INLAND FIELDHOUSE

I shot play-by-play streaming video of the 2011 Southwestern varsity football 7-on-7 passing tournament Saturday, July 9, 2011, for The Press-Enterprise and HSGameTime.pe.com and came away thinking Menifee Paloma Valley may be looking at its best season in its short history.

Led by senior QB Logan Tutwiler (6-foot-2, 175 pounds), the Wildcats’ deep passing attack looked solid and, in moments, spectacular when senior WR Anthony Johnston (6-foot, 175) was on the end of more than a half-dozen bombs.

Tutwiler is athletic but sinewy. His body frame speaks top-of-the-rotation starting pitcher, not professional quarterback. And his throwing motion is as long as he is tall. He clearly knows how to throw a ball, though, and proved competent at reading defenses, throwing for 20-plus TDs Saturday as the Wildcats advanced to the title game.

Caramella was electric on deep pass routes but was featured little or short-to-mid range routes. He caught several of his touchdowns with no one around him, either having out ran his opponent or sneaking through into open space, and after having caught a touchdown, he’d salute everything in sight. It was downright predictable by the Wildcats’ final game in pool play.

SURPRISES:
Riverside Unified’s Arlington and Ramona playing each other in the consolation bracket championship game. I don’t know what the final score was, but it looked like a hell of a game. Ramona played like nothing I saw from them in two games last season; They were actually tough and aggressive on Saturday. And I didn’t get to see perhaps their best weapon — senior K Robert Corral (5-10, 160). Arlington may be rebuilding but looked the Lions looked feisty and focused. Skill position standout Isaiah Kelly (Sr., 6-1, 175) was in the middle of the action, and will be counted on heavily to produce results in the wake of departures of recent fixtures Brian Lavender and Superiorr Reid.

DISAPPOINTMENTS:
Riverside King looked hapless and lacked substance in what is surely some of new coach Kevin Corridan’s first live scrimmages. I was looking for signs of a philosophical shift in how the Wolves play offense but saw next-to-none. They did seem, however, intent on throwing the ball over the middle to mixed results. I wouldn’t expect anything close to a .500 record this season for Orangecrest HS.

UNDENIABLE TALENT:
Santa Margarita junior QB John Stanton (6-2, 205) is right out of quarterback casting; Tall, broad, square jaw, rugged good looks and a cannon for an arm. He lit up what had been a very good Paloma Valley defense for six TDs in the title game, and was said to have scholarship offers from a host of powerhouse NCAA Division 1 programs like Nebraska and Texas, among others. Anyway, he was the one true D-1 talent on the field. A blind man would’ve seen him.

Photo courtesy FRANK BELLINO / The Press-Enterprise