EL SEGUNDO HERALD August 4, 2016 Page 5 Recognizing the Rams By Adam Serrao If you’re from Los Angeles, there is almost no reason at all for you to know much of anything about the Rams. If you’re from St. Louis or have family ties there, then you may be a little bit ahead of the learning curve, but after a 22-year absence from the City of Angels, the Rams are back in California and ready to try to get you back as a fan. Football is finally right around the corner and with just about one month left to familiarize yourself with the team, now might be a good time to start. In the teams’over- two-decade absence, you’ve undoubtedly moved on and began rooting for another franchise if you were a Rams fan before. That’s okay, too. But if you’re like everyone else in Los Angeles, you’re hungry for some hometown football. If that truly is the case, then you better be able to name more than just two players on the team. When a team gets the news that they are moving to another city, there must always be at least some question as to what kind of reception they will get once they get there. If there ever was that question for the Rams, it was quickly put to rest. 70,000 season tickets at the Coliseum sold out in less than six hours. Whether that’s because the cities blood is pumping for the Rams or just pumping for football in general remains to be seen. Either way, it must be exciting for the players to come to a city that has such passion for the game. Los Angeles’ new team is currently participating in training camp on the campus of UC Irvine. When the season begins, they’ll play their home games at the Los Angeles Coliseum until the estimated $2.66 billion “City of Champions Stadium” is complete in Inglewood when it opens in 2019. Now that the background for the team has been set, who are the most important players to take note of? Well, if you haven’t heard his name yet, Toddy Gurley is certain to be the team’s most exciting player. The reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year is coming off of his first season in the league in which he ran for 1,106 yards and scored 10 touchdowns. He was named to the Pro Bowl and was just the second Rams rookie ever to rush for over 1,000 yards and amass 10 TD’s. Gurley was taken with the 10th overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, and together with Jared Goff, will look to form a young nucleus in the backfield that should be around to drive the Rams toward victories for some time to come. Goff was drafted by the Rams with the first overall pick in the 2016 Draft and is presumed to be the team’s Opening Day starter at quarterback. “It’s a little bit of a whirlwind right now,” Goff explained of his transition from college to the pro’s and quickly being whisked away to a new city like Los Angeles. “I’m trying to enjoy it. It feels like home, back in California and sunny Southern California,” he continued. “It feels like my home and where I belong.” Goff will have the perfect opportunity to make himself a household name when the season begins in just about a month. He’ll have the speedy Tavon Austin at his disposal to help him out with the transition. Austin is perhaps the most versatile player in the NFL. He catches passes as a wide receiver, but can also carry the ball out of the backfield and return kickoffs and punts. The speedster recorded career-highs last season in catches, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. On defense, the Rams All-Star is defensive end, Aaron Donald. The 13th overall pick in the 2014 Draft won the Defensive Rookie of the Year award in his first season with the club and has already been selected to the Pro Bowl twice. Standing at 6-feet, 287 pounds, Donald is a beast that has been dominating the NFL since he’s come into the league. Last season, Donald’s play earned him a spot on the NFL’s First-Team All-Pro list. He recorded 11 sacks, one fumble recovery, and 47 tackles. “He’s like a package of dynamite in there,” defensive line coach Mike Waufle explained of Donald. “I feel like I kind of earned the respect from the guys from what I did, and things like that,” Donald said. “Just playing my role and trying to do my part.” Naturally, there are other players on the Rams that greatly impact the play on the field, like defensive end Robert Quinn and cornerback Trumaine Johnson, just to name a few. Rather than bombard you with names, however, a short list should suffice, at least for the beginning of the season. Truth is, if you know the names Jared Goff, Todd Gur-ley, Tavon Austin and Aaron Donald come Week 1 of the NFL season, you should be good to go. As you keep watching and pay-ing attention to Los Angeles’ newest sports franchise, you should most certainly pick up on the rest of the team’s impact players as you go. The Rams may not be a cham-pionship team in their first season in L.A., especially having to play in the NFC West with a total of four games against both the Seattle Seahawks and the Arizona Cardinals. They will, however, be extremely exciting to watch and have the players on a young team that will make football interesting to watch for everyone who calls Los Angeles home. Football is finally back and this year, L.A. has a home team. The Los Angeles Rams are ready to put on the pads and play. Los Angeles is most certainly ready to watch. • Up and Adam Let’s Get Ready for Football By Adam Serrao The beginning of August can only mean one thing in the world of High School Sports. Football is right around