Frankly Fryer: La Habra vs. Fullerton
November 11th, 2009, 4:47 pm · 34 Comments · posted by STEVE FRYER, ocvarsity.com
Freeway League
NO. 8 LA HABRA (8-1. 4-0) VS. FULLERTON (8-1, 4-0)
Where, when: Fullerton High, Friday, 7 p.m.
Outlook: Both teams have been looking forward to this one all year – and we mean all year, like going back to January. Both teams have been slamming league foes, with La Habra winning league games by an average margin of 38 points and Fullerton winning those games by 34. Both can score a lot of points, but Fullerton has not played a defense like La Habra’s. Fullerton’s running game has been solid, led by Joseph Hill (155 yards a game, 26 touchdowns). But La Habra has a passing game that really gives it an advantage, thanks to quarterback Cody Clements (1,350 yards, 19 touchdowns) and receiver Brett Bartolone (26 yards a reception, eight touchdowns). And if La Habra running back Joshua Quezada (129 yards a game) has recovered from a viral infection and plays, as expected, then La Habra is going to be very difficult to beat.
Winner: La Habra
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The OCVarsity football challenge
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34 Comments
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Great analysis Mr. Fryer. La Habra should win this one.
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!!!!!!!
Unfortunately, open field tackling is almost like speed, you can't coach it.
Well you can, but it 's about a six pack of beer. It's the most frustrating of
all skills to coach. Anyhow, if La habra is having trouble tackling at the
linebacker or safety position, they best not let A.W. loose. It will be
interesting.
I get ya Craig and if ya know him go holler at Sierra......especially on bringing the hanmmer...........
I really and hopefully think La Habra would win this thing and so I agree with UHwarrior
Go Clan! Threepeat!
from what i have been told/read, fullerton is more of a run team. yes LH's tackling is not as good as it has been in the past they can still hit. just ask this kid from sonora:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ukVrbLBjSA
LH will pull this victory off, even if fullerton has all its transfers from servite.
CLAN PRIDE!
Nice Hit! That's what I am talking about by bringing the hammer! Phillips however is the only Linebacker La Habra has big enough to consistantly fill his gaps on defense. La Habra lacks size at the middle linebacker position and strong side outside linebacker (Due to injury). When they face a back like Weatherspoon from Tustin, Hill from Fullerton, or the kid from Cypress they're going to need to bring it up a level at both linebacker and in their secondary coming up on the run. Arm tackles like in the Los Alamitos game won't bring down these backs they're going to see in the playoffs. Josh Quesada will probably have to play some middle linebacker in the Southwest playoffs in order to help out the linebacker corps. I don't question their linebackers toughness as much as their size to consistantly stop a good running game. The secondary on the otherhand, is big enough but I do question their toughness both in pass coverage and in their ability to come up and stuff the run. They miss David Ateaga and his run support! In order for La Habra to repeat as Southwest champions they're going to have to shore up these areas by rising up and 'YES' bring the hammer!!!!!!! Also, the team that probably poses the greatest threat to La Habra is Trabuco Hills because they can both pass and run the ball so you can't load up on them. That's why La Habra's secondary really needs to bring it up a notch if they want to get it done!
craig, i think you just dated yourself my friend,!u said weatherspoon, not wilkerson! lol....i played against the spoons in the 80's both were bad mamma jammas!....
Yea, you're hardly the comdeian ("Weatherspoon") here. It's WILKERSON!....Remember that name, because you will after Tustin gets a second crack at LH in the finals this year. Bet on it.
MJ..... PLEASE!! I heard all that talk last year about how Tustin was going to take it to The Highlanders, and how much of a beat down Tustin was going to put on the 'over-rated" team from way up in the north part of the county. La Habra is consistently a better football team, year after year.
I think maybe Tustin, and their fans, should lear to respect a team that plays back to back Pac-5 teams, and competes as equals with them. when Tustin starts to challenge themselves with a tougher pre-season schedule, then maybe you can come talk trash, but they still gotta win 3 in a row to get to La Habra, and La Habra has to win 3 in a row to get to them. i hope they make it
craig, the lb"s youre talking about had to grow up fast after porter went down against scle,and league play has done just that.If there was abetter time for such an unfortunate thing to happen week five was it. all they do in freeway is run, so it was like getting 4 good 11 on 11 practices for them. and they did step up in the heat of battle against tritons when it counted. you also keep bagging on db"s but if you watched last year 3 of them are returning starters from last years champs.do they miss arteaga ?sure , but thats what coaching is for and Im sure you wont find 2 better than porter and verdugo. one last thing ,good call on trabuco,because rest of div is run, run run.
Hey ringmaster, that's good that the LB's got a lot of reps in the Freeway league defending the run. But nobody in the freeway league is going to bring it like Tustin, Trabuco Hills, or even Cypress. Fullerton will be a little taste of what is to come and prepare for. Josh Quesada will probably need to play a little middle linebacker against those three in the playoffs! As far as the secondary is concerned? They better get their pad level down and buckle their chin straps because if you hit a guy like Wilkerson high he's not going down and if you don't bring the hammer he's not going down anyway. You've also got to catch him around the line of scrimmage before he accelerates. The good news is La Habra has tapes of exactly how it's done by reviewing La Habra vs. Tustin in last years championship game? Arteaga was text book in run support. La Habra's secondary is capable but if they don't bring their pad level down and their moxy up their going to be on roller skates. Make the adjustments and prepare and win a third championship. GO CLAN!!!!!!!
Craig, you say you have seen many LA HABRA games and you talk like you know something about football and yet you have it all wrong. Trevor Phillips has been the strong side LB since day one, Porter, who was injured in the SC game was the will LB and zavala has been holding down the mike LB spot very well !!! Coach porter kmows how to prepare a defense better than anyone and puts the right players in the right spots. I have a suggestion for you, go to Borders and pick up a copy of " Football FOr Dummies" and quit trying to tell the best coaching staff in the OC what they need to do !!!!
