Eagles Football Make it Far into CIF

By Garrison Dolph Adomian

Friday, November 21 proved to be an eccentric day in El Segundo Football.  The Eagles traveled way up North to Oxnard to face the Santa Clara Saints.  The Saints boasted of their Notre Dame bound running back Cierre Woods and an offensive and defensive line unmatched in size.  The brave and mighty Eagles would not back down from any fight, however.  By a stroke of destiny, Cierre Woods did not start in the game due to an injury.  The game progressed well for the Eagles from the start.  The El Segundo defense shut down the Saints' offense.  Minimal yards were gained facing sturdy Eagle defenders.  As the offense took the field, the slaughter began.  Seniors Kevin Post, Gage Mortesen, and Joey Schaffhauser plowed their way into the end zone for Eagles points.  At the end of the savagery that was the first half, the Eagles had put 28 points on the board and kept Santa Clara at 0.  As the second half started Cierre Woods attempted to enter the game to save his team's deficit.  Seniors Jason Karp, Zak Cooper, Matt Rowland, and Wade LaRouche offered an iron wall on the defensive line that crushed Woods and the Saint's hopes for victory.  Woods gained 1 yard while in the game before his leg pain bothered him too much and he left for good.  Offensively junior quarterback Mike Bundy received Praetorian protection from his linemen including seniors Matt Manzo and Trevor Doukakis.  Being able to run and pass effectively, the Eagles put on two more touchdowns up and wore out the Saints.  The ending score of 42 - 0 propelled the Eagles into the second round of playoffs.

Friday, November 28, the Eagles played in the second round game against St. Joseph's Knights.  El Segundo had not made it this far into the playoffs since 2002 in Matt Engle's season.  The Knights presented a very similar front to El Segundo.  Although outmatched in size, the Eagles proved their valor once more.  At the start of the game the Knights hurt themselves with errors.  After stalwart defenses were given by El Segundo, the Knights overshot a snap on a punt that enabled junior Nick Kessler to recover the ball for a touchdown.  However the Knights were no pushovers and put up two touchdowns by the end of the half. Senior Alex Merced made a 35 yard field goal that possibly saved the game.  The Eagles trailed at the half 10 - 14.  Seniors Jordan Orechwa and Richard Seigel protected the flanks that gave Bundy the time he needed to pass the ball to Post for two touchdowns.  After a bloody fight, El Segundo had pulled ahead 24 - 21.  In the last moments of the game, the Knights possessed the ball for one last chance to beat the Eagles.  As they approached the end zone with a few seconds left, hearts pounded and all hopes rested on the El Segundo defense.  When the St. Josephs quarterback threw the ball into the end zone it was intercepted by junior Jimmy Quinones, ending their drive and the game.  This celebrated victory moved the Eagles into the semi-finals which El Segundo has not witnessed since 1987.  

With over four thousand football fans in the stadium, the Eagles took the field against the invading Serra Cavaliers, and they knew it would be a big night.  No one in the entire South Bay expected the Eagles to have a chance against Serra.  The cavaliers had some of the finest athletes in the area and had not lost once in the season.  However the out-gunned Eagles had bigger hearts.  From the start they gave the Cavaliers a bloody nose.  Mortesen and Post punched in two early touchdowns.  Bundy had his linemen working as hard as they could to thwart the attacks by Serra defenders.  For the most part the offense made effective attacks and showed no mercy to the barbaric Cavaliers.  Schaffhauser was able to pile on one more score with a manly display of football by driving into the end zone with several defenders at his back.  On the other side, the Eagles defense had a battle to the death all game.  Serra had speed on El Segundo, so they had to match up to them with crafty guile to outwit the Cavaliers.  At the end of the half the Eagles led the game 21 - 14.  On a fourth and long play the Cavaliers had ridiculous luck.  They threw a long pass that was batted down by junior Sean Defrancesco but fell into the hands of another Serra receiver who carried it into the end zone to tie the game.  This was the momentum changer that altered the tide.  In the third quarter the Eagles failed to put more points on the board and due to an interception gave a quick touchdown to Serra.  In the fourth quarter, Serra put on one more touchdown to bring the score to 35 - 21.  As the offense took the field once again, they quickly produced another score with Schaffhauser again.  When the Eagles defense, including senior Kyle Yatabe and junior Brandon Jiminez, made heroic stops El Segundo had one chance to tie the game.  Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful and Serra achieved the ball with a few seconds remaining, and ended the game with a final score of 28-35.  El Segundo had played its hearts out, and by a stroke of misfortune lost the game.  However the team keeps their heads high; this has been the best football team in El Segundo history.  Let’s hope the achievements this year will carry over to next year so the next team can build off of this experience and beat out this record.  Go Eagles!

