Calhoun’s Games to Watch: Fullerton vs. La Habra
November 10th, 2009, 7:50 pm · · posted by Damian Calhoun
Games to Watch for Week 10
No. 22 Fullerton (8-1, 4-0) vs. No. 8 La Habra (8-1, 4-0)
Friday, 7 p.m. at Fullerton District Stadium
Outlook: These two old acquaintances, Fullerton and La Habra, face off to decide the Freeway League title.
The Highlanders have won seven of the past nine Freeway League titles.
La Habra has outscored its first four league opponents, 182-31. Fullerton has outscored its opponents, 172-36.
Running back Joseph Hill has been the key to the Fullerton offense. He has rushed for 1,395 yards and scored 26 touchdowns. He has topped the 200-yard mark in four of his past six games.
La Habra welcomed Josh Quezada back to the lineup last week against Sunny Hills. Quezada missed the game against Troy because of the flu.
Sophomore Ahmad Avery rushed for 198 against the Warriors. Last week, the duo combined for 155 - Avery rushed for 80 and Quezada had 75.
La Habra quarterback Cody Clements had passed for 1,350 yards with 19 touchdowns and four interceptions.
The Highlanders have won the previous six meetings, including a pair of playoff games.
Will this game have a different result?
Click on the links below to check out The Games to Watch:
No. 6 Los Alamitos vs. No. 5 Fountain Valley
No. 18 Esperanza vs. No. 11 Newport Harbor
No. 4 Dana Hills vs. No. 2 Mission Viejo
St. John Bosco vs. No. 9 Mater Dei
BONUS GAME: Costa Mesa vs. Laguna Beach
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This is the game
La Habra is to strong, no one goes both ways for the clan. Quezada is back, and healthy, well rested. QB is outstanding, soph Bartolone is lights out throw in that solid D with that great coaching staff, Clan 42 Indians 7. Indians are good Highlanders are better than good
no coin flips this year tribe, the Clan is gonna take it!
La Habra should win this one big. Both teams are 8-1 but La Habra’s non-league schedule was brutal. South Hills and La Mirada are ranked no. 2 in their respective CIF Divisions, and LH made them look like horrible. La Habra blew them out, they turned out to be pretty good teams! Yes, they lost to Los Al, but Los Al still casts an imposing shadow in the PAC-5, no one in the PAC-5 takes Los Al lightly. Remember, Quezada put up 130+ yards against one of the best defenses in the county. If you don’t think so, just ask Edison!!
La Habra proved their metal in their come from behind win against a solid PAC-5 team in San Clemente. Lesser teams would have thrown in the towel.
Fullerton lost to a decent El Do squad, but gave up 147 yards to Brock Dunn. Dunn is a journeyman RB at best, and not in the same category as Quezada. The Fullerton defense is nothing compared to the monster defense the Griffins put on the field. I predict Quezada 200+ yards rushing, and Bartolone 100+ yard receiving.
Highlanders 35- Indians 10
Hope to see a great game ….wish i would have gone to fullerton!!
Pride comes before the fall. Fullerton has improved form its first game barely winning against Canyon. They are not to be underestimated, and I doubt that the La Habra team thinks this game will be a cake walk. Highlanders have a reputation of treating each team it faces as a worthy challenge to be taken seriously, the fans are another matter entirely. La Habra should win, even against Fullerton’s home field advantage. Highlanders 21, Indians 14.
GAME OF THE YEAR…!!!even if these two dont make it to the finals…
I played at La Habra and have watched many of their games this year. Of course I am pulling for La Habra “BUT” La Habra is not as deep this year as teams past. They don’t tackle as well at line backer or in the secondary as teams past,. They are vulnerable to a good back once they get past the defensive line because they lack the toughness at linebacker of a Joe Casey or in the secondary of a David Arteaga.
