Van Nuys High School has been around for 109 years, and its famous alumni include Don Drysdale, Robert Redford, Bob Waterfield and Marilyn Monroe. The football program has struggled mightily for years, going 2-8 in 2022 and 0-9 in 2021.
Van Nuys graduate Ken Osorio took over as coach last year and welcomed the opportunity to teach the many inexperienced players who came to the team. One of those was Carlos Herrera, who joined the junior varsity team in 2022 when Osorio was coach. He was a football player who didn’t know how to put on shoulder pads and said it was “nerve-wracking” putting on a helmet for the first time.
Fast forward to Saturday. Van Nuys (8-5) will play Panorama in the City Section Division III championship game, with Herrera serving as the Wolves’ standout quarterback. Herrera has passed for 21 touchdowns and run for 10.
Van Nuys has added another footballer who has made a major contribution. Leelen Castro, 6-foot-1, 140 pounds, is six for six on field goals. See what happens when a coach teaches fundamentals and gets students from other sports to participate? …
St. John Bosco football center Matthew Perdue is one of the smartest players on any field. He has a 4.3 grade point average and considers San Diego, John Hopkins and Amherst as his college choices. …
Narbonne’s Ernest Nunley is a junior defender who doesn’t turn 17 until August. He went to high school when he was 13. He plays against some 19 year olds and shows no fear. …
Serrano’s Trevor McSween carried the ball 46 times for 301 yards against Hemet on Nov. 15 and insisted he had no pain afterward, so who knows how many times he’d get the ball Friday night in the Southern Section Division 8 final against St. .Pius X-St. Matthias. …
St. Bonaventure’s Koen Glover has more than two years as a running back. Last season he rushed for 1,189 yards and 15 touchdowns. This season he has rushed for 2,023 yards and 26 touchdowns. He credits better strength for his injury-free improvement. St. Bonaventure will play Oxnard Pacifica on Saturday for the Southern Section Division 4 championship in Rio Mesa. …
Here is the full weekend championship football schedule for the City Section and Southern Section.
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
