Photo by RT Tolentino
Football:
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor
Who: Northview (8-4) vs Colony (8-4)
What: CIF State D-4A Southern Cal Regional
Where: at Colony High School
When: Saturday at 6
When they travel to Ontario for Saturday’s CIF-State Division 4A Southern California Regional, Northview will be able to look across the line of scrimmage at a Colony program that has much in common with the Vikings.
To start the comparison, both teams enter the showdown of CIF-SS champions with identical 8-6 records.
Northview and Colony had rough starts to the 2021 season, including a 2-5 mark for the Vikings, and a 1-5 beginning for the Titans.
But once their lineups got healthy towards the latter part of the season, it’s been full steam ahead for both programs.
They are also the Valle Vista and Citrus 4 league’s last man standing. and have been since the quarterfinal round was completed.
Through their 14-game season, the Vikings’ offense has scored 44 more points (392) than Colony (348).
The Titans defense, however, has allowed 82 less points (302) than NHS (384).
Colony has defeated Portola, Western, Ventura and St. Margaret’s by a combined score of 171-88.
The Titans claimed the D-9 title thanks to last Friday’s 49-40 victory over St. Margaret’s of San Juan Capistrano.
Colony hasn’t lost since its 28-7 setback to Glendora, which dates all the way back to October 14.
In their postseason run, Northview has wins over Garden Grove, Kaiser, Palmdale and St. Anthony by a total of 127-61.
The Vikings took down St. Anthony of Long Beach, 27-20, last Friday, in the D-10 title game.
It goes without saying that Northview’s D has to somewhat contain a Colony offense that has averaged 44 points per game in the postseason.
The Vikings will certainly take the potency of the Titans offense seriously, but they won’t be intimated.
And that’s because in each of their four playoff wins, Northview has held their opponents to well below their weekly scoring average,
In fact, through the CIF-SS championship round, the Vikings held Garden Grove, Kaiser, Palmdale and St. Anthony to a combined 75 points under their average.
Colony does not post their individual stats online, but, as mentioned, they’re playing their best football of the year.
Their average margin of victory during this playoff run is 43-22.
The Northview offense, as cliche as it might sound, depends on all 11 players to be successful.
The Vikings’ offensive line has really stepped their game up in the playoffs and no one is more thankful for that than quarterback James Arellanes and running backs Cheo Medina and Ronal Tebo Jr.
Through the CIF-SS championship game, Arellanes has completed 123 of his 191 pass attempts for 1,461 yards.
Arellanes has 16 TD passes and he’s been picked nine times.
His high IQ and ability to stay even keel, has made Arellanes a really good fit to lead the Northview offense.
The running game has tallied 2,998 yards on 448 carries and 35 TD’s.
Northview averages 214 rushing yards per game.
Cheo Medina (1,721 yards) and Ronal Tebo Jr. (514) have been steady all season in the Northview backfield.
Medina and Tebo have combined for 2,235 yards and 28 TD’s.
Together, Tebo and Medina have a seven-yard per carry average.
Medina has also caught 12 passes for 154 yards and a TD, while Tebo has four receptions for 76 yards.
Erik Saiz has team highs in receptions (35) and yards (390).
Saiz has caught four TD passes thus far.
Steven Carlin leads Northview with seven receiving TD’s and he’s caught 26 passes for 360 yards.
Aaron Silva has 24 receptions for 251 yards and a TD.
Mikey Cervantes is also a threat among the Vikings receiving corps.
Cervantes has 10 catches for 150 yards and a pair of TD’s.
Editor’s Note: Tickets for the 2021 CIF Regional Football Championship Bowl Games are available online only through CIF’s ticketing partner GoFan. Tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for high school students, seniors (65+), and children (5+). Two tickets would be required to attend at least one game on each day.
Quotable:
Northview quarterback, James Arellanes: “I feel like I need to take extra care of the ball. We know Colony’s going to want to bring pressure, so I need to be able to make tough throws under pressure and be able to avoid their pass rush and get the ball in the hands of our receivers and backs. As an offense, we need to have a high-scoring game and be able to sustain long scoring drives to keep our defense fresh, because we know they’re going to have their hands full with their offense. So as long as we play complimentary football, we’ll get the win. I think, as usual, our offensive line is going to be the X-factors this week. Vince, Anthony, Noah, Daniel and Adrian have faced some big front sevens this year, but I think this will be our biggest test, and I have all the confidence in the world that they can handle these guys and take us to a win.”
Northview running back, Cheo Medina: “We must make sure we stay as a team most importantly, and I’ll do my part by running the ball hard and helping to keep our offense going. We must stay together and not allow a bad play to affect us, and do what we do best, which is keeping our momentum going. I feel like our X-factor Saturday will be the defensive line, and if they play well like they’ve been, this will be a good night.”
CIF State Division 4A Regional Pairings:
South: Northview at Colony
North: Chico vs Sacred Heart Cathedral at Kezar Stadium (San Francisco)
By The Numbers:
CIF-SS Playoffs: N (D-10 champs); C (D-9 champs)
Points For: N (392); C (348)
Points Allowed: N (384); C (302)
Current Win Streak: N (4); C (6)
Colony Home Record: (3-4)
Northview Road Record: (4-4)
Most Points Scored in a game: N (54 vs La Puente); C (52 vs Western)
Most Points Allowed in a game: N (39 vs Mayfair); C (47 vs Jurupa Hills)
League Finish: N (tied for first in VVL); C (second in Citrus 4)
MaxPreps State Ranking: N (237); C (163)
2021 Colony Schedule:
8/20: Colony def. Citrus Hill by forfeit
8/27: Santiago 28, Colony 7
9/3: Temecula Valley 44, Colony 27
9/10: Claremont 13, Colony 6
9/17: Etiwanda 42, Colony 13
9/24: Jurupa Hills 47, Colony 12
10/1: Colony 27, Diamond Ranch 7
10/8: Bye Week
10/14: Glendora 28, Colony 7
10/22: Colony 49, South Hills 6
10/28: Colony 35, Los Osos 0
11/5: Colony 42, Portola 21
11/12: Colony 52, Western 27
11/19: Colony 28, Ventura 0
11/26: Colony 49, St. Margaret’s 40
12/4: Northview at Colony
2021 Citrus 4 League Standings
Glendora (11-1, 3-0)
Colony (8-6, 2-1)
Los Osos (1-8, 1-2)
South Hills (0-10, 0-3)
Northview’s 2021 Schedule:
8/20: Northview 54, La Puente 14
8/27: Charter Oak 35, Northview 13
9/3: Northview 34, South Hills 14
9/10: Covina 22, Northview 20
9/16: California 22, Northview 19
9/24: Mayfair 39, Northview 28
10/1: Bonita 27, Northview 13
10/14: Northview 35, Diamond Ranch 17
10/22: Northview 21, San Dimas 7
10/29: Los Altos 29, Northview 28
11/5: Northview 30, Garden Grove 14
11/12: Northview 42, Kaiser 13
11/19: Northview 28, Palmdale 14
11/26: Northview 27, St. Anthony 20
12/4: Northview at Colony
2021 Valle Vista League Standings:
Northview (8-6, 2-1)
San Dimas (8-4, 2-1)
Diamond Ranch (2-8, 1-2)
Los Altos (2-8, 1-2)
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