They also can be thrown against as San Clemente’s QB proved. La Habra was forced to go for two points at the end of the game with San Clemente because their defense was on roller skates and couldn’t stop San Clemente from scoring at will. The reason La Habra went down to Los Alamitos was poor tackling in the open field at linebacker and in the secondary. If they don’t drastically improve in this area they will have a harder time with Fullerton then expected and Tustin will give them fits! Trabuco Hills has balance (Can Throw and Run) and will give La Habra all they want just like last year unless the line backing core and the secondary for La Habra seroiusly tightens up their open field tackling and their toughness. You’ve got to bring the hammer!!!!!!! Like teams past a.k.a. Joe Casey & David Arteaga …Bring it and get a third consectutive championship. Leave it at home and go down to Trabuco Hills or Tustin. MAKE THE ADJUSTMENTS! GO CLAN!!!!!!!
Yea Fullerton has the advantage at the linebacker position but La Habra has the advantage in the secondary…Should be INTENSE!!! I just hope La Habra doesn’t crush us haha
Craig- Great analysis! I can’t argue with anything you said. I predict that LH will win league and beat Fullerton, and most likely win in the first round of the playoffs, based on the projected teams that will manage to make the playoffs. However, it’s when they meet the Tustin’s, THills, and even Cypress in the later rounds where they are going to be pushed. Last year in the playoffs you know that LH barely escaped with wins against El Do and Trabuco Hills. Of the current top teams the only ones I believe are better this year than last year are Tustin, and Cypress. That includes LH.
However, I thought La Habra’s 2007 championship team was better than last years as well. Does LH have enough in the tank for a three-peat? We’ll see in the playoffs.
can you say 4peat? enough in the tank? if you actually watched la habra over the years theyre season doesent even start un til playoffs. all this stuff about this year vs last year, wellnext year is even more loaded. youll have 4 experienced o-lineman back plus tight end. youll have a senior class much better talented than this year. youll have 3 solid stud line backers and 2 very good d-bs.thats not including clements ,bart,salo,yackey,nealy and ahmad.only work will be d-line which coaches seem to have no problem finding, so see ya line six at your flash i the pan season that ends dec 5th.
BTW, San Clemente proved that teams can throw against La Habra? What you kiddin’ me? The only team that shut down SC’s Chase Rettigs passing attack all year was Mission Viejo. We all know how good MV is.
Been watching La Habra for past 8 years, and this club is not even close to the top teams, thats not to say they arent very good..Clements is beginning to become a leader and his receivers are getting better each week Quezada is Quezada very good but teams stack and really zero in on him and with a good but a bit inexperienced O line it makes it much tougher for him. Ofenisively thery are a couple notches below last years club, if they used Bartolome in a way the used Hillman it would help, the kid has speed and quickness but is young and in-decisive…there tight end is not the blocker Ghandour was who has moved to a down lineman, anyway the Defense is way off from last 5 years and injuries have hurt them also, Padilla is a monster, and Sparling is getting there, really disappointed in the Hawaii bound safety Sierra doesnt focus and only plays to the crowd he better zero in and play if La Habra makes another big run…..at any rate they beat Fullerton easy and should have clear sailing to the semi-finas where things could get very interesting……..Trabuco Hills in my opinion is the team to beat with La Habra and Tustin 2nd and 3rd……La Habra 48 Fullerton 21
a couple of you are way off on your analysis. off line good but inexpierienced? casey and peko are returning all league tackles and know what it takes in playoffs. ghandour back at tight end for blocking purposes.secondary knows what to do also since sparling,peppard and sierra were all starters on cif champs and sparling and pepard are juniors. friday night they will buckle down on run defense but wont be tested by sub par qb in passing game.
ringmaster, La Habra lacks the toughness and open field tackling at the linebacker & secondary positions that it enjoyed last year. While the secondary has size. Good move to replace the small in stature cornerback with some size so they no longer can throw the lob pass in the corner of the end zone. However, the secondary lacks the grit and sure tackling of a David Arteaga. Without David Arteaga Tustin and Wilkerson win the Championship last year. The secondary needs to toughen up in coverage and open field tackling. So does the linebacking crew. While Phillips is the best they have and is adequate the rest of their linebacking crew is a little undersized to fill the gaps consistantly against a running game like Tustins. If I am Frank M. & coaching staff I focus in practice on just these areas and challenge them to come up a level. If they do they can repeat. If not , this area will prove to be their downfall as was the case in the Los Alamitos game and San Clemente.
it seems your spending alot of time trying to find ways that clan will lose instead of why they will win. and no im not off on analysis. counting ghandour even at te thats 3 returning o-linemen since its blocking that put him back at te,and take it from someone who knows the soph right guard is very,very good. sorry that david is gone ,but so are other fine players of past and the new ones step up .sierra will be fine as will other 2 expierience db”s that are juniors and returning starters from last year.
