EL SEGUNDO HERALD August 23, 2018 Page 5
Eagles Looking to Continue Their Gridiron Success in New Season
By Gregg McMullin
The 2018 high school football season is
upon us and with it come high hopes and
expectations that the Eagles will continue
their success. Over the past 10 consecutive
seasons, the Eagles have averaged eight wins
and advanced to the playoffs each year. Both
are school records.
So how does a small school like El Segundo
High continue to be so competitive? Remember
this is a school that frowns on transfers for the
sole purpose of athletics, unlike some other
campuses. The answer is the coaching staff
and how passionate they are – and also how
each year the players improve exponentially.
Each season the coaching staff fills spots left
void due to graduation with wide-eyed athletes
craving to learn the game of football.
This season will be no exception when it
comes to filling some positions. Question marks
on both offense and defense will surface, but
head coach Steve Shevlin and his staff will
be ready to tackle the challenge. Defensive
coordinator Dan Heck was surveying the team
during practice and shook his head with some
panic in his eyes. “Yes I’m worried how we’ll
do -- just look at them,” he said. Then he reminds
the coaches around him that they’ll be
much different in October. That’s because of
the coaching the players get and the significant
improvements they’ll make.
The offense will once again be led by
senior quarterback Matt Romero. As a
junior he threw for over 1,700 yards with
19 touchdown passes, and he was an All-Ocean
League first team and All-South Bay first
team selectee. He is slated to be one of the
top quarterbacks in the South Bay this season.
Romero lost his top three receivers to graduation,
so he figures to target senior wide receivers
Nate Kehl, Scott Melton and tight ends Alex
Ron and Dylan Phillips. Of the four, Melton
had the most catches as a junior. Kehl is a
sure-handed receiver with good speed. Ron has
good size and is tough in the middle, while
Phillips looks to be a great blocker. One of
the team’s top receivers could be Christophe
Charles. The reigning Soccer CIF Player of the
Year has good speed and athletic ability. Look
for juniors Kyle Myers and Matt Kusserow
to add depth to a talented stable of receivers.
Sophomore James Pearson is another viable
option with his size and speed.
The running game should be as good as last
season’s when the Eagles averaged 173 yards
per game. Romero was a scrambling quarterback
who led the team in rushes and rushing
TDs. That may change this season with senior
running back Joey Gorte and junior full back
Arman Sayson as the featured runners. Gorte
has the slashing style that will find the open
lanes. Sayson has a bruising style that will
challenge defenses. He will also be featured
out of the backfield on passes in the flats. The
depth in the backfield is evident with senior
Dylan Marquez-Wasson and juniors James
Fraelich and Alex Heflin looking to spare
Gorte. Sophomore fullback Julian Rodriquez
moves up from the freshman team where he
was the quarterback.
Joey Gorte should get most of the carries this season for the Eagles. Senior Matt Romero could be one of the top quarterbacks in
Perhaps the strength of the offense is up
front where there is plenty of experience.
The absence of All-South Bay lineman Jess
Caravello will be a big blow, but he helped
mentor the linemen returning. Seniors Gunnar
Rogers, a three-year starter, moves from guard
to center; while Kaden Langlois, another threeyear
starter, will help anchor one side of the
line. Ben Rosas’ experience at guard gives the
Eagles’ offense line stability. Two-year starter
Justin Delgado and two-year letterman Gerardo
Blanco round out a deep and talented offensive
line. Adrian Wexler, just a sophomore, has the
potential to be the next great lineman.
The defense, which has been so good under
the direction of defensive coach Heck, looks
the South Bay.
to reload. This is a defense that surrendered
the third least points in Division 7 last season.
Heck believes the defensive line will be the
strength of the defense. All-Ocean League
defensive end Alex Ron leads an experienced
line. Ron, a senior, recorded 53 tackles and
had four sacks last season. Seniors Phillips,
Rosas, Rogers and Bailey Greenburg shore up
the rest of the defensive line. Others who will
see significant playing time are seniors Connor
Michel and Marcellus Henry and junior
Sebastian Meza.
At the linebacker position, only James
Amerault returns. He was second on the team
with 82 tackles a season ago and should help
the new faces around him. Juniors Jackson
Ross, Jose Hurtado and Sayson as well as
sophomore Julian Rodriquez have been locking
down playing time in practice. Look for
Marquez-Wasson and juniors David Madrid,
Louis Beas and Ray Silva, who look promising,
to give the defense the depth they’ll need.
The secondary lost nearly all of the starters
to graduation. Heck will have seniors Gorte,
Melton and Cory Craig at his disposal. All
three have some experience on the defensive
side and have adapted at being team leaders.
With the speed of juniors Myers, Charles,
Fraelich, Nick Villa and Elijah Dunn, they
will challenge the opposition’s passing game.
