Video: Valley Center vs. Mt. Carmel football

The Jaguars played tough in a physical game against Mt. Carmel on Friday, coming away with a 48-21 win for their seventh consecutive victory. Here are the video highlights:

Video by Kelly Kidder

Ryan Kleiman goes deep for Michael McInerny, who shows great concentration in turning around, finding the ball and hauling it in for a 40-yard touchdown.


Garrett Fiehler picks up a few yards, but McInerny gets tangled up with Mt. Carmel CB Dominique Nelson in an outburst that had been brewing for a few plays. Both players were penalized on the play.


Fiehler takes the handoff, breaks a tackle and gets in for the touchdown.


The Sundevils pitch the ball wide, but VC CB Cody Gearhart makes the tackle for a big loss.


Kleiman fakes the handoff and finds Damian Stehly for a three-yard touchdown completion.


Fiehler rumbles in for a 3-yard touchdown in the third quarter.


Fiehler pushes the pile to get a one-yard touchdown on fourth down in the fourth quarter.


Sundevil WR Dominique Nelson catches a short swing pass and tries to leap over Anthony Ricks, but instead ends up kicking him in the head, knocking off his helmet. Nelson was penalized for the kick.


Fiehler gets hit in the backfield, but breaks free and dives into the corner of the endzone for a nine-yard touchdown.


The Sundevils, in desperation passing mode late in the game, try to complete a pass near the goal line, but Ricks swoops in to get the interception and returns it 93 yards for a touchdown.

Video: Valley Center vs Escondido football

The Jaguars celebrated Homecoming on Friday night with a 35-7 win over Escondido. Here are the video highlights:

Video by Dan Kidder

The Cougars complete a pass over the middle, but when the receiver fumbles, Matt Preston is there to scoop up the loose ball.


Ryan Kleiman rolls out and finds Damian Stehly for a completion down to the one-yard line.


Garrett Fiehler pounds the ball in for a one-yard touchdown in the first quarter.


The Cougars run a toss to the outside and the runner has the ball knocked away, but Escondido comes up with the recovery.


The Cougars get stuffed at the line and fumble, and Dylan Smith is there for the recovery.


Fiehler runs in his second score from one yard out.


Kleiman rolls out and hits Jean-Marc Brierre for a two-point conversion.


The Cougars try to complete a quick pass on the slant, but JD Frankovich jumps the route and gets the interception.


Fiehler runs into his own line, gets hit and fumbles, and the Cougars get the ball.


Fiehler busts through the line and outruns the defense down the middle of the field for a 67-yard touchdown.


Kleiman rolls out and finds Stehly, who works his way down the sideline for a 30-yard touchdown.


The Cougars have trouble on a handoff exchange, leading to a fumble that the offense gets back.


Dylan Glass gets some help from the line to get the ball across the line for a one-yard touchdown run.


The Cougars try to complete the pass on a post pattern, but Tommy Aguilar flips the receiver with a big hit to cause the incompletion.

Video: Valley Center at La Jolla football

The Jaguars won their second straight lopsided game with a 53-14 win over La Jolla on Friday, behind huge efforts from QB Ryan Kleiman (which is not pronounced "KLEE-man"--see below for more), WR Michael McInerny (also not pronounced "Mick-IN-rey" or "Mick-LEARN-ey") and RB Garrett Fiehler (not pronounced "FILE-er"). Maybe we can get a memo out to visiting team's announcers...and perhaps the Prep Pigskin Report, who decided to not even bother trying to pronounce "MACK-in-er-ney" or "KLY-man"...



And if his name really is pronounced "KLEE-man," then apparently this also applies:



Now, on to the real highlights from the game:

video by Kelly Kidder

Kleiman to McInerny for 10 yards:


Fiehler plows in for 2-yard TD:


Matt Preston makes a big tackle for a loss:


Kleiman to Gearhart for 65 yards:


Fiehler draw play for 10-yard TD:


Fiehler one-yard TD plunge:


Kleiman to McInerny 78-yard TD:


Fiehler 2-yard TD run:


Martin Cunningham lays a big hit on the La Jolla returner:


Kleiman hits McInerny for a 35-yard TD just before halftime:


La Jolla run stuffed by Jacob Beason:


Dylan Glass runs in a six-yard TD:


Fiehler recovers a fumble on a La Jolla kick return:


