Schools

Here's How Chatsworth's Football Team Stacks Up in West Valley League

It's wide open because most teams are rebuilding, including annual favorite Taft.

Chatsworth High’s football team is coming off a big season, finishing 11-4 and advancing to the City Section Division II final last season after coming in second place behind  Division I Taft of Woodland Hills in the West Valley League.

It’s a new era, a fresh team under first-year coach Andrew Kim, who has replaced Jason Camp (now an assistant at West Valley contender Birmingham of Van Nuys), and the season begins Sept. 9 with a nonleague game at Panorama – an opponent Chatsworth defeated in the playoffs last year, so there figures to be a revenge factor.

So how does Chatsworth stack up this season against some of the others in the West Valley League? For the past three years, Taft has been a major favorite, but the Toreadors have been hurt by graduation and are breaking in a new coach, Chris Rizzo, the team’s former defensive coordinator who has replaced the departed Matt Kerstetter.

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Chatsworth has a good building block in multi-purpose back Eric Waters, a 6-foot, 185-pound senior who could fit in at quarterback, running back, receiver and defensive back – along with returning kicks – and the Chancellors also have one of the league’s biggest, most experienced offensive/defensive linemen in Kevin Olive, a 6-foot, 275-pound three-year starter.

Receiver Anthony Urquidi figures to be an impact player, too, along with rising junior lineman Luke Coyle, but otherwise Chatsworth is expected to rely mainly on fresh talent from last year’s junior varsity team.

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Though Taft is rebuilding, the Toreadors have to be considered the league favorite. A big problem is quarterback Kris Yanku, expected to be one of the league’s top passers as a replacement for All-City quarterback Michael Bercovici (now at Arizona State), has been so busy with basketball – his No. 1 sport – that he has not been able to participate in summer practice or seven-on-seven competition, and it is still unclear when, or if, Yanku will join the football team.

“Sometimes it’s hard to convince those basketball players who are playing the summer circuit to come out for football,” Rizzo said. “We’re trying to get him to come out because he has a huge upside, and the same thing happened last year when he joined the JV around Week 3 or something. But Kris says he is going to come out in August, so we’ll see.”

Taft returns starting running Dimitray Lewis, who should be among the league’s top players after rushing for 572 yards and seven touchdowns last year, though most of his production came early in the season last year. He also had three interceptions as a defensive back, and overall Lewis has a lot to prove to be in the same class of some of Taft’s past tailbacks like D.J. Morgan, now at USC.

“Dimitray is back, and he is one of our leaders. He’s one of the veterans on the team,” Rizzo said. “We graduated 26 seniors, so we only have about five or six guys who have legitimate playing experience.”

Some of Taft’s other top players are returning all-league defensive back Patrick Wells and offensive lineman Alex Corona, along with transfers Anthony Fowler (defensive back) and Jake  Dashnaw (quarterback). Fowler is a highly regarded transfer from Chaminade of West Hills, and Dashnaw from Canyon is the brother of former standout Narbonne quarterback Chad Dashnaw, now at Portland State.

Dashnaw, a junior, arrived during the spring semester, so he should have a good opportunity to learn the offense – overall, a big responsibility considering Taft averaged nearly 500 yards per game last year and advanced to the City Division I semifinals.

Dejuan Butler, another transfer defensive back from Chaminade, could also be in the mix, but Taft is still awaiting a decision on his eligibility, Rizzo said.

Also, the Toreadors were dealt a blow when Leroy Hicks, a promising senior running back, suffered a season-ending knee injury this summer in a passing-league event at Granada Hills.

“Taft is my alma mater, and I’ve been back since 2002, and we have a strong tradition,” Rizzo said. “I intend to carry on that tradition and to build on it.” 

As for the rest, Granada Hills has won just 21 games over the past seven years, but the Highlanders could challenge because the JV won the league title last year. However, two of Granada Hills’ top returning players, running back Jacob Smith and offensive lineman Jacob Speer, won’t be available. Smith is academically ineligible, and Speer transferred to Crespi of Encino.

El Camino Real has the league’s premier running back in Kawan Rally, a 5-10, 225-pound senior who rushed for 1,510 yards and 20 touchdowns last season. He is among seven returning offensive starters, including quarterback Matt Ramirez and receiver Austin Reeves, but the Conquistadores must rebuild their offensive line – a key development because they run the power pitch and rarely pass the football.

Since winning four City titles over a six-year period ending in 2007, Birmingham is 11-22 over the past three seasons, including 2-8 last year. However, improvement is expected because most of the key players were underclassmen last season, including quarterbacks Adrian Mora and Anthony Dickinson, running backs Aaron Martin-Mack and Tahj Wheeler, receiver Marcus Harris and linemen David Orellana and Joe Pereira.

Cleveland went 3-7 last year under third-year coach Vince Johnson, a former Birmingham assistant, and the Cavaliers are again not expected to challenge for a league title, though returning receiver/defensive back Miguel Garcia is among the San Fernando Valley’s top returning players.

 


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