By Loren Kopff
@LorenKopff on Twitter
The last week of Suburban League action on the gridiron in 2016 saw John Glenn High lose to Norwalk High for the 13th straight season. Now, those two city rivals will face each other in the league opener tonight at Excelsior Stadium.
The numbers in this rivalry have been nothing short of super for the Lancers and just the opposite for the Eagles, who earlier this season snapped a 16-game losing streak. In the last four meetings, Norwalk has outscored Glenn 238-6. Since the Eagles last defeated the Lancers in 2002, which was also the last time they advanced to the postseason, Norwalk has shutout its buddies from the east side of the city six times and allowed single digits three more times.
This season, Glenn comes into the contest with a 1-3 mark, having knocked off Magnolia High 31-19 before falling to Peninsula High 48-6, Mountain View High 35-18 and Hoover High 51-20. The 75 points scored so far are six fewer than the total from last season. Meanwhile, Norwalk has bounced back after a disappointing 7-6 loss to Long Beach Jordan High on Sept 2 with road wins over Bell Gardens High (41-0) and Dominguez High (21-13) over the past two weeks.
In other football action, Cerritos High has matched its combined win total from the last two seasons following a 41-6 win at Beverly Hills High last Friday. At 2-1, the Dons have their first winning season entering league action since 2003 when they went 3-1 en route to a 6-4 mark. Cerritos will visit defending state champion La Mirada High, which enters the game at 2-2 but has played one of the more brutal non league schedules with wins over Orange Lutheran High and San Clemente High and shutout setbacks to Mater Dei High and St. John Bosco High.
Valley Christian High evened its mark at 2-2 after crushing Mayfair High 42-7 last Friday. Junior running back Gianni Hurd had touchdown runs of 34, 24 and 28 yards. Both of V.C.’s win have been on the field at Ron Yary Stadium with the other triumph coming against Bellflower High (61-14) on Sept. 2. The Crusaders will make their every other season trek to the Inland Empire to face longtime rival Ontario Christian, which has a 3-1 mark. The Knights have outscored their opponents 107-67 and all three wins have been on the road while the two V.C. wins have also been on the road.
VOLLEYBALL
With Suburban League action three weeks old, it’s beginning to take shape with the usual four teams at the top and three of them vying for a league title. Two teams that will need to step of their game if they want to be a part of that action faced each other on Sept. 22 when Artesia High hosted John Glenn High. The Pioneers dropped to 1-9 overall and 0-4 in the circuit after falling to La Mirada High 25-13, 25-9, 20-25, 25-15 this past Tuesday. Through the first six matches of the season, Glenn had posted just one victory. Artesia will visit Norwalk High on Tuesday for its only match next week while the Eagles host Bellflower High on Tuesday and La Mirada on Thursday.
Cerritos High remained hot and right with defending league champion Mayfair High following a 25-14, 25-16, 25-14 sweep against Bellflower this past Tuesday. The Lady Dons improved to 8-1 overall and 3-0 in league action. Cerritos and Mayfair were to have faced each other at Mayfair on Sept. 13, but the match was postponed due to the officials not showing up. A makeup date has not been announced yet. Cerritos will travel to La Mirada and Norwalk on Tuesday and Thursday respectively.
Gahr High wrapped up its non league slate by losing to St. Anthony High 25-15, 25-23, 21-25, 25-21 this past Tuesday. The Gladiators (7-6) also won all three of their pool play matches in the Valley Christian/Mayfair Tournament last Saturday, then defeated Santa Fe High 25-18 before losing to Westridge High 27-25 in the quarterfinals. Gahr hosted Lynwood High on Sept. 22 and will travel to Warren High on Tuesday before entertaining Paramount High on Thursday.
First place was on the line when Norwalk travelled to Mayfair, the second ranked team in the California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section Division 5 top 10 poll, on Sept. 22. The next big match for the Lady Lancers will come when they host Cerritos on Thursday.
Whitney High picked up its first Academy League victory, a four-set win at Calvary Chapel Downey this past Tuesday. The Lady Wildcats will travel to Brethren Christian today and host Sage Hill on Tuesday.