Kleiman rolls out and hits Damian Stehly for a 10-yard TD:


Zach Tests puts a big hit on La Jolla's kick returner:

Video: Valley Center at Imperial football

The Jaguars got their first win of the season by beating Imperial 47-14 on Friday night. Here are some of the big plays that helped the Jags get the win:

video by Kelly Kidder

Imperial screen pass blown up by the VC defense:


Garrett Fiehler runs in a 14-yard touchdown:


Tommy Aguilar runs in the 2-point conversion:


Ryan Kleiman hits Cody Gearhart for a big gain:


Aguilar deflects the Imperial pass and Gearhart makes the diving interception:


Kleiman hits Damian Stehly for a 45-yard touchdown:


Kleiman's pass for Gearhart gets intercepted:


Kleiman throws deep for Michael McInerny, who takes it down to the five:


Fiehler runs in a five-yard touchdown:


Kleiman finds McInerny again, this time for a 68-yard touchdown:


Fiehler plunges in for a one-yard touchdown:


Dylan Glass runs in a nine-yard touchdown:


Anthony Ricks gets the second of his two interceptions in the game:

Video: Valley Center at San Pasqual football

The Jaguars opened the 2011 football season at San Pasqual and couldn't get the offense they needed in a 28-7 loss. Despite the lopsided score, there were a number of exciting plays in the game. Here are the video highlights:

Ryan Kleiman hits Cody Gearhart on the post for a nice pitch-and-catch.


Garrett Fiehler picks up good yardage, dragging tacklers along the way.


Kleiman hits John Watkins for a big first down.


Fiehler plows in for a seven-yard touchdown.


Kleiman fumbles the ball on a rollout in the second quarter.


Kleiman rolls out and fumbles again, but recovers it himself this time.


The Jaguar defense forces an incomplete pass on fourth down.


Fiehler slashes through the line for a good gain.


Kleiman hits Watkins on a hitch, and Watkins breaks a tackle for a good gain.


Kleiman fumbles the ball on a fake handoff, but recovers the loose ball.


Kleiman hits Watkins on the slant for a nice gain.


Kleiman hits Damian Stehly on a quick pass that turns into a big gain.


video by Dan Kidder

Fast, physical play has Jags’ lacrosse team thrilling the home crowd

Damian Stehly (in white) puts pressure on a St. Augustine attacker.

Valley Center’s JV boys lacrosse team has played a pair of thrilling games in the past two weeks, as the Jaguars rolled to a big win over St. Augustine on March 16 then came back from a two-goal deficit late in the game to register a tie against Rancho Bernardo on Friday.
The Jags jumped out to a big lead early in the game against St. Augustine and never looked back, as they cruised to a 6–3 victory.
Conner Macfarlane scored just two minutes into the game to get things started for the Jaguars, then Jason Blasius added a goal three minutes later and Sullivan Shimer closed out the first period with a goal that came 12 seconds before the whistle.
Leading by three after the first quarter, the Jags scored less than 30 seconds into the second period when Nick Sharp curled in front for the score. St. Augustine forced its way back into the game with two goals in less than 30 seconds to make the score 4–2 at halftime.
The teams traded goals in the third quarter, as Shimer scored his second of the game with just over two minutes left in the period. The Saints answered with only 19 seconds left in the quarter after a turnover in the Valley Center zone led directly to a goal.
As time wound down, the Jaguars got the insurance goal they were looking for when Macfarlane finished off a series of scintillating passes on the fast break with the score that sealed the win.
Friday’s game against Rancho Bernardo was a much more physical contest, and as both teams absorbed big hit after big hit, the Jaguars steadily clawed their way back into the game to make it a 5–5 tie.
The game might have turned out much differently had the first shot of the game, an absolute laser from Garrett Fiehler, found its way into the net instead of clanking off the post and finally coming to rest about 30 yards out of bounds.
But Fiehler wasn’t to be denied, as he took the ball from behind his own net, outran the defense and bounced a shot past the goalie to score the first goal of the game less than three minutes in.
Rancho Bernardo answered in the second quarter, scoring a goal on a shot to the top shelf just 48 seconds into the period to tie the game. The Broncos took the lead just over a minute later on a spinning shot that found its way home. The first half wound down as the physicality of the game heightened, punctuated by a big hit from Fiehler that earned him a penalty for unnecessary roughness.
Fiehler atoned for the penalty early in the second half, as he once again took the ball coast-to-coast and slung a sidearm shot past the goalie to tie the game up once again.
But the Broncos scored two quick goals as the third quarter came to an end, the first a bouncing shot with just over a minute on the clock and the second a Valley Center turnover that wound up in the back of the net with 43 seconds left in the third period.
The Jags came back with a goal from Blasius just over a minute into the fourth, but Rancho Bernardo pulled ahead by two with five minutes left in the game, using consistent pressure in the offensive zone to wear down the Valley Center defense.
Blasius scored another big goal a minute later, as he faked out his defender in the corner and found a sliver of open net for the score. As he put the shot home, one of the Bronco defenders delivered a crushing hit that temporarily knocked Blasius out of the game. The Broncos took an unnecessary roughness penalty for the hit, which led to a one-man advantage for the Jags.
Fiehler took advantage of the open space, as he casually drifted toward the zone and unleashed another sidearm shot from about 20 yards away that may have left a vapor trail.
As the final three minutes of the game ticked away, Fiehler had another shot ring off the post, then the Jaguar crowd leapt to its feet when defender Damian Stehly took off on a long run and let fly with a huge shot that just went wide as time expired.
Valley Center’s next game is at Scripps Ranch at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, then the Jaguars return home to face Serra at 6:30 p.m. on Monday.

