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FIESTA BOWL: L.A. County players can sit back, relax

By Miguel A. Melendez, Staff Writer

Posted: 07/10/2009 08:27:12 PM PDT

ALHAMBRA - There was a stark difference at Thursday's practice at Alhambra High School compared to the rest of the L.A. County practices the past two weeks.

There were smiles and laughter, perhaps stemming from the early dismissal.

For two weeks, the L.A. County team practiced into the night as it prepared to face the Inland Empire in the third annual Fiesta Bowl tonight at 7 at Whittier College.

This time, however, L.A. County coach Javier Cid (Roosevelt High) dismissed the team rather early and put a cap on the intensity level.

There were no pads or helmets, unlike the previous practices where players clashed with every tackle after each play.

Light jogging and a walk-through sufficed Thursday.

"It was more of a mental day," Cid said. "We wanted to come in and clean up everything. We also wanted to make it a friendly atmosphere, let the players have fun and make them feel good about this game."

Two weeks ago, anther group of L.A. County players were pitted against the Inland Empire in the "Gridiron War" All-Star game in Long Beach. That game came to a halt with 11 minutes left after a fight broke out.

Several players on this L.A. County team took part in that all-star game and said the mood here is more relaxed.

Cid and his core of assistants stressed the significance of sportsmanship throughout two weeks of practice.

"We emphasized sportsmanship, gamesmanship and character,"
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Cid said. "We finished with that (Thursday). Sometimes what happens is kids want to start fights or someone's getting beat and someone throws a punch to defend his teammate.

"We wanted to carry that message throughout the two weeks, and we gave every coach an opportunity to speak, that was a big part of our practice Thursday."

When asked if the pep talk stemmed from the Long Beach incident, Cid said it served as a reminder.

"For the last three years we've always emphasized it," he said, "but yes, that incident did serve as a reminder. But reminding the kids about playing with character isn't something new. The coaches here emphasize that in their programs, too."

Cid attends every all-star game throughout Southern California but said he missed the "Gridiron War."

"I was taking a State test at San Gabriel High that day, but I did hear about it," he said. "All the coaches talk about all the great plays and great players and teams, and unfortunately coaches also talk about the negative things that go around; it's been in the back of everybody's head, believe me."

Cid, coaching in his third Fiesta Bowl, brings a 1-1 record into this game. He feels good about improving his record, too.

Look for the L.A. County to run a spread offense, and though they look one dimensional with two star-studded quarterbacks in Roosevelt's Jesse Diaz and Palmdale's Brandon Mims, Cid said the offensive attack will be a balanced one.

The San Gabriel Valley will be well-represented, led by San Gabriel's Marcos Villalobos (wide receiver), Bishop Amat's Joseph Guerrero (lineman), St. Francis' Rian Younker (lineman) and Duarte's trio of Desmond Hayes, Durriae Williams and Tim Starr.

The Inland Empire features an intimidating presence at the line of scrimmage, led by Colony's Quashawn Buckey (6-foot-4, 285 pounds) and Carter's Anthony Moxley (6-5, 280).

That the L.A. County team is running a spread offense is no secret. Both the Inland Empire and L.A. County teams swapped offensive and defensive playbooks.

"It's not going to be a sloppy game," Cid said. "We have something to prepare for. It's going to come down to the kids. Having each other's playbooks will minimize the mental mistakes and penalties.

"Sometimes you have that when you don't know what you're going to see, and you hesitate. I expect it to be an offensive game. That's one of the reasons why initially we talked about having each team know what the other team was doing."

As far as Cid knows, this game is the lone all-star game that swaps playbooks.

"And I think you need to do that," he explained. "We have kids from 36 high schools. If we put them together and don't know what the other team is doing it's twice as hard to prepare, and on top of that we have to get these kids to mesh.

"This way we know what we're preparing for and they have more confidence in knowing what they're doing to do and what they have to do to win."

miguel.melendez@sgvn.com

(626) 578-6300, Ext. 4485







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