Shevlin is optimistic about the season. He
believes the offense can continue to put up arcade
game-like scores with a standout quarterback,
an experienced line and a wide-opene offense.
He’s encouraged with what the defense looks
like and by how far the team has come since
playing in the summer El Camino Passing
League, the Redondo Tournament and the Rio
Grande Tournament. The season starts Friday
night at 7 p.m. when the Eagles host Peninsula.
El Segundo In-Line Hockey
League Celebrating 20th
Anniversary Saturday Night
For the past 25-plus years, El Segundo has
been home to a sport normally associated with
ice. A bunch of ambitious kids played in parking
lots, school blacktops and anywhere else
that had a flat enough surfaces to pass or shoot
a hockey puck into a makeshift goal. In the
winter of 1998, the El Segundo In-line Hockey
Association found a home by working with the
El Segundo City Council and the Recreation
and Parks Department. The result was a vision,
a duel effort and the construction of the
outdoor rink at El Segundo Recreation Park.
Now, 20 years later, the ESIHA is set to
celebrate a fantastic sport that has grown in
popularity. Saturday night, between 5 p.m. and
9 p.m., come help celebrate the 20th anniversary
by dusting off your old roller skates/roller blades
and skating under the lights. Or just come out
and support a league and its former players.
There will be food, music, silent auction/raffle
and fun activities for all ages.
There will be a donation box and an unopened
toy donation box that will go to benefit children
with leukemia. All proceeds from the silent
auction will be donated to leukemia research. •
Linemen Bailey Greenburg (L) and Gerardo Blanco are part of an experienced offensive line.
City Council from page 4
spring prompted a revised EIR analysis that
included nearby freeways. The results seemed
to satisfy those parties, as no additional comment
ensued.
The Council will reconsider the Smoky
Hollow Specific Plan on Sept. 18.
Also on Tuesday, the Council heard from
Police Chief Bill Whalen on changes to the
proposed Social Host Ordinance. The item
first came to the Council on June 5, but community
input since that time spurred a number
of changes to the original proposal. The goal,
Whalen explained, is “to deter underage drinking”
and marijuana/drug use and to provide
the department with tools it doesn’t have now
despite existing enforceable laws on the books.
The idea is to hold both the property owner/
parent and minor responsible for a violation
of the ordinance if the former intentionally
provided alcohol or marijuana to a minor at
the gathering; knew or should have known
the latter would imbibe on the premises; or
was present at the premises during the party.
Under the revised ordinance, a formal
warning will be issued for a first offense if
the “responsible adult” is not present at the
gathering and there is no evidence that a minor
is intoxicated. If the adult is present where
there are three or more minors drinking, that
triggers the first offense. The proposed fines
for violations are now lower than previously
recommended: $1,000 for the first offense,
$2,500 for the second and $5,000 for the third
– within a 12-month period. In consideration
of those who may be financially hampered, a
clause proposes that the first offense can be
written off by performing community service
(hours and type to be determined). The community
service option would not be available
for subsequent offenses.
Whalen reported only six incidents to date
in 2018 where the ordinance would have been
applicable. Though such gatherings may not
be rampant in El Segundo, he spoke of the
education component and the importance
of providing a way for “parents and kids to
have a conversation” about the fact that “this
[underage drinking gatherings] can’t happen
or else there will be repercussions.”
With the first reading on Tuesday, the Social
Host Ordinance will go back to the Council
for final vote on Sept. 4.
Presentations at the beginning of the meeting
included Chief Chris Donovan’s introduction of
new firefighter Matthew Goodenough. Whalen
introduced nine police department cadets (seven
were present) and said they showed a great
return on investment by bringing in $700,000
in revenues (e.g. parking ticket citations) to
the City since January 2017 while also taking
on other duties such as traffic control to
reduce the burden on police officers as well
as overtime costs.
The Council also issued a proclamation
recognizing firefighter Jose Zambrano “for his incredible
efforts, dedication, endurance, physical
and mental toughness and most importantly
compassion towards the 19 Granite Mountain
Hotshots killed in the line of duty.” On June
23, 2018, Zabrano initiated a memorial to raise
funds for the Kevin Wojeck Explorer for Life
Association. Wojeck was one of the Hotshots
killed in a devastating wildfire in Yarnell, Arizona
five years earlier. His family subsequently
started a non-profit to help young men and
women participate in fire explorer programs.
With his memorial, Zambrano ran 370 miles
over a week starting from Bellflower California
and ending in Yarnell. He wore full turnout gear
the entire way and carried an American flag,
averaging over 50 miles a day despite stretches
of severe heat. Chief Donovan praised the accomplishment
and showed a video montage
from the run. In explaining what motivated
him to embark on such a journey, Zambrano
said, “They were sons. They were brothers.
They were fathers. In the end, that’s what I
wanted to honor…” •