Chatsworth Alum Cassel to Have Jersey Retired

Matt Cassel, a top NFL quarterback and perhaps Chatsworth High’s most distinguished sports alum, is being honored on campus today (Friday) at a special school assembly.        

The Pro Bowl starter from the Kansas City Chiefs via USC is having his uniform number retired in a private ceremony for students only.

Cassel, 28, has played six seasons with the New England Patriots and the Chiefs, and he passed for 3,001 yards and 27 touchdowns this past season. Over the past three seasons, he has averaged more than 3,000 yards per year.

He has one daughter, Quinn, and two brothers, Jack and Justin, and a sister Amanda. Their mother, Barbara, is an Emmy-winning set designer.

HIKE TO WHO?

Speaking of quarterbacks, Chatsworth’s football team can use one, as the Chancellors, coming off an 11-3 season after reaching the City Division II final, are looking to develop a new signal caller.

“That’s what we’re working on because we’re stacked across the board,” coach Jason Camp said. “We’ll have speed again and a very good offensive line.”

Some of the top underclassmen are running back Eric Waters and linemen Kevin Olive and Luke Coyle.

“Each year, the kids are getting better and working harder,” Camp said.

BIG BASEBALL DAY

On Saturday on the baseball field, it will be Bryan Petersen’s turn to have his uniform retired in another ceremony at Chatsworth’s annual alumni baseball game. He plays for the Florida Marlins, and he’s the first in Chatsworth coach Tom Meusborn’s 21-year career to make it to the major leagues.

It should be a good alumni game, too, because legendary Mike Moustakas is slated to participate, and it will be fun to see if California’s all-time prep home-run leader can hit one more over the fence. Justin and Jack Cassel and Willie Cabrera should be there, too.

Chatsworth has won nine City championships, and this year’s team is loaded with top pitchers, including Aaron Brown, Steven Karkenny and Christian Lopez.

“It should be a really good year. We’re pretty excited,” Brown said. “We have pretty much all the same starters as last year, plus we have quite a few young guys, too.”

The alumni game is slated to start at 12:30 p.m.

HOOP IT UP

Sierra Canyon’s boys’ basketball team is 19-5 and has made quite an improvement over the final stretch of the regular season – something that was expected because of all the young talent.

“The good news is, because of our youth we’re only going to get better and better,” first-year coach Ryan Silver said. “We have four underclassmen on this team playing a lot of minutes.”

Among the key youngsters are freshman Bryan Alberts and Marsalis Johnson and sophomore Jahmel Taylor. Alberts and Johnson both had national reputations even before entering high school because of their summer all-star performances, and Taylor is a Notre Dame transfer who averages 21.4 points.

“Bryan is going to be very, very good. He already possesses a D-I skill set, and he’s just a freshman,” Silver said. “Johnson is unbelievable, too, and as he gets stronger and more confident day by day, he’s going to be unbelievably good, a top 50 talent in the nation. Both of them.”

Meanwhile, Sierra Canyon was 19-5 heading into Thursday’s late game against Brentwood, and among the team’s victories were wins over the past week against Montclair Prep, Windward and Flintridge Prep – all ranked No. 1 in their respective divisions.

Sierra Canyon was No. 2 in Div. V-A before defeating top-ranked Montclair Prep, so the Trailblazers have a good shot to be the top seed in the playoffs, as pairings are scheduled to be released Sunday.