This season we made an “All-Valley Team” and we felt a few of these players deserved extra attention for their performances on the football season this year. 

We’d like to announce the five winners of the First Annual HSJ Chronicle Sports Awards

Asaiah Aguilar-Clutch Performance
We gave Asaiah Aguilar (Hemet High) the “Clutch Performance” award for his performance against Citrus Hill High School. Prior to this year, Aguilar never played football. Never.  This wasn’t because he didn’t want to, but due to the fact that his parents wanted him to be safe in order to prolong his soccer career.

Aguilar is a great student who gets very good grades, respects his parents, and honors his teachers. He was able to convince his mom to allow him to play this season, with the contingency that he could only play Kicker. She was reluctant at first, but grew to enjoy watching her son’s exploits on the football field. Aguilar proved to be a “go to” football player in a “do or die” situation against Citrus Hills in the Bulldog’s first league game of the year. With only a minute left in the game, Aguilar drilled a 35-yard field goal that gave the Bulldogs the lead and ultimately the win in the game. Aguilar will go down in Bulldog history as the kicker who gave the Bulldogs their first victory over Citrus Hills and handing Citrus Hills their first league loss in nine years.

Sheldon Newton-Game Changer
We gave Sheldon Newton (San Jacinto High School) the “Game Changer” award. The Game Changer award is pretty self-explanatory: it’s all about how much of an effect one player has on the game. Sheldon Newton is a different kind of animal and high schools around Southern California had no idea how to prepare for him. This could be due to Coach Cogdill (San Jacinto Defensive Coordinator) and Coach Galliano’s (San Jacinto Head Coach) creative ways of getting him involved all over the field. Newton was dominant every time his cleats touched the field. Coach Cogdill often rotated him around the defensive line, challenging him to play Defensive end, Defensive Tackle, and Nose Gaurd. Which really allowed the team to be creative with their linebackers and defensive backs. Sheldon Newton missed one game this season and you could definitely tell that the lack of his presence was felt. Not to mention Newton caught two passes this season both good for touchdowns.

(First Sports Awards)

Marcos Flores-Sportsman of the Year
Marcos Flores (West Valley High School) earned the “Sportsman of the year” Award because of his actions on the field. His senior season was full of adversity, with a brand new head coach at a school that hasn’t put together a true winning season in quite a few years. Flores always kept his composure and never gave up: he played every snap like it was his last, and at times he looked ready to die on that field. The final game of his high school career was cut short when a bench-clearing brawl took place between the two teams. In the midst of chaos, Marcos’ true character shined through as he took a knee and waited for the referees to separate the two teams. Unfortunately for Marcos, he wouldn’t be allowed to play the last six minutes of his final game. Marcos Flores is the epitome of what a Student-Athlete should strive to be and for that, he deserves this award.

Arturo Ojeda Jr-Lineman Award
Arturo Ojeda Jr (San Jacinto High School) has been a monster on the offensive line all year long. His nickname is “The Bodyguard”: he is a team captain at San Jacinto and he plays left tackle. The left tackle spot is one of the most important positions on the football field. They make sure that the offensive line is in check and working as a concise unit. Ojeda does a lot more than just protect his quarterback’s blindside. He helps him identify blitz packages and signals to the rest of his line who they should pick up. He plays with intense energy and prides himself when he gets a “pancake”. He is a proud member of the “Trench Gang” and was easily the most dominant lineman in the league this year. San Jacinto is going to have a tough time replacing him next year. Ojeda is leaving some huge shoes to fill.

Kajiya Hollowayne-Most Valuable Player
Our Most Valuable Player goes to Kajiya Hollowayne (San Jacinto High School). Hollowayne plays quarterback.  He already has multiple division 1 college offers including offers from UCLA, Nevada, and Kansas. Hollawayne is the definition of a dual-threat quarterback and can throw the deep ball or take it on the ground. Hollowayne finished the season with over 2,300 passing yards and 22 passing touchdowns. He also rushed for over 900 yards and added 13 touchdowns on the ground. At times it looked like Hollowayne was playing a video game while everyone else was stuck in real life. He is only going to be better in his senior year and it seems he has already put the league on notice. Get your popcorn ready, because next year will be quite a show.

We’d like to thank all of the winners, their families and the staff at Applebee’s for making our first Awards banquet an outstanding success.

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Awards Breakfast a great start to a  new tradition

2019 APPLEBEE’S SPORTS AWARDS BREAKFAST

A capacity crowd joined the Hemet-San Jacinto Chronicle staff to celebrate the first annual HSJ Chronicle Sports Awards.  This year’s awards focused solely on football, but an expanded banquet is planned for next year.

The five awards went to:

Kajiyah Hollowayne, Quarterback…MVP of the year Award.

Asaiah Aguilar, Kicker…Clutch Performance Award

Arturo Ojeda, Jr., Left Tackle…Lineman of the year Award

Marcos Flores, Linebacker…Sportsman Award

Sheldon Newton, Defensive Line…Game-Changer Award

Accepting for Sheldon Newton was Arturo Ojeda, Jr.

