REDLANDS – Cal Lutheran had not defeated the University of Redlands football team since 2012. The Bulldog players were pre-teens then.
SAN BERNARDINO – It was a perfect day for running Saturday, even if the results were not ideal for Redlands teams.
Sport notebook
Chris Chaddick is not as busy as when he was a head high school football coach. But it’s close.
“Eventful sports weekend,” Chaddick said recently on social media. “Ran into a few of my favorite players I’ve coached, made some fun sports TV content, and reffed some games in the desert. But my favorite part of the weekend was seeing Lili in her element, doing varsity cheer. It was way more entertaining than the game.”
That last reference by the University of Redlands postgrad student was about Chaddick’s daughter, Liliana, a cheerleader at Aquinas High.
Lili had much to cheer about with her dad in attendance as the Aquinas football team pummeled Notre Dame of Riverside 69-6.
When Chaddick left the head coaching job at San Gorgonio High (his alma mater) after last season, some wondered how he’d fill his time.
No problem.
Chaddick officiates football.
He reports football, roaming the sideline on behalf of Pep Fernandez’s Inland Sports Show.
He is a long-term substitute teacher at Rialto High, looking for a full-time job.
He is pursuing a master’s degree in learning and teaching from the University of Redlands.
He is an assistant football coach at Rialto High, serving as a defensive consultant and coaching the linebackers.
In a perfect world, he walks 90 minutes a day and works out.
He coached his son’s 7-year-old Little League team, the Spirit, to a Civitan Little League title.
Oh, and he is a husband to Alicia and father to son William (7) and daughters Liliana (15), and Mia (22).
Not being a head coach is a big change for Chaddick, who managed a 34-20 record in six seasons at Indian Springs and San Gorgonio, captured two league titles, and was the winning coach in two all-star games. His teams made two section semifinal games.
Now, with that in the rear-view mirror, he said he has no regrets.
“My wife loves it,” Chaddick said of his new life. “She sees that I’m happier and healthier and that my love for the game is back and I’m more excited about things in general.”
Part of that is physical. Chaddick began intermittent fasting and is down from 310 pounds last year to 274 pounds.
“I want to get down to 240,” the former San Gorgonio High linebacker said. “I’m 6-3, so 240 is about my happy place.”
But Chaddick doesn’t overdo the health stuff, as this X entry shows:
“I been eating clean about 80 percent of the time lately, but today I housed a couple of tacos and a half a loaf of French bread with some butter and salami and I don’t regret it one bit,” he said. “I’ll get back on the protein train tomorrow.”
Regarding the head coaching whirl, Chaddick said, “We’re talking about getting that old gang together again. We just have to find the right situation.”
Meantime, Chaddick dispenses family restaurant reviews on social media, selects a song of the day for his followers, roams Highland and Redlands with son William and visits landmarks and off-beat eateries, rides the Metro Link and Amtrak, and chronicles it all on X.
By the time Chaddick’s hiatus is done, he may need a head football coaching job just to get some rest.
Citrus Belt League football begins this week. Many eyes are on Mentone as Redlands East Valley and new coach Kristian King host Citrus Valley and former REV coach Kurt Bruich at 7 p.m. Friday. In other league games, Redlands is at Beaumont on Friday and Cajon is at Yucaipa at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
This is Bruich’s first time coaching against REV at the Wildcats’ refurbished, on-campus stadium.
The Cajon High football team traveled to Odessa, Texas and lost to Permian High of “Friday Night Lights” fame 36-25 last week . The game was tied 19-19 at the half. Permian is the program author Buzz Bissinger wrote about in the famous 1990 book “Friday Night Lights,” which later spawned a movie and a TV show.
In other football games last week involving area prep teams, Bellflower defeated Arrowhead Christian Academy 16-14, and Shadow Ridge of Las Vegas, Nevada downed Citrus Valley 40-20 on the Blackhawks’ homecoming night.
The wait is over. Beaumont (15-1, 4-0) is at Redlands East Valley (14-5, 3-1) at 7 p.m. Tuesday in a huge flag football showdown.
REV can tie Beaumont for first place by knocking off the Cougars. The Wildcats defeated Beaumont 6-0 in a tourney game before league play.
There is also a CBL tourney, taking place over two weeks after Tuesday's game. So the Cougars and Wildcats haven't seen the last of each other.
There has been no slowing the Redlands High girls volleyball team which swept host Cajon on Thursday, Sept. 25 to move to 18-4 overall, 4-0 in CBL. Kameryn Carpenter had 13 kills, 10 digs, and five assists and Jaydee Zook contributed 10 kills for the Terriers. Jocelyn McNairy chipped in with four blocks. Ava Reyes (12 digs), Natallia Caravia (10 digs, 14 assists) and Sofia Farrokhi (seven digs) also contributed.
Redlands still leads Beaumont (10-3, 3-1) by one game in the standings, with the teams set to meet at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in Redlands.
The Redlands East Valley boys water polo team edged host Citrus Valley 13-12 on Thursday, Sept. 25 in a CBL game.
Junior Joe McMillan led the Wildcats with five goals, senior Ryder Imbriani had four goals, and senior William Dahnke had two goals.
Charlie Lucore had five goals to pace Citrus Valley and August Roth chipped in with two goals.
Redlands pounded Beaumont 16-2 in another CBL game.
Redlands native Matthew Diehl is building a strong golfing resume at Grand Canyon University.
Diehl last August qualified for the 125th U.S. Amateur Championships at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. That was after being named the Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year and All-WAC first team as a freshman.
Recently, he placed second in the University of New Mexico Tucker Invitational, finishing with a three-day total of 204.
Diehl attended Loma Linda Academy as a freshman before switching to an online homeschooling program to finish out his high school years.
Kristen Mariani, the wife of University of Redlands assistant football coach Joey Mariani, is one of four San Bernardino County individuals named as a district “teacher of the year.”
Now the Mentone Elementary School teacher will have her name submitted in the state teacher of the year competition.
Kristen teaches transitional kindergarten and runs the “Reading with the Bulldogs” program where University of Redlands football players read to the children.
When we last saw Jacob Nottingham, he was at Redlands High being inducted into the school’s athletic Hall of Fame. Nottingham starred in football and basketball as a Terrier.
He still swings a dangerous bat. Nottingham on Sunday, Sept. 20 had a walk-off double in the Tacoma Rainiers’ 8-7 victory against the Oklahoma City Comets in a Class AAA game.
Redlands High girls volleyball standout Ava Reyes reached a milestone on Tuesday, Sept. 23 in a sweep against Citrus Valley. The senior picked up her 1000th career dig. She holds these school records: Digs (1,018) and serve receives (1,357). Reyes has 163 career aces and is threatening the school record of 202.
Reach John Murphy at berdooman@gmail.com and follow at @PrepDawg2.
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