Who is this Craig dude? He needs to 'pump his brakes' and realize who he's talking about. He definitely didn't play quality HS ball.
dofa60, Coach Porter does know what he's doing and he also knows what I have said is true and needs to be addressed if they're going to win a Championship! Tustin , Trabuco Hills, and possibly Cypress will have offensive lines that will crack La Habra's stout front line more like a Pac 5 team. Therefore, La Habra's lack of size at middle and leftside linebacker will be severly tested. DON'T BE SURPRISED IF COACH PORTER USES JOSH QUESADA SOME AT MIDDLE LINEBACKER AGAINST THESE TEAMS I MENTIONED ABOVE IN THE PLAYOFFS! Did you see the video on OC Varsity of the La Habra/Fullerton game? It would be nice to see the game film because my analysis was "right on" but watching that video and Fullerton RB Hill's touchdown runs will confirm my analysis. I like to try not to use names when I make comments on these commentaries because I know these kids are merely High School football players.
Hey Clan Dad, After preping at La Habra High School (Football & Baseball) and being a professional baseball prospect out of High School I went on to play college ball and then was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the 16th round. After some injuries and misfortune with my baseball career I became an international fashion model and made a career of it for seventeen years as well as a professional actor and I am still a member of the guild. I am also a published poet and business owner. But my greatest claim to fame is that I am now a child of God and a Christian Missionary/Evanglist. There's more but now that I have pumped my brakes a little bit and you know a little bit of who this Craig Dude is? I speak the 'truth" as I know it and I am for La Habra not against them. But I also know there are places in our lives and in the things we are trying to accomplish where we need to make adjustments in order to get where we want to go! If you're on La Habra's coaching staff you are constantly looking at how you can improve your team and get the most out of your players. You are also trying to put them in situations where they can be successful. La Habra's linebackers don't lack heart they lack a little size. Josh Quesada can help them out in the playoffs and I know La Habra's (great high school coaching staff) will do what's necessary. It very well might become necessary? La Habra's secondary tackles poorly in the open field and that's why a bigger team like Los Alamitos or even Fullerton who both had RB's that could take it to the house go the distance on big plays! Wilkerson from Tustin can go the distance if he cracks the line so can Cypress RB and Trabuco Hills will match La Habra's strength on the line which will get more backs into the linebacking corps and especially the secondary. The secondary has talent and size but they need to raise their game to a David Arteaga level to assure a Championship! Go Clan!!!!!!!
FULLERTON NEEDS A NEW COACH!!!!!!
For the la habra people, what is Mazzotta's(sorry if i spelt that wrong..) personality like?
Smilowitz has none of the respect from the players..he needs to work on that..
Mazzotta lives and breathes football he has a solid coaching staff he sets the pace work hard play hard or go out for something else even if u dont like him u respect him.You have to be mentally tough to play at LHHS but if u want a shot at a ring he is the Coach to play for he never gets tired of working hard for his Team to be succesfull thats why LH has a better chance to win friday night
The critical analysis Fryar missed is the coaching comparison...A HUGE advantage to LH and Coach Mazzotta...Year-after-year with or without talent at skilled positions, LH is Top 10 in the OC...
One of the best coaches, motivators, teachers and football minds in So Cal...
mazzota could turn a group of pop warner kids into a c.i.f. caliber team...the man works majic... take a look at a small community such as lahabra. they dont recruit like all the power houses of orange county, they use what god has delt them, and yet year after year they end up on top. even if they dont win championships theyre still a reallly great program. not to mention the kids love playing under mazzotta...
Mazzota should be coach of the decade for orange county and is a lock to win it if he succeeds in getting La Habra a cif chapionship this year.
Good choice but Orange Lutheran's program might have accelerated more then any other?
Mazzotta, great coach, one of the best ever. You can't argue with success!!
La Habra= most overrated team in the county. They beat San Clemente by 1 point, Mission beat SC BY 50 points. Lost to Los AL. Rest of your wins are against who????? Enjoy your garbage league title.
Mission D-1, San Clemente D-1, Los Al D-1, LH D-2? whattt, check it out yourself. LH is no in the PAC-5, Los Al's coach said they should move up, that they are good enough to play in the PAC-5.
So you really cant compare the programs. What i can say is that LH has the more heart then alot of the D-1 teams. They always get looked down by people like yourself, it just inspires them to go harder.
CLAN PRIDE!
not even close to mission and nobody here is saying so. but you mentioned scle and that we beat them by 1. so lets see, scle is going to finish 3rd in so coast league and mission rolled and I mean rolled through league and will most likely roll tonite. so take your garbage league statement and stick it. your 3rd place team lost 2 games to lower divisions sparky,get a clue.
OK, i know lh is a very good team..but the first team who ever won cif in 2002 was amazing,then repeating the next year with another cif victory, they were the best team by far. thats the team that started the crowds u see now at the games, .that team had daniel morales as qb,, and their defense was amazing. i always wonder if the 2002/2003 LH champs played the 2007/2008 LH champs who would win. either way lh will win tonight..just like always.
Myopia is alive and well.
Is this a football blog or a Vision Exam?
oh please... im not gonna bag on the mission folks, but YOU know you recruit...you know that talent wasnt home grown like LH...it feels good to win, but it feels alot better to win when you dont persuade players to come to your school...!!!GET YOU SOME
Will porter be playing tonight at linebacker?
O.H., Highlanders get respect from a coach who is the winningest coach in oc history, coach Barnes if u dont know his name.Anyways from all the LHHS faithful- stick it were the sun dont shine u hater!