crescenta valley

La Cañada High football coach Dave Avramovich said he has never heard anyone greet, question or call out running back Dash Paper by his last name. It’s always, “Dash!”

It’s an appropriate nickname (his real first name is Dashiell) for how he’s been performing on the football team for the 5-0 Spartans. In his latest game on Thursday night, Paper rushed for 189 yards and one touchdown in a 42-13 win over Maranatha.

The senior has gained 689 yards and scored six touchdowns.

“He’s awesome,” Avramovich said. “He’s grown up a ton. Last year he was the backup running back. He had a bunch of touchdowns called back because of penalties. We could see the explosiveness in practices and games. He’s running tough.”

La Cañada has wins over Crescenta Valley, La Salle and Maranatha, all neighboring schools. If they played and beat St. Francis, they could claim to be neighborhood champions.

“I don’t want to play St. Francis,” Avramovich said.

He’s become good friends with St. Francis coach Dean Herrington.

For now, it’s about watching Dash dash his way for touchdowns.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].

It was a week Crescenta Valley football coach Hudson Gossard will never forget.

It began with him having to switch from defensive coordinator to offensive coordinator after coaching changes. Then his wife had to undergo surgery. Then he had to take care of final preparations for Crescenta Valley to open its new stadium on Sept. 5.

“It was an unbelievable atmosphere,” Gossard said. “High school kids dream of playing on their own high school campus. It was something awesome, something special.”

Gossard was almost in tears after what happened before the game against South Pasadena. He said before every game he receives a kiss from his wife, Codi. She was driven from the hospital and surprised him with a kiss.

“She’s a saint,” he said.

Gossard went to the press box to call the plays just like his father, Dennis, who passed in June after some 50 years being involved with Crescenta Valley football.

Crescenta Valley ended up winning the game 42-21. The emotions and memories won’t be forgotten.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].

Looking out from his office at St. Francis High School, interim athletic director Todd Wolfson can see the St. Francis football field, the La Cañada football field and the Rose Bowl.

“I can sit in my office and see all in one,” he said.

He might want to create a lottery to sell off his view on Friday night, because St. Francis is hosting Muir, La Cañada is hosting Crescenta Valley and UCLA is playing New Mexico at the Rose Bowl.

The high school fields are separated by 300 feet. The schools share a driveway, which will become an Uber drop-off spot on Friday night.

St. Francis is planning to use nearby Flintridge Prep and St. Bede middle school for parking. La Cañada is planning to use its softball and baseball fields for extra parking.

“It’s going to be Carmageddon,” Wolfson said.

All four high school teams are local, so that should produce great attendance and a party atmosphere.

Wolfson advises, “Come early and watch warmups.”

Kickoff is 7 p.m. for all three games.

Expect traffic reporters on the radio to be busy.

If Wolfson didn’t have supervision duties, he’d probably be kicking back in his office drinking Perrier and enjoying the scene.