These banquets can sometimes hit snags, but the Applebee’s staff was perfect and the event was a complete success. This could not have happened without the help of Kitchen Manager Jennifer Trabucco and wait-staff Jesus Betancourt and Carlos Zambrano.  Applebee’s Manager Melissa Silva could not have been more helpful giving her assistance, time and talent in allowing the Chronicle to host our first awards breakfast banquet. Applebees holds many of these community-support, fund-raising, charitable breakfasts, and the Hemet San Jacinto Chronicle thanks Melissa and the entire staff of Applebee’s.

The HSJ Chronicle’s senior writer, Ray “Rusty” Strait, and our senior sports writer and owner of IEsportsconnection.com, Kyle Headlee were on hand, as Kyle spoke and handed out the awards.  You could see a real bond between our sports writer and the students and staff of the schools.

We received many emails and calls about this first awards banquet. Many questioned why we focused solely on football, and some asked if we were going to include girl’s sports next year.

As we said earlier in this article, the Chronicle will be expanding our awards banquet next year: we will be including both male and female sports and the banquet and awards ceremony will be expanded to the Applebee’s bar and dining room. Our plan is to include at least 6 sports. We would appreciate your feedback which will help us plan next year’s banquet.

For more info on the HSJ Chronicle 2019 Sports Awards, please see Kyle Headlee’s article in the sports section, section B

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We are pleased  to announce the first annual “HSJ Chronicle Sports Awards” Breakfast Banquet, to be held this Sunday, December 8 at 8AM at Applebee’s in Hemet.  The event will be hosted by Kyle Headlee, HSJ Chronicle Sports Writer.  We are so thankful to Melissa Silva, Manager of Applebee’s for her commitment to our newspaper and our community!  Come by and see the HSJ Chronicle staff!

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THE FIRST ANNUAL HSJC SPORTS AWARDS

Editor’s note: When Kyle first came to us with this idea, we sat around wondering why we hand’t thought of it first, but if you know Kyle, you know his passion for sports and for our valley.  We will be bringing you more on this event after the playoffs, but for now, here’s Kyle’s picks for this year’s winners!

Individual Awards:

Most Valuable Player: Kajiya Hollawayne (San Jacinto)

Most Clutch Performance: Asaiah Aguliar (Hemet) (Game Winning Field Goal Against Citrus)

Game Changer: Sheldon Newton (San Jacinto)

Sportsman of the Year: Marcos Flores (West Valley)

Offensive Player of the Year: Ethan Leonard (Hemet)

Defensive Player of the Year: TIE Kameron Rocha (San Jacinto) & Bradley Fye (Hemet)

Lineman of the Year: Arturo Ojeda Jr (San Jacinto)

Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle’s All Valley Team 2019

OFFENSE:

Quarterback: Kajiya Hollawayne, San Jacinto High, Class of 2021

Running Back: Juan Denny, San Jacinto High, Class of 2020

Running Back: Travis Booth, Tahquitz High, Class of 2020

Wide Receiver: Ethan Leonard, Hemet High, Class of 2020

Wide Receiver: Damonce Williams, San Jacinto High, Class of 2021

Wide Receiver: Antoine Sullivan, San Jacinto High, Class of 2020

Tight End:  Travis Morgan, Hemet High, Class of 2020

Offensive Line: Arturo Ojeda Jr, San Jacinto High, Class of 2020

Offensive Line: Sean Mcnallen, Hemet High, Class of 2021

Center: Nimo Alo, San Jacinto High, Class of 2021

Offensive Line: Seifanga Tukumoeatu, Hemet High, Class of 2021

Offensive Line: Iseyia Serrano, San Jacinto High, Class of 2020

Special Teams:

Kicker: Asaiah Aguliar, Hemet High, Class of 2020

Kick Return: Antoine Sullivan, San Jacinto High, Class of 2020

Punter: Juan Denny, San Jacinto High, Class of 2020

Punt Return: Ethan Leonard, Hemet High, Class of 2020

Defense:

Defensive Line (DT): Sheldon Newton, San Jacinto High, Class of 2020

Defensive Line (DT): Mahe Hamala, San Jacinto High, Class of 2020

Defensive Line (DE): Justin Johnson, Hemet High, Class of 2020

Defensive Line (DE): LJ Vaifanua, San Jacinto High, Class of 2020

Defensive Line/Backer: Muta Faapito, West Valley, Class of 2020

Linebacker: Roman Garcia, San Jacinto, Class of 2021

Linebacker: Marcos Flores, West Valley, Class of 2020

Linebacker: Nathan Ortiz, San Jacinto High, Class of 2021

Defensive Back (S): Kameron Rocha, San Jacinto High, Class of 2020

Defensive Back(C): Frankie Castillo, Hemet High, Class of 2021

Defensive Back(S): Bradley Fye, Hemet High, Class of 2020

Defensive Back(C): Keith Hunter, San Jacinto High, Class of 2021

Defensive Back(C): Derek Mendoza, Tahquitz High, Class of 2020

NOTE: If your child is listed above, please reach out to Kheadlee@HSJChronical.com to schedule a team photoshoot.  Editor’s note: Parents, please comply as much as possible, as we wish to grow this into an annual event, and we need your help in supporting your children and our valley.  Much thanks!

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