his path to the quarterback. Ortiz was holding down the Linebacker group. His coach described him as pure instincts and Rocha being the leader in the secondary. There is plenty of speed and strength on the defensive side, but what those three players bring to the table is something that isn’t too common nowadays and something that most football coaches would love to have in just one player. Pure attitude and aggressiveness, all three of these players took every drill as serious as they would a game. Giving it everything they had, trash-talking, and telling other defensive players if they blew an assignment. One thing I know for sure is the defense is going to be fun to watch.

For more pictures of Hardknocks go to Author Kyle Rae Headlee on Facebook and like that page. If you have a player on the team and see a picture you want, feel free to grab it; I upload all the photos from every practice.

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Sheldon loves English class in school. Last year, he had an awesome teacher who liked to hear their opinions and ideas. He felt like that teacher cared about what he thought and how he felt. Sheldon has spent his childhood moving around between Chicago, Mississippi, and landed in San Jacinto last year. He likes where he is and happy that he gets to play for Coach G.

Sheldon loves to listen to music. His three favorite artists are 50cent, Eminem, and J.Cole. Even though Sheldon loves sports, he is determined to attend college and graduate; rather, he earns an athletic scholarship or not. I asked him what he wants to study in school. He said, “The dream would be to become a judge, but if that doesn’t pan out, I’d like to become a teacher and help make a difference in kids’ lives.” A very respectable mentality. Sheldon is on the right track, he finished his junior year with a 3.5 GPA but has a goal to finish with a higher grade point average in his senior year.

His father is one of the reasons why he works so hard on his sports and school. Sheldon’s dad has been his role model his whole life. He inspires Sheldon to work harder than everyone in the room. He never wants to be outworked by someone. His dad has sacrificed so much for him and his siblings, and he hopes that one day, he can show him how thankful he is to him for everything he has done.

I’m excited to watch Sheldon play this year; he has a great build and mindset that reminds me of David Irving (Former Tiger who played for the Dallas Cowboys) he is a great leader, encouraging the defensive line and a natural competitor. Before the team did some walkthrough drills, the defensive line was told not to touch the quarterback. Sheldon smacked his lips. It’s not because he doesn’t like his quarterback, but rather because he wants everyone to know that he is here and is about his business.

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“We are extremely pleased to present this exhibition,” said Team Quest Athletic Center owner Corey Grant, adding, “at these bouts, we always stress speed over power, and we are constantly looking for proper technique and sportsmanship.”

Owner Grant and the rest of the family/staff at TQAC boasts an impressive collective resume. Grant was a big 10 and an NCAA qualifier in wrestling before he turned to coaching. Into 2007 he began his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training before earning his black belt under Ricardo Feliciano in June 2016. He has been competing in MMA since 2007. Trainer Jared Vanderaa is an EFC Champion heavyweight, and Trainer Anthony Paredes is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

The day featured many exciting bouts as combatants presented impressive training in sweltering conditions. Winners for each bout are as follows;

BOUTS/WINNER
Matthew Walck
Danya Padura
Vanessa Ochoa
Alex Ayala
Oscar Leal
Christian Love vs. Aaron Martinez-DRAW
Gaby Huerta
Angel Becerra
Tom Telles
Anthony Caraza vs. Angel Becerra-DRAW
Chris Charlie
Michael Hoar
John Tabarez
Christian Latoof vs. Michael Martinez-DRAW
Michael Hoar
Jason Smith

While the capacity crowd was treated to many exciting matches, for owner Grant, the school and the philosophy are about much more than just fighting. “We’ve been here about 11 years. We spoke with the Torres–Martino Desert Cahuilla Indian Group, and they expressed the need for a facility like ours.

They worked with us to make this happen. We work with youth from the reservation and the community at large to instill confidence, professionalism, sportsmanship, and maturity in our young men and women. Probably 80% of our coaching staff are top-notch professional fighters, and we bring that sort of discipline and respect to our facility and we instill it in our members,” said Grant.

Big winners on the day included Michael Hoar (2 trophies), Angel Becerra (2 trophies) and Women’s Division winner Gaby Huerta. “We stress that all women and children of all ages are always welcomed here, and we do our best to make them feel at home. This is a family,” said Grant. The next event is scheduled for some time in November.

For further information Team Quest Athletic Center can be reached at teamquestsj.com, 951 487-2700, or 2181 W. Esplanade Avenue, San Jacinto.

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That is a feeling most people who played football can relate with. The field almost feels like home, all your outside problems disappear, and all it’s about is who can run faster, hit harder, or wants it more.

Last season Juan earned All-CIF honors as well as First-Team All-League. Juan wants to go down as San Jacinto’s all-time rushing leader. A hard feat to accomplish, considering he only gets two full seasons to do so. Denny made great strides last season earning over 1,000 rushing yards and banking in 20+ rushing touchdowns. He will look to pick the pace up this upcoming season and has been working hard all off-season to accomplish his next goal. His off-season workouts are focused around boxing to help his explosiveness and endurance.

Juan is a good student, finishing his junior year with a 3.0 GPA; his favorite subject is math. He says that numbers make sense. They don’t change, they are what they are, and it has helped him learn Coach G’s playbook with relative ease. Juan dreams of playing in the NFL and would like to start that adventure by earning a scholarship to play football as a Longhorn at Texas.

Football or not Juan plans on graduating college and will do anything to achieve that goal. If he doesn’t receive an athletic scholarship, he plans to join the Navy so they can help pay for schooling and ultimately wants to get a job as a sports broadcaster.

Juan is extremely thankful to his Grandpa for being a role model and a mentor to him. His Grandpa is always there for him when he needs to talk to someone and gives the best advice. Juan is also very thankful to his dad. For as long as Juan can remember, his dad has always been a grinder working hard for everything he has. Juan feels like that is the best thing his dad has ever taught him. The Value of hard work and how if you are willing to put in the work, you can achieve your dreams.

Come out this season to the San Jacinto High School football games and show your support for your valley Hardknocks as the aim to bring a CIF championship home this season.

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They only had a couple of weeks off of workouts, but between the heat and the Taco Bell, they have been eating getting through the first day of conditioning was nothing less than severe.

The assistant coaches were mixed around the field giving instruction, encouragement, but also calling out all the players who were not giving full effort or completing drills, forcing the rest of the team to have to go again. Coach G has his team very organized and is running his program similar to a college. He didn’t even have to instruct the players on what was going to happen; they automatically reacted to the sound of his whistle changing drills. There were quite a few kids who are new to the program, but they seemed to have caught on to the program rather quickly.

Day one was all about conditioning and preparing for the upcoming weeks of practice. At the training, a player asked the assistant coach: “how many of these are we going to do?.” And the coach’s assistant answered: “We will keep going until we are done.” The response from the coach brought a smile to my face and took me back to being one of those kids in that same field. The player and coach shared a laugh and smacked hands afterward, showing that these players have a sincere fondness of their coaches.

Coach G asked the team to help set up the sleds for the next practice. As a team, they moved equipment that weighs well over 500 pounds. When everything was finished, Coach G had the team take a seat at the 50-yard line for a meeting. He told the players what to expect and what he expects out of them. They went over their contracts, appropriate behaviors, grades, how to conduct themselves in his field, and their spirit packs.

For more pictures of the first day of practice, go to Author Kyle Rae Headlee on Facebook where I will be continually uploading pictures of San Jacinto Hardknocks this season.

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Kameron starts on both sides of the ball. That means he plays Offense and Defense throughout the whole game hardly getting any breaks. Coach Galliano does not let many of his players do this, but Kameron is different. Last season he was one of the anchors to a high secondary and was an All-CIF defensive back.

He led the division with seven interceptions and has his eyes set on leading the division again in his senior year. When asked what he loved about football, he said, “I love the competitiveness, not just during the games but everything that goes into it that people who never played do not know. The practices, weight room sessions, and everything. I also love the freedom of being able to hit without the worry of getting in trouble.”

Coach Galliano did chime in and say that they are working on dialing his aggressiveness back a bit, but do not want him to change the way he plays the game. Coach also said one of the most impressive things about Kameron is his natural knack to find the ball. Either it is on offense or defensive, he has a sense for it, and he is football savvy always laying down great blocks for his teammates or squeezing himself through gaps that average players do not see.

Kameron is a three-sport varsity athlete playing Soccer and running track. If he does not get a scholarship offer, he plans to enlist in the army and wants to serve his country. He is very thankful to his brothers, who are father figures to him Aaron Johnson and K.C. Moore. They have done a lot for him, and he appreciates them for it.
Kameron enjoys keeping himself company. He likes to be alone with his thoughts; he is very introverted and is okay with it. A fun fact about Kameron is that he loves to listen to Michael Jackson. It started when he was young, and he never lost his connection to his music.

One of his favorite workouts is sprints. He enjoys the freedom he feels of the wind flowing in his face as he runs through the grass. Kameron likes to test himself to see how fast he can get and is continuously putting in work to get faster. His other favorite workout is what Coach Galliano calls “effort drills.” These are drills that have no specific purpose except to build toughness, character, and a no-quit mentality. Coach Galliano has a few different types of effort drills, and Kameron enjoys them all.
The season is fast approaching, get ready to come out and support the San Jacinto Tigers this season.

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The winners from each division are as follows; 10u West Coast Bruins, 11U LB 6ers, 12u LB 6ers, 14u Pass Elite, JV LB 6ers, Varsity FBC. Ralph would like to shout out to all the teams who participated and every player who left it all on the court over the weekend.
I watch the Tahquitz Titans team play against FBC (a club basketball team) in the first varsity game, It started off really close. Both sides where showing aggressiveness and passion.

Tahquitz game was focused on attacking the lane and making FBC close out on the key, as soon as FBC started getting used to what Tahquitz was doing they began to dish the ball out to the corners where their sharpshooters were posted ready to score. In the first half, both teams traded blows and alternated the lead. By the end of the half, the score was 26-24 Tahquitz had the lead.

The second half the Titans came out dedicated to defense, they looked to steal the ball, jump on lazy passes, and rebound. They slowed the tempo down a couple of steps and forced FBC to play their game. Tahquitz’s strategy paid off pulling out the win with a score of 51-44 lead by Team Captains, Antoine Sullivan who scored 11 points, 6 assists, and 7 rebounds and Jaden Haywood who had a double-double with 12 points 3 assists and 10 rebounds.

FBC needed a win in their next game; they matched up against Hemet High School in the tournament. It didn’t look good at first for FBC; they were frustrated and emotional. The loss in the first game was hanging over them, and two losses in a tournament like this mean you are out, so it was important that they came together as a team.

In the first half, FBC didn’t look organized at all, the coach was yelling at the players for no apparent reason, some players were yelling back at the coach, and two players started arguing with the referees, all while Roman Swizek of Hemet lit up the scoreboard with 16 points in the first half. The halftime score was 29- 22 Hemet had the lead.

At half time the head coach of FBC pulled his team together and talked to them about playing as a team, something he said really clicked with his team because they put their heads down and began to play good team basketball, Roman Swizek continued the offensive onslaught scoring 10 points in the second half, but Hemet missed a couple of key free throws costing them the game. FBC took the victory in 51-56 in this game which gave them the positive momentum they needed to finish out the tournament strong.

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Coach Galliano is excited for his program to get this type of exposure and they deserve it! Last season Coach Galliano lead his team to the CIF championship game and fell short of winning the whole thing. This year Coach Galliano knows what to expect and will make sure his Tigers are ready for war.

During the coverage of The Hemet & San Jacinto Hard Knocks there will be an extra story that coincides with it called “The Player Profile” here will be a short bio of one of the San Jacinto Tigers players so you can get to know them a little more and maybe root for them a little harder.

Right now The San Jacinto Tigers football team is having voluntary workouts a couple days a week, they aren’t allowed to touch the field as a team yet due to CIF restrictions, but they are allowed to come in and lift weights. Their program will officially start in July when all players are required to report to camp.

Coach Galliano will start his team off with practice in order to get used to the new personnel trying out and get his team to shake the rust off. The Tigers graduated quite a few seniors last season, but Galliano and his staff are confident that the young players will step up to the plate and show that they have the talent to make another deep run in the playoffs this upcoming season.

Due to certain CIF limitations put together to assure the health and wellness of the High School athlete, they can only wear full pads so many days during summer, full contact scrimmages are very limited, and hitting drills are seldom, at best. The CIF started implementing stricter rules a few years ago and are very stern in this regard.

That makes running a football program a lot harder than it was in the 80’s, 90’s, and early 2000’s, certain drills are no longer allowed, so it’s not like most of us remember it, lining up for Oklahoma drills and Bull in the Ring everyday to add “toughness” just isn’t an option.

Follow The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle Facebook page for online updates of the San Jacinto Tigers summer football programs, also follow Kyle Headlee on Facebook for pictures of the players I take while at the practices. If you have any questions, comments or concerns feel free to email VcsportsKyle@gmail.com I’m always available.

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