Oros, Smith finish in top ten in CIF Masters wrestling tournament

Two Valley Center wrestlers finished in the top ten in the CIF Masters wrestling tournament this weekend.
Juan Oros finished sixth at 105 pounds and Dylan Smith finished seventh at 173 pounds to finish off the wrestling season for the Jaguars.
Oros, Smith and Dustin Miller (114 pounds) each earned All-Valley League first team honors for their outstanding seasons, while second team honors went to Daquota Avila (137 pounds), Damian Stehly (162 pounds) and Travis Weddington (217 pounds).

Five wrestlers take first place as Jaguars win Escondido Rumble

On Friday, 26 Valley Center wrestlers traveled to Escondido High School for a two-day wrestling extravaganza called The Rumble, and after a day that lived up to its name, the Jaguars came away with the tournament championship.
Each wrestler was guaranteed five matches, and those with highest win/loss records were entered into the medal tournament, where they could wrestle three additional matches. Sixteen Jaguars advanced to the medals’ tournament, with five winning championships in their respective classes—Sam McCuskey (98 pounds), Dustin Miller (106 pounds), Manny Boyle (122 pounds), Damian Stehly (173 pounds) and Travis Weddington (217 pounds).
Meanwhile, John Mayo took second at 98 pounds and Trevor Ryback finished third at 115 pounds. Four Valley Center wrestlers took fourth—John Murphy (114 pounds), James Oakley (122 pounds), Daquota Avila (138 pounds) and Kevin Izadi (heavyweight).
Five Jags finished seventh in the tournament—Zach Dewey (128 pounds), Kaulana Miller (128 pounds), Christian Guerrero (133 pounds), Jesus Diaz (191 pounds) and Lorenzo Gomez (heavyweight).
After more than 120 individual matches, 11 Jaguars earned medals for finishing in the top four.
But the biggest surprise of the day was winning the tournament championship. The tournament’s design is give underclassmen more opportunity to wrestle prior the entering the CIF tournaments. The Jaguars gained valuable experience that will be helpful for this coming CIF Division IV Tournament coming up on Saturday at Olympian High School in Chula Vista. Wrestling begins at 9 a.m. with the championship finals scheduled at 6 p.m.
The Valley Center wrestlers suffered a setback with a league finale loss to Del Norte High School, 39–27, on Thursday.
Two forfeits and some lackluster performances led the Jaguars to their demise, but two Jags won by pin—Juan Oros at 105 pounds and Dustin Miller at 114 pounds—while Christian Guerrero won a 5–4 decision at 132 pounds and Dylan Smith won a technical fall at 173 pounds.
The Jaguars finish the season in third place in Valley League with a 3–2 league record and a 4-4 overall mark.

