Sports
St. Monica Football Ready for New Season
The Mariners host Animo Leadership in their first game, to be held at Santa Monica College.
The question surrounding the football program heading into the 2011 season is what the Mariners can do for an encore.
Coming off in which it won eight games and made the playoffs, St. Monica will go from being the hunter to the hunted in the Santa Fe League this fall.
The Mariners also have a new coach in Adam Guerra, hired to replace Larry Muno when he accepted the head coaching job at St. Bernard in Playa del Rey.
Find out what's happening in Santa Monicafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
St. Monica opens the season against Animo Leadership on Sept. 3 at . The teams met last year at Inglewood High's Coleman Stadium, and the Mariners prevailed 41-0.
The following Friday, St. Monica travels to Covina to play South Hills. The week after that is another nonleague game at Malibu, which the Mariners defeated 21-13 last season.
Find out what's happening in Santa Monicafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
On Sept. 24 the Mariners will try to avenge a 33-18 loss last season when they host Brentwood at St. Bernard High, then they continue nonleague play against Pasadena Blair, a team they beat 42-0 last year, in a Saturday night game at SMC. After that they travel for a nonleague road game with Santa Clarita Christian in Canyon Country.
League play opens October 15 against St. Anthony of Long Beach at SMC, followed by another home game against Los Angeles Salesian, to be played at nearby Palisades High. St. Monica blanked St. Anthony 38-0 in November and won by forfeit at Salesian last October despite being defeated 24-7 on the field.
The Mariners wrap up league play on the road against Bell-Jeff and St. Genevieve. St. Monica defeated Bell-Jeff 16-8 at SMC last October and beat St. Genevieve 38-21 at St. Bernard last November.
If St. Monica returns to the playoffs it will compete in the Northeast Division.
2011 ST. MONICA VARSITY FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Sept. 3: vs. Animo Leadership at Santa Monica College, 7 p.m.
Sept. 9: vs. South Hills at Covina District Stadium, 7 p.m.
Sept. 17: at Malibu, 1 p.m.
Sept. 24: vs. Brentwood at St. Bernard High, 7 p.m.
Oct. 1: vs. Blair at Santa Monica College, 7 p.m.
Oct. 8: vs. Santa Clarita Christian at Canyon High, 7 p.m.
Oct. 15: vs. St. Anthony at Santa Monica College, 7 p.m.*
Oct. 29: vs. Salesian at Palisades High, 7 p.m.*
Nov. 5: vs. Bell-Jeff at North Hollywood High, 7 p.m.*
Nov. 11: vs. St. Genevieve at Polytechnic High, 7 p.m.*
* Santa Fe League game
