By Jon D. Gaede, BVN Sports –

Redlands - Citrus Valley Coach Pete Smolin must be pleased as he has watched his Blackhawks grow from young undersized sophomores, into the school’s first senior class. Along with that size, speed and experience, the victories have also come.

Citrus Valley, the newest high school in Redlands, currently plays in the Mountain Valley League. At 3-0 (7-1) overall, they hold down first place, along with league rival Rubidoux. The two schools will collide with each other on the Blackhawk’s home field in two-weeks.

The visiting Banning Broncos gave Citrus Valley all they could handle on Friday night. Banning kick returner Styrone Hairston ran back the opening kickoff 96-yards for a Bronco touchdown. On the first Blackhawk offensive series, Junior quarterback Dalton Douglass marched his squad down the field to even the score. At 6-2, Douglass possesses a canon arm, but used his legs on this drive with runs of 40 and 22-yards. The latter for a score.

Banning took a narrow 21-20 lead at halftime. Early in the third quarter, the Blackhawk nose-tackle Stanley Glass pinned the Broncos in their own end zone for a safety. That gave the Blackhawks a thin lead at 22-21.

The Blachawks then proceeded to deliver a pounding running game that the Broncos had no answer for. Led by tailbacks Andrew Gonzales and Jason Snow, the duo combined for 240 yards on 40 carries on the night. Gonzales has 160 of those yards.

In the games final moments, quarterback Dalton Douglass took a hard hit and was replaced by able quarterback Justin Lopez. With 50 seconds left on the clock, Lopez calmly launched a 32-yard pass to a leaping Jason Snow, who caught the ball in the far left corner of the end zone to preserve the Blackhawk victory.

Citrus Valley celebrated their initial Homecoming as a school. The class of 2012 will be their initial graduating senior class.

Neiborhood Rivals but programs are worlds apart

By Gary Montgomery, BVN Staff –

Rancho Verde High School has quietly built one of the elite programs in the area. Friday night’s runaway victory over intercity rival Vista Del Lago highlighted two programs with vastly different views and expectations.

The Mustangs are currently ranked number 1 in the Central Valley Division and number 3 in the overall polls. It’s football team has dominated the Inland Valley League since its inception.

Although MapQuest list the two campuses as only .9 miles apart that distance could be measured in light years when talking about athletics. Rancho Verde scored 9 touchdowns against the Ravens in nearly every way possible.

The Ravens offense managed to cross the 50- yard line only one time and that possession ended shortly after in a turnover. There was never any serious scoring threat coming from the Ravens.

“The offensive line was on tonight. Carlos was putting the ball on the numbers and all the receivers had to do was catch it,” said Mustang star receiver Damorea Stringfellow.

A relatively new school, Rancho Verde opened in 1991. The Mustangs have amassed and impressive list of alum’s. Starting in 1996, Larry Ned the outstanding running was first to reach the NFL. After starring at San Diego State Ned was drafted by the Raiders and later played for the Vikings.

After Ned, there was Da’Mon Cromartie Smith from the class of 2005 who was drafted by the Steelers.

The class of 2006 produced D’Aundre Reed the outstanding Arizona State defensive end and a 2011 draft pick by the Vikings.

The 2008 class launched offensive tackle Tyron Smith who went on to star for 3 years at USC and became the Cowboys first pick in the 2011 draft. And in 2010, defensive end Ronald Powell joined the Florida Gators.

“We have 18 players currently playing Division 1 college football. Corona Centennial has 13,” said Rancho Verde Head Coach Pete Duffy.

Coach Duffy’s comparison is interesting.

Corona Centennial’s football program has become the standard of excellence for the Southern Section.

Rancho Verde’s alumni status and win-loss records are all comparable yet they are barely mentioned in that conversation.

The 2011 Mustangs appear to be ready to take that next step and join Centennial as a standard of excellence. They have certainly proven that they belong in the conversation.

G. Montgomery can be reached at sports@blackvoicenews.com

By Gary Montgomery, BVN Sports –

By virtue of their 2011 regular season performance, the Los Angeles Galaxy has once again established themselves as the club to beat. By amassing 67 points this year, the best in MLS, the Galaxy is now poised for soccer’s second season.

MLS has decided to expand their playoff format from eight to ten teams this year. The Western Conference includes the top seeded L.A. Galaxy followed by Seattle and Real Salt Lake.

The Eastern Conference is led by Sporting KC, Houston and Philadelphia. In addition, wild card qualifiers include, FC Dallas, Colorado, Columbus and New York.

The playoff format has the Galaxy in a first round bye, while the wild card clubs face each other in a single game elimination. The Galaxy will play their first playoff game on the road, October 30th. The home and home format will then move to the Home Depot Center on November 3rd at 5 pm for the Western Conference Semifinal.