Jags take fifth in San Ysidro wrestling tournament

With the Division IV CIF Wrestling Tournament three weeks away, the Valley Center varsity wrestling team has finally jelled into a very competitive team.
After taking a fifth place finish out of 23 schools at the San Ysidro Tournament and trailing by only six points top-ranked Clairemont High School, the Jaguars find themselves in store for an exciting season finale.
Other schools that will make the race interesting for championship are returning Division IV champions Imperial, Olympian , and Palo Verde high schools. Whichever school comes with the best effort will win the championship.
The Jaguars had eight place winners in the tournament. Juan Oros won his finals match with a 12-second pin over San Ysidro’s Miguel Flores. Dylan Smith made his second trip to the finals, earning a second place finish. Manny Boyle made his debut with third place victory over Mission Hills’ Marcus Cummiskey. Fourth place finishers were Dustin Miller, Christian Guerrero, Kyle Glennie, and fifth place finishers were Daquota Avila and Damian Stehly.
The Jaguars also earned their second consecutive team victory with a win over Guajome Park Academy, 56–6 on Thursday.
Freshmen Matt Barnes (154 pounds) will win his first varsity match with a 1:07 pin over opponent Jerod Adams. Also winning by pin were John Murphy (105 pounds), Dustin Miller (114 pounds), Daquota Avila (137 pounds), Pedro Flores (162 pounds), Kyle Glennie (191 pounds) and Jean-Marc Brierre (285 pounds). Christian Guerrero (142 pounds) won an 8–2 decision and Kevin Murphy (147 pounds) received a win by forfeit.
Valley Center is 2–1 in league so far, and the Jaguars hit the mat again on Thursday at home against Canyon Crest at 7 p.m.

Oros wins, Jags take ninth in San Pasqual wrestling tourney

Senior wrestler Juan Oros not only won the 105-pound weight class, but was also given the Most Outstanding Lightweight Wrestler award in the San Pasqual Wrestling Tournament this weekend.
The day didn’t start off as planned for Oros, however. Overweight by nearly a pound with only thirty minutes to shed the weight, Oros had to somehow work the weight off in the back seat of Coach Miller’s pickup truck. With the heater blasting, Oros did sit-ups and pepper-steps in the back seat until he arrived at San Pasqual High School right on weight.
Pinning all three opponents on the way to the finals, Oros was confident that he would win the championship. However, his finals match-up opponent, Jordon Griffin of Hilltop High, had other plans.
Oros spent a lot of energy executing two hard driving takedown attempts in the first period, only to come up scoreless. What was expected to be an easy victory for Oros turned out to be an aggravating, back-and-forth battle that ended up a tie in regulation time. So the match went into sudden death overtime, first takedown wins. Griffin attempted and nearly scored a double leg takedown, but Oros was able to counter the attack and stepped over for the takedown and the championship.
Junior Dylan Smith continued his winning ways at 162 pounds by finishing third place. Placing in their first varsity tournament, junior Damian Stehly finished third at 173 pounds, sophomore Daquota Avila finished second place at 137 pounds, and sophomore Christian Guerrero finished in fifth place at 132 pounds.
The Jaguars finished ninth as a team in a field of 23 schools.
Bouncing back from a Valley League loss to Orange Glen Patriots, 52–19, the Jaguars defeated the San Dieguito Academy Mustangs, 60–12. Individual winners were: Juan Oros (105 pounds), Zach Dewey (127 pounds), Christian Guerrero (132 pounds), Daquota Avila (137 pounds), Kevin Murphy(147 pounds), Damian Stehly (162 pounds), Dylan Smith (173 pounds), Jesus Diaz (191 pounds), and Aydin Cooper (heavyweight).

Jags win first home wrestling dual meet in three years

Dustin Miller flips over in the 103-pound match:
Connor MacFarlane twists to get out of a hold in the 112-pound match:
Trevor Ryback fought back from certain doom to win the 119-pound match:
Zach Dewey fights for position in the 130-pound match:
Daquota Avila rolls over his opponent in the 140-pound match:
Kevin Murphy sizes up his opponent in the 145-pound match:
Damian Stehly gets his opponent off the ground in the 160-pound match:
Dylan Smith goes for a hold in the 171-pound match:
Jeremy Halligan grapples with his opponent in the 189-pound match:
Travis Weddington tries to get the upper hand in the 215-pound match:
photos by Dan Kidder

