Arcadia High's March Toward History

   In its biggest game in at least nine years, the Arcadia High football team hosts La Mirada High in a CIF Southern Section second-round playoff game Friday night at Salter Stadium at 7 o’clock.

   The Apaches haven’t made it past the first round of the playoffs since 2002, when they lost to Antelope Valley in the second round.

    If they can get past La Mirada, they’ll likely face West Covina in the semifinals, provided West Covina, as expected, defeats Pasadena High at PHS Friday night. West Covina, which currently has a 10-1 record, is the defending division champion.

    Arcadia has never won a CIF championship, although the Apaches made it all the way to the title game in 1977 and ’78, when future NFL Hall of Fame offensive lineman Bruce Matthews was on the team.

     You may start to get the picture: The game against La Mirada is huge, one deserving of community support.

      If the Apaches win, they are two victories away from the school’s first CIF championship. They play in the Southeast Division, which is sort of a misnomer. There isn’t much north of Arcadia except foothills and mountains.

     But it doesn’t matter what the CIF calls their division, the Apaches are in a fairly enviable position. This may be the best team of the Jon Dimalante era.

   However, Arcadia’s coach, now in his 16^th season, isn’t totally satisfied just yet.

    After the 39-13 opening-round playoff victory over Bonita last Friday, Dimalante was quoted as saying, “We’re happy to get to the next round, but we’re still looking to play our best football. We’re close.”

    La Mirada of the Suburban League brings a 7-4 overall record into the game against Arcadia, which is 9-2 overall and 6-1 in Pacific League play.

    Arcadia lost its season opener to St. Francis of La Canada, 31-28, on a field goal with 14 seconds left. The Apaches only other loss was against Burroughs of Burbank, a game in which everything went wrong and Arcadia ended up on the short end of a 41-29 score.

    Arcadia trailed 34-10 after three quarters, and that deficit was just too much to make up. Sort of like the recent USC-Oregon game, when Oregon’s rally fell short.

     Arcadia, which has since won six in a row by wide margins, is led by quarterback Myles Carr, who has completed 146 of 228 passes for 2,106 yards and 27 touchdowns, with only three interceptions. In the loss to Burroughs, when Arcadia’s running game faltered, Carr completed 32 of 52 passes for 362 yards and two touchdowns. But he had two passes intercepted and there were two costly special-teams fumbles.

    Wide receiver Taylor Lagace, Carr’s favorite target, has 53 receptions for 744 yards. Jake Medel is averaging 7½ yards a carry since becoming a starting running back four games into the season. He ran for 155 yards and two touchdowns in 25 carries against Bonita.

   Robbie Haines, who anchors the defense, has 15½ sacks, including two against Bonita. Defensive line mate Clarence Irvin had three sacks.

   After the Bonita game, Dimalante said, “That was a big win for our program. The kids came out and took care of business. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

    Now the question is: Can Arcadia keep it going?