As in recent years, the winner of the two game series will be determined by the aggregate score. Winning teams will earn three points, one point for a tie and zero for a loss. To the advantage of the Galaxy, the first criteria for a tie-breaker is the regular season record and Los Angeles has the league best at 67 points.

In a year when the Galaxy has also competed in CONCACAF Tournament, top Galaxy players have been pulled for national team duty, the club added top Irish striker Robbie Keane. He suffered an injury while playing for Ireland in an international match and has been on the mend.

Landon Donovan (Redlands East Valley H.S.) has also been out with a strained quadriceps.

Donovan is likely, Sean Franklin returned to action last week, but Robble Keane may not be ready for the Western Conference Semifinal. Donovan Ricketts, last years Goalkeeper of the Year, who had a league leading 11 shutouts is now available.

David Beckham, who finished a close second in league assists with 11 in 27 games, appears to be healthy and energized.

Negotiations are ongoing to keep him in Los Angeles.

Alabama State tames Grambling

By Collin Smiley, BVN Staff –

Montgomery, Al – After living in California for years, it can become difficult to remember the feel, flavor, and excitement generated down south during the college football season. The intra-state rivalries, the battling bands, the trash talk and the local pride garnered from a winning football team.

Although many Californians have a direct lineage to the south, years of living in the west can erode that bound. Here, we are overexposed to the new Pac-12, Big East and ACC because of their athletic prowess with an assist from ESPN’s nonstop highlight reels.

But many years ago before the Black athletes were allowed to showcase their skill at the major institutions the Black athletes had to attend HBCU’s (Historically Black Colleges and Universities). HBCU’s are a rare site west of the Rocky Mountains. So, Californians tend to lose out on the excitement, pageantry and originality innate to these institutions.

In the years after segregation began to drain away the top Black athletes, its ultimate affect on Black college sports was a concern shared by many, particularly in the football community.

Would historically Black colleges and universities be able to field quality teams?

I am here to tell you that, like its people the HBCU’s have figured it out, retooled, rebranded and moved on with the times. Black college football classics populate the eastern half of the country like post season major college bowl games dominate the month of December.

I can confirm the health of HBCU football after attending the 35th meeting between the Alabama State Hornets and the legendary Grambling Tigers at the Crampton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama.

On a cool September evening in Alabama, absolutely perfect for football, alumni great and former Super Bowl MVP, Doug Williams led his G-Men onto the field against ASU head coach Reggie Barlow, also a Super Bowl winning alumni and his Hornet team. Barlow starred at ASU before heading to the NFL and winning his championship ring as a member of the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers team.

Williams, was one of legendary coach Eddie Robinson’s greatest players, a member of the Black College Hall of Fame, Super Bowl MVP and his name is currently being floated for an NFL Hall of Fame ballot spot. Adding more entertainment value to this game, Grambling’s starting quarterback D.J. Williams is Doug’s son.

There are roughly 65 HBCU classic games scheduled during the 2011-12 season. Many of them are showcase games in cities with no HBCU school presence but have adopted the games as traditional celebrations coupled with a scheduled community event.

By branding their games as classics and moving them around it has made these events more attractive to sponsors and increased their marketing options. Classic games like the Circle City Classic, Music City Classic, Chicago Football Classic and College Fair, Southern Heritage Classic, State Fair Classic and Morehouse-Tuskegee Classic have achieved national name recognition and like the very famous Bayou Classic in New Orleans have built an annual following in the thousands.

The major HBCU conferences, SWAC, MEAC ,SAIC and CINA have combined to offer a full schedule of televised games with broadcast partners ESPN, CSS, OVC Sports TV, Sport South, Versus and SWAC conference holding SWAC TV. Several of these same conferences have also combined to offer a comprehensive schedule of available games via the internet.

No longer the choice of top recruits and understandably so, the HBCU’s have continued to provide a great on field product with the talent available to them. Currently there are 37 active players in the National Football League from Historically Black Colleges And Universities.

Although there are no current players the likes of Walter Payton, Doug Williams, Steve McNair or the many greats of previous generations in the league today, there are many starters and key contributors.

After its weakest draft ever in 2010 when only two players were signed by the NFL, the 2011 draft resulted in a total of four players being taken by the league. Kendrick Ellis a DT from Hampton was taken by the Jets, Johnny Culbreath, OL from South Carolina State went to the Detroit Lions, Frank Kearse, a DT from Alabama A&M went to the Miami Dolphins and Curtis Holcomb, a DB from Florida A&M was taken by the San Francisco 49ers.

And most important, HBCU’s have reinvented themselves without the ability to recruit top best athletes. They have used diversity and all its benefits to attract student athletes from many ethnic backgrounds to their institutions all in pursuit of the common goal of athletics and educational enrichment. That formula can never be undermined.

G. Montgomery contributed to this article: Colin Smiley and G. Montgomery can be reached at Sports@blackvoicenews.com