Despite missing one of its top wrestlers, the Valley Center varsity wrestling team pulled together and won its first home dual meet in three years with a 39–36 win over San Pasqual on Thursday.
With Juan Oros out with a rib injury, two Jaguars won by pin, while four more earned wins to propel the Jaguars past the Eagles.
“After the 2008 Valley League/CIF team of ten seniors graduated, we began a three-year building cycle,” head coach Clay Clifford said. “With a win like this, it looks like we have turned the corner.”
Trevor Ryback earned the first pin for the Jags, pinning Brian Pansegrau in 1:19 to win the 119-pound match. Damian Stehly also won by pin, taking down Mike Anastasia in 3:43 to win the 160-pound match.
Dustin Miller started off the match with a 7–1 decision in the 103-pound match, while Zach Dewey won an 8–4 decision in the 130-pound match, Daquota Avila won by technical fall, 16–0, in the 140-pound match, and Dylan Smith won a 12–1 decision in the 171-pound match. Two Jaguars also won by forfeit, while Valley Center forfeited one match in the meet.
Then on Saturday, the Jaguars competed in the 34th annual Jim Londos Tournament at Orange Glen High School in a field of 36 schools. Overall, the Jags finished in 12th place with 64.5 points, as four wrestlers finished in the top ten in their class.
Miller led the Jaguars with a third place finish in the 104-pound class, while Smith took fifth in the 172-pound class, Stehly finished seventh in the 161-pound class and Aydin Cooper finished seventh in the 216-pound class.
Over Christmas vacation, the Valley Center wrestlers competed in the Santiago High “Shark Tank” Tournament, in a field of 56 schools, as well as the Mira Mesa Team Tournament, in a field of 12 schools.
Oros was the lone survivor of the “Shark Tank” tournament, finishing sixth. He lost a heartbreaker match in the semi-finals, falling to Coachella Valley’s Sergio Hernandez, 4–3. Ahead 3–2 with seven seconds left in the match, Oros suffered a last second takedown to end the match. In his next match, Oros sustained a rib injury, so he was pulled out of the tournament and finished sixth.
Meanwhile, Smith went 3–2 before being eliminated, and both Stehly and Cooper finished with 2–2 match records. One of the most exciting early round matches of the tournament was Cooper’s 27–22 loss to Buena Park’s Jake Wiggens. The match had the entire crowd riveted on the outcome and left both wrestlers were exhausted.
The JV wrestlers competed at the Mira Mesa Team Tournament on Dec. 30 and brought home a pair of gold medals.
John Murphy and James Oakley both went 5–0 to receive gold medals. Dewey received a silver medal for 4–1 record, while Kaulana Miller and Lorenzo Gomez received bronze medals for their 3–2 finishes.
The Jaguars are now 1–2 overall, and Thursday night at 7 p.m. is a league showdown at Orange Glen.

Photos: Valley Center vs Orange Glen football

Here are some photo highlights from the Jaguars' big win over Orange Glen last Friday.

Photos by Gabriel Santana

Travis Bernard escapes a defender's reach:
Beau Reilly scrambles...
...bounces off a tackle...
...and keeps going down the sideline for a touchdown in the first quarter:
David Last looks upfield after making the catch:
Bernard plows through the hole to the goal line:
Bernard gets in for the touchdown:
Damian Stehly wraps up the ball-carrier...
...and drags him down for a loss:
Bernard breaks free on a long run in the first half:
Bernard isn't going to be caught when he finds the open field:
Taylor Oshinski makes a catch at the 15...
...and gets shoved into the endzone by his teammates in the middle of this scrum:
Oshinski takes off down the sideline after the first of his two interceptions in the game:
The Jaguar defense gang-tackles another runner:
Last and Kenny Thomas combine to drag down the runner:
Oshinski turns up the field after his second interception:
Bernard crosses the goal line on his second touchdown run:
Shonta Chaloux makes the catch and turns it into a touchdown:
Oshinski puts a big hit on the Orange Glen receiver...
...and drops him for a short gain:
Dylan Smith (28) and Stehly Reden (66) get to the running back in the backfield:
Smith and Reden again combine for a big hit:
Bernard breaks through the line:
Chaloux makes another catch along the sideline:
Oshinski breaks through a tackle on his way to the endzone:
Nico Carrasco makes a big hit to break up this pass attempt:
Mike Rodriguez carries the ball in the fourth quarter:
Rodriguez dives over a defender...
...and lands in the endzone for the touchdown:
Stehly makes another tackle for a loss:
Martin Cunningham (52) celebrates a sack late in the game:
Garrett Fiehler took the handoff, broke to the sideline...
...outruns the defense...
...and scores on the final play of the game: