October 11, 2013
Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com
Page 11
Sports Young season showing promise for Silver and Black Raiders One of the greatest NFL owners of all time, the late Al Davis, once said, “Just win, baby.” These three words have been the driving motivation for the Oakland Raiders franchise for decades. It doesn’t matter how ugly it is, it doesn’t matter how it gets done, all that matters
Clayton Valley golf eyes 3rd straight DVAL championship JAY BEDECARRÉ Clayton Pioneer
Clayton Valley Charter won the past two Diablo Valley Athletic League girls golf championships and coach Jen Moore is expecting her girls to make it a threepeat at the DVAL tournament Monday. Despite losing two-time league MVP McKenna De Long, the Eagles battled Concord High during five league matches setting up the two top contenders for the DVAL Tournament at Boundary Oak next Monday hosted by Northgate. Junior Rachel Delong, senior teammate Danniele Biala and sophomore Rebecca Walsh have been low scorers for the Eagles with DeLong gearing up for her third straight all-DVAL firstteam award. Moore, who has coached girls golf at CVCHS on and off since 2001, is predicting her team will win the DVAL title even though Concord won a pair of matches last month at Diablo Creek before the Eagles turned the tables on the Minutemen in Oakhurst matches. Other golf team members are Annie Park, Emily Guerisoli, Katie Haymaker, Jessica Rosales and Fatima Opeyany. They were joined by newcomers Ana Said, Briana Manzano and Arlethe Said. On Oct. 21 the NCS Tournament is hosted by Concord at Diablo Creek Golf Course. NEW COACHES FOR EAGLES TENNIS DVAL tennis teams play a double-round robin of matches home and away in preparation or the league tournament at Northgate on Oct. 23-25. Clayton Valley has a pair of new coaches, Sayed Anwar and Brian Corbett, leading the Eagles after long-time coach Rick Ortega recently surrendered his coaching duties due to work obligations. Ortega will continue coaching the CVCHS boys tennis team in the spring. Seniors Rose Peterson, Preet Nijjar, Madison Daniel, Chloe Kim and Andrea Partida, along with juniors Maria Sparvoli and Erin Wardle, are the core of returning Eagles players. Trisa Nguyen, Ciera Cathcart, Alexa Kallas, Katie Essayan, Laura Ruscitti and Hosna Opeyany are also on varsity joining freshman Dalia Anwar. Nguyen and Sparvoli are team captains for the Eagles, who have league wins over Berean Christian, Concord and Ygnacio Valley. Northgate has been dominating DVAL teams with a deep lineup led by sophomore 2012 league MVP Ana Boeriu and returning all-DVAL netters Shannon Markiewicz, Kristina Lencesova, Kimi Nakagawa, Katie Shimizu and Maria Krasilnikov.
is seeing that W instead of an L at the end of a game. Unfortunately, Al’s famous slogan has not been put into effect by the Silver and Black; instead they’ve gone over an entire decade without a winning season. Being a Raiders fan is both hard and emotionally exhausting, but for the first time in a while, the Oakland Raiders as a franchise seem to be on an upswing. This season so far hasn’t been the greatest for the Raiders, but there are definitely enough positives to point towards the bright future of this organization. The first being head coach Dennis Allen. Allen is currently the youngest tenured coach in the NFL, and he is a defensive-minded coach. The Raiders this year have nine new starting defensive players, out of 11 total defensive starters. The only returning starters were Lamar Houston and Tyvon Branch. This defense was literally patched together over the off-season, yet Allen and defensive coordinator Jason Tarver have these guys playing like a well-oiled machine.
Many experts claimed at the beginning of the season that the Raiders defense would be one of the worst in the league. Despite this criticism, this defense, and team as a whole, has played with more grit, more passion, more pride, than I’ve seen in the Raiders in a long time. Another reason the future looks bright is the young quarterback Terrelle Pryor. The knocks on this guy make sense: he can’t read defenses, his accuracy isn’t quite there and he can’t become a pocket passer. The thing about Pryor, though, is he is continuously growing every game he goes out there and plays. It was clearly shown what he meant to the Raider’s offense when he was out week four against the Redskins. The offense looked lethargic without him, and backup Matt Flynn looked atrocious. Pryor has shown he can look downfield and stay in the pocket, and he continues to make big plays not only with his legs, but with his arm as well. He has looked very accurate throwing the ball, learning from his week one mis-
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TYLER LEHMAN SPORTS TALK takes of throwing interceptions in key situations. Pryor will be the future quarterback of this franchise for a long time, and that it because General Manager Reggie McKenzie knows his value. McKenzie has had some misfires as a GM, but overall he continues to add players to the Raiders that have great character. The Raiders locker room is turning into one with disciplined and respectable players, and with McKenzie, Allen and Pryor all leading the way for this organization, the Raiders will soon be back on the map as a competitive team in the National Football League. Tyler Lehman is a sophomore at Diablo Valley College and a 2012 CVHS graduate. He plans to major in journalism and wants to be a sports writer. Email your comments or questions to Tyler@claytonpioneer.com.
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St. Bonaventure cross country ready for CYO Diocese meet in Oakland
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Photo courtesy St. Bonaventure CYO
ST BONAVENTURE CYO CROSS COUNTRY CONCLUDES ITS SEASON with the Oakland Diocese meet next Friday, Oct. 18, at Joaquin Miller Park in Oakland for grades 3-8. Team officals report that all returning runners have already had personal record best times improving from last year’s end-of-season meet at Joaquin Miller. The team includes, front row from left, Mo Garcia, Cisco Partida, Natalie Griffin, Alex Griffin; back row, Kelly Osterkamp, Alex Garcia, Sam Schauman, Sydney Kupsh, Floyd McCluhan, Bernie Conrad, Joey Griffin, Johnny McCluhan, Jackson Nosrati and Amelia Bascom. Not pictured, Colin Cook, Audrey Burns and Mckenah Alton.
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