Lack of Depth Catches up with SJ Against La Serna

San Jacinto jumped on the bus and headed to Whittier for the Semi-Final match up against La Serna who was ranked in the top 50 in the state. San Jacinto was ranked in the top 100. This was always going to be a tough game for the Tigers, but they felt like they had what it took to take La Serna down. La Serna got off to a fast start and scored in the first quarter. San Jacinto responded in the second quarter when quarterback Kajiya Hollawayne connected with the always dangerous Kameron Rocha for a touchdown.

The two teams went into the half tied, 7-7 and it was anyone’s game. Unfortunately for the Tigers, their offense couldn’t get much done and they would fall to La Serna 14-7. The Tigers defense should have their head held high after a game like that. Prior to this game, La Serna has never scored less than 28 points this season. This loss is impressive, especially considering what Coach Cogdil (defensive coordinator for the Tigers) had to work with this season. Mid-way through the season, Coach Cogdil lost one of his key defensive lineman and his secondary was basically a puzzle that he forcefully glued together on the fly.  Cogdil lost shut-down corner Davon Banks in the second week of the season. Another player who practiced with the team and looked to be a really good cornerback quit mid-way through summer.  Then Jordan McFrazier left the team midway through the season and Keith Hunter couldn’t finish the year because of a concussion he suffered against Citrus Hill.

A couple players from the offense had to come in and play for the defense. The most notable would be Antoine Sullivan, who was always willing to do whatever it took to win the game. Toriano King (Tahquitz Transfer) stepped in to play corner. At times, King looked dominant as a run stopper: he has quick feet and hits hard for his size. King is really good at stopping progress short, and hanging on to an offensive player until his teammates can join the group tackle. The problem with being such a great run-stopper is that his fakes completely catch you off guard. Although Toriano King was a huge help against the run game, he became a liability for the pass defense. In the four games he played for San Jacinto, he got caught “biting” on the Play-Action (fake handoff) and double moves from the receivers on a consistent basis. Kameron Rocha who has division-1 talent, dominated all year long, could only pick up so much slack. He wasn’t able to cover King every play.

(Tigers Fall in the Semi-Finals)

Kajiya Hollawayne had two interceptions, only 90 passing yards, and 50 running yards: a very underwhelming performance from such an electric player. This makes two games in a row that his play was less than what spectators have come to expect when showing up to a San Jacinto game. You have to wonder: were the defenses really that good?  Was Hollawayne just having a bad game?  Or maybe he is nursing an injury? The Tigers played deep into the playoffs last season.  Hollawayne competes in off-season 7-on-7 football, plays on the basketball team, and the baseball team. It’s entirely possible that his body was just running out of juice as the season began to wind down. 

Either way, expect the Tigers to bounce back in a big way next season. They are losing some notable players on both sides of the ball, among those the offensive players include: Aj Ojeda (O-line), Juan Denny (RB), Antoine Sullivan (Wr), and Joaquin Osuna (O-line). Players graduating on the Defensive side include: Sheldon Newton (D-line), Mahe Hamala (D-line), LJ Vaifanua (D-line), Elijah Torres (DB), and Diego Sanchez (OLB). They are also losing a couple key utility back-ups who play wherever/whenever needed; William Stinnett and Scott Gordan.  But what is going to hurt the most is losing Kameron Rocha. Kameron Rocha dominated every opponent all year long: he plays in every phase of the game and is a game-changer on all sides of the ball. Rocha banked in over 450 receiving yards, 4 touchdowns, 69 tackles, and 12 interceptions. Among those stats are countless pass deflections/break ups, clutch catches, huge stops on fourth down, and huge first down conversions. Replacing him will not be easy for Coach Galliano and staff.

La Serna advances to play Pacifica in the finals next week.

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CIF playoffs are winding down, Semi-Finals are this week and it’s “win or go home.”. The San Jacinto Tigers looked impressive in their first two playoff games at home, but will travel this week to take on La Serna. La Serna comes in this matchup ranked 45 in the state. They have a perfect 12-0 record and have been steamrolling opponents all season. That is nothing new to San Jacinto, though their last opponent (Kaiser) was considered one of the favorites to win the whole thing heading into the playoffs. San Jacinto was able to get them out of their comfort zone and shut down their offense. It wasn’t without struggle and definitely wasn’t pretty, but they got the job done.

San Jacinto’s Offense is uniquely diverse. Kajiya Hollawayne, Juan Denny, and Kelvin Davis are all big threats on the ground and can make big plays at any given moment, but they aren’t scared to pass the ball. They have a couple of solid receivers on their roster.  Kameron Rocha who possesses next-level ball skills and speed…Antoine Sullivan has shown flashes of elite speed and route running this season. Damonce Williams is quietly making his case as a real possession receiver coming up with tough catches on a constant basis.

Finally Anthony Morales doesn’t look like your typical high school receiver, but every game he makes big catches; Morales runs clean routes, gets in and out of cuts, and catches just about anything that touches his hands. Coach Galliano is seemingly very inconsistent in his play-calling, but this is by design. He runs very similar formations with many different packages, causing opposing defenses to play on their toes. It seems like he has played the majority of the season with only a quarter of his playbook; when teams think they have it figured out, he comes out with something that no one has seen on film. He is also very comfortable with calling audibles from the sidelines and changing plays after the defense shows their cards.

(Tigers head to Whittier)

San Jacinto’s defense will also be key in this game. The defensive front will look to fill the run lanes and set outside contain in order to give the secondary as much help as they can. The Tigers have lost a few of their starting defensive backs this season to various injuries with Davon Banks and Keith Hunter being the two that hurt the most. Banks’ season ended before it really even got started and Keith Hunter was emerging as a top corner in the division this season with 18 tackles, 5 interceptions, 2 clear pass deflections, and being a shut-down man-to-man corner before going down with a serious injury against Citrus Hill.

La Serna’s offense is very balanced.  Their quarterback Andrew Henriquez has thrown for over 2000 yards, 27 touchdowns, and only 3 interceptions on the year. No one on the team rushed for 1,000 yards this season, but two Lancers are over 500 and have a combined for 22 touchdowns ( 17 touchdowns credited to Chandler Mccaffer); they also have another running back you have to watch out for: Joey Bustos.  They love to give him the ball in short yardage territory and let him make plays. He had 8 touchdowns on the year. La Serna’s approach to the game is refreshing. 

They play an old-school smash-mouth style of football that has been nearly forgotten. They will look to punish the Tigers in the first quarter, in order to set up play action and look to hit one of their two deep threat receivers, Milo Lopez or Jake George.  Kameron Rocha is going to have to shut one of them down. Elijah Torres will be called upon to lock up the other. Expect Antoine Sullivan to come in and play some safety. In a game like this, sometimes you just need your best athletes on the field in order to give your team the greatest chance to win the game.

The winner of this game will advance to the finals and play the winner of the Crespi vs Pacifica game.

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