Basketball Starts off Their Seasons

By Andrew Gen

The basketball season started on December 1 and the boys and girls teams started the season with a couple of tournaments. The boy’s team first played against Chadwick and dominated them 89-41. The next Thursday, the boy’s team entered the San Luis Obispo Tournament. Their first game against SLO was a though one and the boys came up short 47-64. Their second game they came out on top winning against Lompoc 66-52 due in part to sophomore Brandon Jawato’s 23 points. Following their win, the boys played against San Marcus but lost 46-51. And for their final game of the tournament the Eagles played Villa Park and won with a score of 59-46. The boy’s team also joined the Valley Christian tournament and played against Savanna and lost by only three scoring 53 points to Savanna’s 56. And in their second game of the tournament, the team lost against Elsinore 43-66. After the first seven games, the boy’s team has a record of 3-4. With the first of the season just passing by, Senior Terrence (Sippy) Wilson commented, “I’m looking forward to having a great time with my teammates, tryin’ to win league and makin’ it far into CIF.” And with captain junior Tyler Hagan scoring more than an average of 14 points a game, Sippy’s goals can definitely become a reality.
The girl’s basketball season started with a game against Mater Dei losing 22-64. Searching for some wins, the team entered the Redondo Beach Tournament first playing Bishop Montgomery, but once again lost 24-61. Fighting to reach a win in the tournament, the Lady Eagles played Washington but again lost 50-73. Unfortunately the next home game for the Lady Eagles isn’t until mid January, but you can still wish the team good luck! Go Eagles!

Kicking it into High Gear

By Lena Hedayat

Boys:

This season the boys’ varsity soccer team has not had the greatest success so far, but the team has been improving. They began play in the South Bay Tournament and came through victoriously in their second to last game in the tournament. The first game took place on Tuesday December 2 against Mira Costa, and unfortunately the Eagles were not able to come through with a win, losing 0-2. Their next game two days later against Beverly Hills held the same fate, but on Tuesday December 9 the Eagles had a very close loss facing Peninsula, ending 1-2.  On Thursday December 11 the Eagles were finally triumphant with their game opposing Hawthorne, coming away with their first win in the young season. The boys ended the game 3-1, with senior Scott Hendricks, junior Josh Ferona, and sophomore Victor Guerro putting in the goals. The game was well played with excellent passing and two valuable assists made by junior Ryan Denman and senior Alex Merced. As for the start of this season, Denman says, “With new faces came new talent and it looks like we are in for a promising season.” All three of the boys’ teams have played hard and are continuing to improve. Make time to go see the Eagles’ talent at their next home game, this Thursday, December 18 at 3 P.M. against Bishop Montgomery. Go Eagles!

Girls:

Girls' Varsity soccer has started their season with immense success. Each game the girls have played so far has resulted in a win. Their first game took place on Wednesday December 3 against Hawthorne. The game was well played with Seniors Missy Schaefer (midfielder), Leana Timoteo (midfielder), and sophomore Kayla Sanchez (forward) putting in the total four goals, leaving the opposing team with zero points. The next two games were part of the El Segundo Tournament and the Lady Eagles once again were victorious. The first game against Santa Monica on Friday December 5 ended 5-1 with seniors Timoteo, captain Courtney Hobbs (defender), captain Jenna Rich (midfielder), junior Allison Reaser (forward), and freshman Addie Saldaña (midfielder) each putting in a point. The next game faced St. Bernard on the following day and finished with a marvelous score, 10-0 Eagles. Each of the many goals were put in by seniors Timoteo, Itchell Guzman, Rich, sophomores Hannah Hough (fullback), Sanchez,  and freshman Saldaña. Continuing their winning streak, the Lady Eagles went on to play Morningside two days later on December 8, and ending with a total of nine goals and left the opponents with zero. Once again players Timoteo, Barbosa, Hough, Reaser, Rich, and Sanchez all contributed to the final outcome and every player worked there hardest, making at least one shot on goal. On Wednesday December 10 against Culver City the Eagles played a very close game, finishing 4-3, the Eagles earning a win. So far the varsity along with the junior varsity and frosh soph, have performed very well through the start of their season. Senior Timoteo says, “I think the team is going to be really good this year, and I’m excited to see the outcome of the season. We love Juan!” Good luck to all the Lady Eagles soccer players, and be sure to go support them at their next home game today at 3 P.M.

