Daily News football preview: A look at the East Valley League and Valley Mission League
The Daily News examines the teams in the two competitive City Section leagues. The defending league champions, Arleta and Kennedy, have some new challengers in 2024.
Teams in the CIF Los Angeles City Section are getting ready to kick off the season on Aug. 23.
Here is the outlook for each of the teams in the East Valley League and Valley Mission League. Both leagues went through plenty of changes during the offseason.
EAST VALLEY LEAGUE
Arleta dominated the East Valley League in 2023, going undefeated in league on its way to the No. 1 seed in the CIF L.A. City Division II playoffs.
The Mustangs will look to defend their crown this year as the league welcomes an additional team to the fold, Fulton of Van Nuys, which went 8-2 last year in the eight-man football Valley League.
Five of the seven teams had 2-4 records in league play last season.
Arleta
The Mustangs will have to replace a ton of the offensive production they received from key seniors on last year’s team.
Junior Austin Ramos, who saw limited time under center last year, is one of two quarterbacks currently on the roster along with sophomore Jesse Rios, who also plays baseball at Arleta.
Running back Jose Rosas had 361 yards rushing last year as a sophomore and likely will take over the bulk of the load in the backfield. He also led the team in receiving yards last year.
The team returns more experience on the defensive side of the ball, with a core group of seniors, including linebacker Eric Camacho, strong safety Erik Favela and defensive ends Joe Pacis and Pablo Gurrola.
Arleta opens the season against Westchester at home Aug. 23 before facing a pair of West Valley League teams in Chatsworth and Taft, followed by the start of its league schedule.
Chavez
The Eagles finished in third place in the East Valley League in 2023, going 2-4 in league and 5-7 overall.
Nicholas Diaz was one of the team’s leading rushers last year and could handle the majority of the workload this season. He was a team captain as a sophomore in 2023.
Chris Garcia took snaps under center in his junior year and one of his main targets, wide receiver Aaron Fajardo, returns for his senior campaign.
Fulton
The Jaguars are new to the East Valley League after playing eight-man football last year.
Senior captain Emmanuel Martinez will take the reins at quarterback. He will have a bevy of returning wideouts to throw to, including seniors Dylan Rojas, Kevin Najera and Julio Cermeno.
Fulton will get its first taste of 11-man competition on the road Aug. 23 against Canoga Park.
Grant
Head coach Franco Stasilli is entering his ninth season at Grant. The Lancers dominated early in Stasilli’s tenure and will look to get back to prominence after a down season last year.
The Lancers were extremely young last season, so they enter 2024 with more experience under their belt, starting with senior quarterback Armen Hovsepian.
Running back Matthew Gonzalez will be a focal point in the offense along with pass-catchers Samuel Villagrana, Romario Rivas and Carson Rinka.
Monroe
The Vikings finished with a 2-7 record last year and went 2-4 in league play.
They have a challenging schedule to start the season, opening on the road Aug. 23 against Chatsworth, which defeated them 48-22 last year.
North Hollywood
North Hollywood utilized three different quarterbacks last year, Nate Arlauskas, Andres Avila and Logan Grant. Arlauskas could get the first crack at the starting spot this year.
A pair of senior backs, Jagger Belson and Omar Muhammed, return to provide a spark in the backfield. Both players were also critical contributors on defense last year, with Muhammed leading the team in tackles for loss and Belson in interceptions.
Mark Qafi and Chris Renteria will anchor the defensive front.
Sun Valley Poly
The Parrots have been on a steady rise since 2021, improving their league record each season on their way to a 5-1 finish last year.
Poly has a tough slate to begin the season, taking on Santee (Aug. 23) and San Fernando (Sept. 6), followed by a game against Canoga Park (Sept. 13) before league play begins.
Verdugo Hills
The Dons were a tough team to beat last year, finishing 6-6 and playing the league champs Arleta tight in their contest, losing 14-9.
Senior Anthony Ramirez and sophomore Jered Smith are the two quarterbacks on the roster. Senior Jordan Martin is a player to watch on both sides of the ball as well as Rey Flores.
VALLEY MISSION LEAGUE
A different team has topped the Valley Mission League the last three seasons, all with undefeated records. Reseda went 6-0 in league in 2021, Canoga Park followed suit in 2022 and Kennedy took the crown last year.
This could be the year we see a repeat league champion, as Kennedy appears poised to make a run behind an experienced team.
Kennedy
The Troy Cassidy-led Golden Cougars went 8-3 overall last year behind the talented arm of Diego Montes. As a sophomore, Montes threw for 1,850 yards and 14 touchdowns, adding 357 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground.
His top receiver, Giovanni Nelson, returns after racking up 43 receptions for 616 yards and four touchdowns last year. Also returning is wideout Bentley Castro, forming a dynamic senior receiving duo with Nelson.
Kennedy’s top rusher last year, Alonzo Fuentes-Gutierrez, graduated in the spring, and the team might have to replace him with a committee approach this year. Seniors Dylan Lacson and Aidan Deoliveira will likely get the majority of the carries.
Jesus Castillo leads an experienced secondary that includes Justyn Sears and Victor Jamarillo, all seniors. Junior James Montes, last year’s sacks leader, will be an important catalyst on the defensive front.
Canoga Park
The Hunters took a downturn last year after a successful 2022 season. They went undefeated in league play just two seasons ago, but went winless overall in 2023.
A large part of that variance had to do with the departure of a heavily senior-laden class.
Canoga Park will try to reverse course early this season with its first two games at home against Fulton and North Hollywood.
Panorama
Last year’s third-place finishers in the Valley Mission League return with explosive quarterback Keanu Kelly, who rushed for a whopping 1,992 yards and 32 touchdowns last year. He added 11 passing touchdowns.
Kelly is the engine that will make the Pythons go as they try to dethrone the Golden Cougars this year.
Reseda
The Regents have struggled the last two years, with their only win last season coming against Canoga Park 24-23 in their penultimate game.
Since winning the Valley Mission League in 2021, Reseda has gone 1-18. Reseda alum Austyn Ward will try to turn things around in his third season as head coach.
San Fernando
The Tigers are coming off a successful season where they finished 11-2 overall, 5-1 in league and reached the Division II semifinals.
Quarterback Adrian Anguiano led the way for San Fernando on offense, but it was a team that excelled on defense, led by Isaiah Castro. The defensive back, who had six interceptions last year, will anchor San Fernando’s secondary along with junior linebacker Melvin Pineda.
Senior Alejandro Ramirez will be tasked with holding down the offensive line.
Sylmar
The Spartans went 3-3 in the Valley Mission League last year, losing to Kennedy and San Fernando by just one score in each contest.
Jacob McDonald will look to improve on his numbers from last year – he threw for 1,449 yards and 11 touchdowns and rushed for 584 yards and 11 scores.
Running back Christopher Ojeda led the team on the ground with 792 rushing yards and nine touchdowns and should be poised to increase those numbers this season.
Ojeda, who also plays middle linebacker, was the team’s leading tackler.
Van Nuys
The Wolves have been on a steady rise over the last handful of years, moving up from an 0-6 league record in 2021 to a 1-5 record in 2022 to a 2-4 record last year (4-7 overall).
Considering Van Nuys had just one win from 2018-2021 (Van Nuys didn’t field a team in 2020), it’s been a vast improvement as of late.
Quarterback Carlos Herrera is the player to watch, as he can throw and use his feet to advance the offense.
Marlon Figueroa was a major contributor in the running and receiving game last year and should be a focal point of the offense again this season.
Look for wide receiver Jeremy Rivas to be one of the main recipients of Herrera’s passes.