First published in the Nov. 10 print issue of the Outlook Valley Sun.
The La Cañada High School varsity football team was ousted from the CIF-SS Division XI playoffs by host Campbell Hall High in North Hollywood, 27-7, in a first-round meeting last Friday. Individual statistics were not reported to the Outlook Valley Sun.
The Spartans concluded their season with a 6-5 overall record after finishing in a three-way tie with San Marino and South Pasadena (3-2 league records) for second place in the Rio Hondo League. LCHS posted its second consecutive winning season while snapping a five-year playoff drought and making its first postseason appearance since 2017.
“I just think so highly of the season we had,” LCHS head coach Dave Avramovich said. “We were two possessions away from winning league with a great group of kids. I’m just super proud of the way the kids never really hung their head; there was never any quit.”
La Cañada will graduate 11 seniors at the end of the academic year, including Corey Cheung, Trent Carey, Anthony Venneri, Jake Hofman, Andrew Gevorgian, Mateo Gallegos, Royce Xiao, Nyel Bangash, Joshua Tso, Jake Adkins and Max Russakow.
The Spartans had several individual standout performances this season, highlighted by running back Cheung, who led the team with 22 touchdowns and 1,674 rushing yards on 203 carries. He rushed for 100-plus yards in eight of 11 games and finished with 2,119 all-purpose yards. Cheung also led the team on defense, racking up 69 total tackles and four sacks for a loss of 27 total yards, all three of which are team-high marks.
“You don’t get those kinds of stats if you don’t have help,” Avramovich said. “Corey would be the first to tell you the offensive line had a great year and Macky [Plocher] obviously helps balance out the offense. But there’s no doubt Corey is a tremendous football player on either side of the ball.”
Junior quarterback Macky Plocher completed 103-of-182 passes for 1,522 yards and 14 touchdowns while rushing for an additional 479 yards and four touchdowns on 76 carries.
Trent Carey was La Cañada’s top receiver, posting a team-high 540 yards and seven touchdowns on 24 catches, while Venneri tallied 316 yards and five touchdowns on 19 receptions with 51 tackles and six passes defended. Junior Hayden Dancsecs had 22 catches for 256 yards and a touchdown, while junior Tyler Bond made 17 receptions for 159 yards. Junior Luke Raulli finished with 78 total yards on five catches and one carry, Hofman produced 34 total yards on five receptions, and sophomore Sohan Garg tallied 23 total yards on nine carries. Junior Alan Razo had 22 total yards on two catches and one carry, while junior Joseph Whooley recorded 18 yards on one reception.
Gevorgian produced 48 tackles, two sacks, two blocked field goals and 15 total yards on three carries, junior Lorenz Bayug had 41 tackles, three interceptions for 15 yards, six passes defended and 8 total yards on five carries, and junior Cayden Klein registered 19 tackles, 61 fumble recovery yards, and 18 total yards on two carries and one catch.
Gallegos amassed 62 total tackles, while sophomore Josh Carruthers registered 57 tackles, one 34-yard interception and a blocked field goal. Junior Paulos Cucullu finished with 27 tackles and a team-high seven passes defended, Adkins recorded 25 tackles, two sacks and two blocked field goals, and junior Anthon Cannon had 19 tackles and one sack. Sophomore Spencer Turner registered 17 tackles, three passes defended and one sack, Russakow posted 14 tackles and one sack, and Junior Kei Hartzberg tallied 11 tackles. Sophomore Warner Ibsen had 10 tackles and two passes defended, Nyel Bangash and junior Brandon Goldsby each registered eight tackles, and sophomore River Wokosin had seven tackles. Junior Alex Quan, and sophomores Scott Carey and Syem Bangash each made three tackles, junior Griffin Milewski and sophomores Flynn Lewis, Matthew Couts and Tyler Breckheimer each had two tackles, and junior Evan Craig had one tackle.
