SBVC’s Howard sets record and Shirley doing well for U of W

The San Bernardino Valley College football team almost pulled off a huge upset over conference champion visiting East Los Angeles College, but in the end fell, 48-44, Saturday night.

SBVC (4-6 overall, 2-3 conference) played a solid first half, then came out in the third quarter and allowed 20 unanswered points.

But just when you thought the Wolverines were out of it, they roared back, scoring 23 straight against Huskies (7-3, 5-0), giving them a scare, but it was too little, too late.

Sophomore running back not just rushed for 138 yards on 20 carries, averaging 6.9 yards per carry, but he also threw a 46 yards touchdown pass.

Sophomore wide receiver David Garnica also had a very good game, catching eight passes for 138 yards and a score, his longest reception was 46 yards from Solomon for his lone touchdown on the night.

Sophomore linebacker Marcus Pesquera led the both teams with 14 total tackles, three solo and assisting on 11 on the night, breaking the SBVC single season tackling record by 10, with 124.

A WEEK EARLIER, Fontana A.B. Miller grad and freshman wide receiver Stacy Howard set an SBVC record with five touchdown catches as the Wolverines defeated host Victor Valley College, 59-41.

Howard was extremely pleased was his performance.

“I’ve just been on a roll and it just caught up with me,” Howard said. “It was crazy. I’m very excited. While it was happening I wasn’t really paying attention to what was going on. When I heard about it, I was very excited.”

ANOTHER FONTANA-BASED FOOTBALL PLAYER having a spectacular year is Kaiser grad and University of Washington defensive end Josh Shirley. Shirley was at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Saturday as the Huskies lost to USC, 40-19.

Here’s how Shirley’s doing this season: In 10 games he has 16 tackles (12 solo), three sacks, one pass broken up and one forced fumble.

IN PRO HOCKEY, the Ontario Reign lost, 7-4, to the Alaska Aces before Sunday night in Anchorage, Alaska.

Alaska jumped out to a 4-0 lead after 20 minutes of play on goals by Dan Kissel, Russ Sinkewich, Ethan Cox and Chris Bruton.

Goaltender Jean-Francois Berube, who earned his first professional shutout Saturday night, gave way to Dusty Carlson to start the second period.

Wes Goldie put Alaska up 5-0 at 4:03 before Francois Brisebois got Ontario on the board at 4:42. Brady Calla skated down the left side and fed Brisebois who one-timed the puck past Gerald Coleman for his fifth goal of the season.

Tristan King earned his third point in as many games as he redirected Philippe Seydoux’s slap shot just inside the right post to cut the Aces lead to 5-2.

Coach Jason Christie took advantage of two Alaska penalties late in the third to cut the Aces lead to 5-4, as he pulled Carlson for 6-on-4 advantages. Derek Couture and Geoff Irwin each registered goals, but the Aces answered with goals by Kissel and Cox.

Carlson registered the loss with 15 saves on 17 shots, while Gerald Coleman got the win with 23 saves on 27 shots.

IN PRO SOCCER, with the MLS Cup coming Sunday featuring the Los Angeles Galaxy against the Houston Dynamo, Galaxy coach Bruce Arena has been selected as the league’s Coach of the Year for the second time in the last three years.

Arena becomes the first-ever three-time winner of the award, having previously claimed it in 1997 with D.C. United and in 2009 during his first full season with the Galaxy.

Now in his third full season with the Galaxy after being named the club’s general manager and head coach in August 2008, Arena has led his team back to MLS Cup for the second time in three years while repeating as Supporters’ Shield winners with a 19-5-10 record for 67 points, which were the second most in league history.

In addition to winning the Supporters’ Shield, the Galaxy also became the third team in

MLS history to go undefeated at home during the regular season, tallying a 12-0-5 record in 17 home regular season games at The Home Depot Center and an 18-0-5 record at home in all competitions.

Shel Segal is president of Arcadia, Calif.-based Segal Communications and a columnist for the Fontana (Calif.) Herald News. He can be reached at ssegal@segalcomm.net.