INLAND FIELDHOUSE

I covered the Moreno Valley-Riverside La Sierra varsity football game for the Riverside Press-Enterprise on Friday, Nov. 14, and came away thinking Eagles head coach Craig Cieslik was resigned to the fact that despite his team’s 3-and-4 record in the Inland Valley League, La Sierra (6-4 overall) would not be playing beyond that night.

His post-game speech to his players sounded more like a post-mortem. He told his players to return their gear on Monday, and please have it washed. There was no: “We can’t hang our heads.” No: “We’ve got to get back to work.” No: “We have another game to play.”

None of that. Friday’s 50-14 loss was effectually the end of their world, or at least their season.

While I interviewed Coach Cieslik, players walked by and said things like: “Thanks for not giving up on me, coach.” And: “I wouldn’t be the person I am without you, coach.”

It was all very heart-wrenching, except for the fact that Cieslik wasn’t touched by his players sentiments in the least. In fact, he was quite the opposite. He called his players “soft” and “lazy.” He said that his players quit on him after Week 6 or 7 and hadn’t much cared for their feelings since.

He said that the whole team lacked “heart and determination” and “any will to work to get better.” He went as far as to say: “I just want to get the f*ck out of here.” It was all very amusing, in it’s way. Coaches are often linguists in their team’s darkest hour. The truth is that he said nothing different than any coach in his situation.

La Sierra High School is the pits, when it comes to football. Despite their standing as a CIF-Southern Section Division II school, the Eagles have made all of ONE playoff appearance (2006) since the early 1990s.

The regularly dress less than 25 players (they had only 21 on Friday) and lack the proper facilities to get any better. They do not have an adequate weight room. What they do have is a storage trailer filled with free weights and no ventilation. And the problems at La Sierra are only exacerbated by their placement in D-II, among the likes of powerhouses Corona Centennial, Norco and Riverside North.

So even if they did make the playoffs, they’d get squashed like bugs.

The Eagles run a Double-Wing offense which relies more on deception than power or speed and where big plays are few and far between. One bystander called it “smoke-and-mirrors.” That’s pretty accurate.

Their best player, senior RB Jerry Parker (5-11, 191 lbs) ran for 110 yards on 28 touches but hardly has a future in football. He might get by as a special teams player at a JC or NCAA D-3, but that’s about it. Their QB, senior Connor Sudol (6-3, 184 lbs) doesn’t have a strong arm and appears to be a head-case. He was just 3-of-9 passing for 45 yards and stood outside the huddle — on every huddle.

Defensively, the Eagles are small and ineffective. They allowed Vikings senior RB Don’ziel Collins (6-0, 205 lbs) to score four touchdowns on five carries, none shorter than 32 yards. In all, they allowed more than 400 rushing yards to MoVal, which scored three touchdowns in the first quarter on just three offensive plays.

Collins ran for a 45-yard score on the Vikings’ second play from scrimmage. Then senior DB Carl Spotvile (5-10, 175 lbs) returned a fumble 30 yards for a touchdown on the Eagles’ ensuing possesion. Collins then ran 47 yards for another score on MoVal’s first play of its next possession. It was only Collins’ second touch of the game (junior Dorrian Cannon got the other carry). Three offensive plays, three touchdowns.

MoVal, which runs more traditional offensive formations, was anchored by senior RB Jonathan Norton (6-0, 175 lbs). Norton, one of Riverside County’s leading rushers. finished with 184 yards (and two TDs) to finish the regular season just short of 1,500 yards.

Obviously, Moreno Valley has playmakers unlike that of La Sierra.

The real tragedy here isn’t that La Sierra is under-supported, under-financed or under-sized. It’s that in lower division, La Sierra could actually win a CIF title with the team it had this season. They pounded D-IV teams like Riverside Norte Vista (60-0) and Perris (58-27) and even beat league rivals Riverside Ramona (30-6), Moreno Valley Canyon Springs (36-27) and Moreno Valley Valley View (26-21). It’s against bigger, faster teams which they struggled, going a combined 0-and-4 against Moreno Valley Vista del Lago, Moreno Valley Rancho Verde, Riverside Arlington and Moreno Valley.

Why La Sierra is a D-II school is a bit confusing. Until you look at the success of some of the school’s other sports like volleyball and cross-country, which are both perennial CIF title contenders. The volleyball team went undefeated this season and the cross-country team will be competing in CIF meets for the 18th consecutive year.

So it starts to look like being a D-II program can either be considered a blessing or a curse. If you’re a school that takes pride in football, it may be a tremendous opportunity for exposure. But if you’re a school that takes lumps in football, you just get exposed.