No, as a coach you see where things need to be shored up and where you are vulnerable and you address it! I am not saying Mazzotta is not a fine coach. La Habra is blessed to have him. But, he’s aware of what I am bringing up also and he knows he needs everybody in the secondary to step up and play like David Arteaga did last year. Arteaga’s gone and that’s okay because they have the potential in the secondary to rise up athletically. But the secondary needs to rise up in moxy and unlike the freeway league they are not going to beable to stuff the run in the playoffs with a high pad level. If so they will be wearing cleat marks. If they can replica David Ateaga’s approach from last year they’ve got it!
As far as the linebacking crew? Overall they’re not big enough to consistantly fill their gaps against bigger lines like Tustin and Trabuco Hills. Josh Quesada is going to have to play some middle linebacker in the playoffs! Mazzotta has not shied away from this in the past in the playoffs. I know he will do what’s necessary. Don’t be surprised to see Josh Quesada gets some reps at middle linebacker in the playoffs. Thanks for the rap ringmaster. GO CLAN!!!!!!!
BigHS- yes, LH is good enough to have “clear sailing to the semi-finals”. There’s a good reason that the prognasticators have La Habra ranked no. 8 in the county. They are very good. Yes, they have some flaws, but even Edison get’s criticized. The great thing about La Habra is that they are young and will field another good team next year.
I can’t wait for the playoffs.
you thinnk they dont look as good but you look up and there up by 20 against good teams look for a return td to open up a close game 38-14
ringmaster….2 second year starters on the O-Line ,that leaves 3 counting the center, lost a very good one in Mayoral, Ghandour is back at TE but thats the point hes back…… re-positioned in the late in the year, he will play well but its still re-positioned, on D Peppard is at a differnt spor on the field, and personally i think he should play closer to the ball, Linebackes ..all new good but new starters and injury didnt help, D secondary basically all new , and not having Arteaga has really exposed Sierra and i stand by statement he better get his head fully into the GAME and perform up to capabilities….we will see Friday????, so off on analysis……i beg to differ……just stop and think how much experience they lost from last year, replaced by very good players but a Casey, Arteaga, Mayoral, J. Peppard, i could go on and on …………………….
where have you been and what have you been watching. 1st peppard is right where he was last year,re check your self because you keep bringing up arteaga . its sierra who is playing in davids place so peppard is exactly in position he was last year unless verdugos scheeming differently. mike sparling ,same corner he was at last year.these are 2 strong juniors who had a lot to do with last years success. and we had another small corner last year in david acevedo whom people tryed to exploit but mostley failed. craig keeps talking about moxy and pad level and thats great ,but the tackling is another story.what have you been watching since los al.thats the only thing youcan base your analysis on,since theyve shut down every team since.tonite it all comes to a head against fullertons hill, and then you can say who needs to do what for success in playoffs
Hey ringmaster, I am sure you saw the Fullerton game and RB Hill. I haven’t used names of this years players with my analysis because I am not out to demean any individual because I realize this is high school football. The reason I have brought up a past player David Arteaga is because he is a role model and visual gague for La Habra’s current secondary. They must raise their level of play collectively and come up and play the run with the moxy of their former Strong Safety David Arteaga. Without David Arteaga last year in the championship La Habra does not win the championship because Wilkerson scores at least 3 more touchdowns on long break away runs as you saw in last nights Fullerton game with Hill. I guarantee you that Tustin & Trabuco Hills and possibly Cypress will have stronger Offensive Lines and be more physical then Fullerton. Just about everytime Hill got beyond the line of scrimmage he went the distance because of arm tackles and a lack of open field tackling from both La Habra’s