the corner and the Friday night lights are warming up to soon shine brightly on the athletes that deserve their radiance so much. Last year’s Pioneer League champions, the North High Saxons, are gearing up to attempt to make another run at the league championship this season. While the team, headed by coach Todd Croce, should still be extremely talented, they will be looking to play a different kind of football this season. Dealing with the loss of All-Star player, Mique Juarez, will put the Saxons at a disadvantage when it comes to the begin-ning of the year projections, but should also open up opportunities across the roster for other players to shine. Last season, Juarez was the workhorse of the team. Whether it was on offense, defense, or special teams, the 6-foot-3-inch, 220 pound senior was involved in it all. Juarez finished the year with a school-record 36 rushing touchdowns and 60 total touchdowns. “It was a great experience,” Juarez described of his time with North High. “It gave colleges an opportunity to see what I can do with the ball in or out of my hands.” Now, Juarez will be attending UCLA and the Saxons will be forced to see what they can do as a team with the ball out of his hands. With the opening of this year’s season currently less than three weeks away, the Saxons will be looking forward to duplicat-ing a season that played out so successfully for them one year ago. A season opening loss to the Bay League’s Redondo Sea Hawks had everyone a little worried at first, but it wasn’t long before North High turned things around for good. Following their initial loss, last year’s Saxons rang off eight straight victories and at one point during that streak, shutout four straight opponents. Croce was clearly not only working with a productive offense behind Juarez, but also an extremely tough defense. North wound up losing their final game of the regular season to South High before the playoffs began, but the team outscored all other opponents by a total of 361-31 after their opening day loss. The playoffs didn’t go as successfully as the regular season did for the Saxons. After a first round, 48-14, destruction of Agoura, North ran into trouble against the Mira Costa Mustangs. Pioneer League teams have traditionally struggled against Bay League opponents when it comes to football, and even mighty North High proved that trend to be true. North’s defense stood up to the challenge in the first half, holding Mira Costa to just seven points and a 7-7 game at the break. North even held a lead in the third quarter after an 86-yard touchdown by Juarez made the score 14-7. Unfortunately for the Saxons, the Mustangs would rally. Three touchdowns in less than five minutes would not only regain the lead for Costa, but also led to a 35-14 advantage with just seven minutes left in the game. The Saxons would muster one more touchdown before the end of regulation, but Mira Costa’s massive second half rally was too much to overcome. A 35-21 loss to the Mustangs, North’s fifth loss to their Bay League opponent in their last five matchups, meant the end of a successful season for coach Croce, Juarez, and the rest of the Saxons. This year’s North High team is back to improve on last year’s standing. The Saxons will have to do so without the likes of the aforementioned Juarez, defensive linemen Owen Canady and Ryan Tobias, and wide receiver Justin Allmond, just to name a few. While the team will lose a number of play-ers, though, there is also a good group of returning seniors. Malik Welch, Rj Albert, and David Colclasure highlight the upperclassmen of this season while North should return a good deal of its offensive line, as well. This year’s new seniors will look to make names for themselves as they begin the regular season against non-Bay League opponents. The Saxons open the year with matchups against Banning, Bishop Montgomery and Morningside, to name a few, before league play starts and all of the rivalry games will see the season come to its climax with the Pioneer League crown on the line. Croce and his club will have a lot of work to do if they wish to match the intensity and the electrifying qualities of last year’s squad. A different style of play is surely in order, but North should be ready to rely on their defense and beefy offensive line to get things done again this year. The Saxons biggest competitors this season are sure to be the West High Warriors and maybe to a slightly lesser extent, an underrated South High Spartans team. North knows what it takes to win, though, and has the players and coaching staff necessary to get it done. Now, all the team has to do is execute. The Saxons took a couple of major hits with the losses of some very skilled seniors from last year, but look for Croce’s club to be in contention for first place in the Pioneer League once again this season. • www.ThinkGood.org JOBS OPPORTUNITY HOPE In 2015, we assisted more than 11,000 individuals and placed 435 of them into employment. STARS & STRIPES A M E R I C A N M A D E C L O T H I N G S T O R E COME CHECK US OUT! GREAT CLOTHING INCLUDING DENIM, HATS, BAGS, SHOES AND MORE 1107 Van Ness Ave.Torrance, CA 90501 • 310.320-3207 LEE 101 USA, WOOLRICH, SAVE KHAKI, MINNETONKA MOCCASIN, PENNY, JAN SPORT, DULUTH, REYN SPOONER, TRETORN, BALL, BURTON, STANCE, RAINBOW SANDALS, FILSON, TEVA, NEW YORK HAT, PADDY WAX, RICHER & POORER, SCHOTT USA, STRATHTAY Open Mondays through Saturdays Noon to 6pm
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