Hazuki Onaga Makes it into CIF Finals

By Andrew Gen

Sophomore Hazuki (Kiki) Onaga represented the El Segundo girls tennis team in the individuals CIF tournament. Kiki went to the Arcadia regional, as the Pioneer League’s number one player. At Arcadia, Kiki secured one of four berths to enter the CIF finals by winning three matches at the regional. Kiki played her first match winning (6-2) (3-6) (10-7) against Kira Lee from Flintridge Prep and dominated her second match (6-2) (6-0) against Sam Chau who was number two in the South Coast League. When presented with her opponent for the third match, no one thought that Kiki could pull off a win against a returning CIF finalist, a senior Bianca Modoc from the Matchpoint Tennis Academy, but she overcame and won (7-5) (3-6) (11-9).
At the CIF finals tournament, Kiki drew the top seed, number one player, UCLA bound Pam Montez. Kiki tried her best, but lost (6-1) (6-0). Coach and father Kirby Onaga stated that, “In the regionals every player is focused on moving on to the final sixteen. But when the younger ninth and tenth grade players get there it can be a bit overwhelming if you draw the elite Stanford or UCLA bound seniors. That was the case of Hazuki’s first round match.”
In the history of girls’ tennis, this is the farthest a player has ever gone into CIF. Last year, Kiki lost in her second match of the regionals and did not go to the CIF finals. “Although I wish I could have done better in my first match, I’m only a sophomore so I have some time to improve and hopefully getting farther next year.”
Being only a sophomore, we can look forward to Kiki possibly being a tennis CIF champion in 2009 or 2010, the first El Segundo has ever seen. But with this season to an end, we can be proud of the talent and skill that Kiki has brought to our team and can look forward to her success in the future.

Girls' Water Polo Creates a Whirlpool

By Lena Hedayat

The Lady Eagles had a rough start to their season because of some unfortunate circumstances and mishaps, but hopefully events will begin to change as the ladies wade deeper into their season. On Tuesday November 25, the Eagles had their first game against Redondo and came through with a home pool win, ending 12-4. At the ladies home pool, the game proved to be surprisingly easy, but when the Eagles faced with the team at Redondo’s home pool, they saw a change in the water and lost to the Sea Hawks, 7-11. In between these two Redondo games the Varsity girls had a tournament in Newbury Park December 5 and 6. The Eagles played a total of five games, winning 3 of them. Several teams took part in the tournament, and the Lady Eagles ended in 13th place. The tournament had taken a toll on the girls’ stamina and when they were faced with yet another game on Tuesday, December 9 against Sunny Hills, the ladies did not come out on top. However, both the varsity and junior varsity girls were handicapped by the loss of their team goalies and were forced to pull through with their valuable teammates missing. The Eagles have not let this series of events bring them down and are improving with each passing day. As captain senior Haley Cox says, “We just got a new coach, which means that every technique we need to master is new. These past few games were learning games, getting used to new players and coaches. We are practicing hard, which is also why you can see us dying as we walk to our classes. Right now we are still in pre-season mode, but we will rise! When it comes time in January for league games, we will crush our opponents.” Come support the ladies at their next home game Tuesday January 6 against La Serna, the varsity game beginning at 3:15 P.M.

 

Featured Athletes: Haley Cox, Tyler Hagan, Oriana Luquetta, Josh Ferona, Jenna Rich

	Girls Water Polo	Boys Basketball	Girls Basketball	Boys Soccer	Girls Soccer
Record	3-2	3-4	1-3	1-2	5-0
Recent Score	Redondo 7-11 Win	Elsinore 43-66 Loss	Washington 50-73 Loss	Hawthorne 3-1Win	Culver City 4-3 Win
Next Game	Dec. 29 Redlands East Valley	Dec. 17   Windward	Dec. 17 Valley Christian	Dec. 18 Bishop Montgomery	Dec. 17   Peninsula