Linebacking Corp & especially the Secondary. ONCE AGAIN, IF THEY WANT TO REPEAT THEY MUST SHORE UP THESE AREAS AND CHALLENGE THEMSELVES TO PLAY WITH THE MOXY OF FORMER PLAYER DAVID ARTEAGA AND JOE CASEY AT THE LINEBACKING CORPS. BRING THE HAMMER!!!!!!! AND BRING HOME ANOTHER CHAMPIONSHIP. MAKE THE ADJUSTMENTS . GO CLAN!!!!!!! ONCE AGAIN, DON’T BE SURPRISED IF YOU SEE JOSH QUESADA PLAY A LITTLE MIDDLE LINEBACKER AGAINST TUSTIN, TRABUCO HILLS, OR EVEN CYPRESS. P.S ringmaster, La Habra’s defense was COMPLETELY on it’s heals at the end of the game against San Clemente. They could NOT STOP San Clemente at the end of the game and were forced to go for two in order to pull out that game because their defense was exposed. Once again, take ownership of the weaknesses and address them and win a Championship! Stay in denial and ignore the problem and let it be the teams downfall? I don’t believe La Habra’s coaching staff nor the players will allow that to happen. They will make the adjustments. Go Clan!!!!!!!
Highlanders its time to get that big Blue train rolling,win league friday night,and after that, one game at a time, because at this time of the year rankings dont mean a dam thing its all about getting to Angels stadium all Aboard–.PS Fullerton take down the 07 football league championship banner from your gym U came in third! be real
how is casey, arteaga, mayoral, peppard, nygren, hillman doing in college anyways?????
Hillman isnt even at a school…he left san diego state..
was he injured?
Casey re-shirted at Humboldt State,Jake Peppard stating defensive end at Cerritos having a ok year again his !st year in JC level and learning well, Arteaga @nd String SS also Cerritos,not sure on Mayoral, Nygren re-shirt at So. Utah, Hillaman as before mentioned is out 4 now,couple kisds up at Cal Poly doing real well, so in essence La Habra has put more than a few out there in D-2 + JC ball., sorry Arteaga is 2nd string. my error above.
lhfan, yes i agree they are very good still but it is what it is my hope is they go the distance and they very well may, but it will be a tougher road with the unknown factor if ya get my drift Go Highlanders!!!!
but i heard cerritos is 8th in th nation for jc’s is that correct???
so the only one really playing is peppard? and the others are red shirts?? and what arteaga isnt starting or is he at least getting playing tim on speacil teams?
I have followed La Habra football since Coach Mazoda’s beginning years. Every time I try to compare one year’s team against another, the new team turns out to be better than their competition. La Habra teams show a different game face during the play-offs. This is when they put their tough pre-season experiences to work and show what they are made of. This year the post season begins with this Friday’s big game with Fullerton. Bottom line, if LH gets to the finals with Tustin, I think the coaching staff will be able to focus Sierra’s high energy and grit on Wilkerson and come out with simular results as last year’s Arteaga attack. A rougher challenge may be going through Tabruco Hills again this year. They have many of La Habra’s strengths, including a great fan base to support them.
Yes Cerritos was undefeated until last week , they were rated #1 in California and lost to the #3 rated team, by the way the starting QB is Morales the QB who led La Habra to their only undefeated season eve and a CIF title, and yes also to Arteags not starting, he got slowed by the injury bug and basically just got beat out by a bigger stronger second year SS, and was inching his way back into equal time when he again got bit by injury although minor it did sit him down for 10 days of practice an 1 game,but he should be a full strenght as thy make a run toward playoffs and certainly will vie for the starting spor nex year….so in essence alot of really fine HS players yes do go to the next level and find ythat adjustments to new schemes and competiton level really makes it tough, as i try to point oput in the La Habre squad of today versus last years………..but again La Habra will send 5 + more players to the next level and we shall see, by the way it is quite the acheivement of the Highlander coaching staff and strenght coach who have for years made this program very very good both on the field and in the community because they really put alot of kids a step ahead on the road to bigger and better things.