Knights, Falcons nab All-CIF

GLENDALE — After enjoying one of the best seasons in years for its program, the St. Francis High football team landed a whopping total of seven players on the All-CIF Southern Section Western Division squad, as released by the CIF offices on Monday.

With a season in the books that equaled the playoff success of the previous year, Crescenta Valley also garnered some All-CIF recognition, with four players earning Southeast Division honors, as Sam Campbell was a first-team offensive selection and Kyle Cota, Harry Pessy and Andrew Carcich were second-team picks.

The Golden Knights’ first-team selections included offensive nods for senior quarterback Justin Posthuma and junior offensive tackle Patrick Carroll, while safety Dietrich Riley, linebacker Christopher Cabrera and utility David Chirikian all received defensive honors.

Posthuma and Riley, who was also the team’s starting running back, were the team’s biggest playmakers en route to the quarterfinals of the Western Division playoffs. Riley earned his third-straight All-Area Player of the Year award in December and was an All-CIF first-team offensive selection a year ago.

“Dietrich was pretty much wherever we wanted to use him that week,” St. Francis Coach Jim Bonds said of Riley, who totaled 64 tackles, three interceptions, including one for a score, recovered a fumble and defensed six passes. “He played some outside linebacker, lined up at inside linebacker, played some strong safety and some free safety, so he was very versatile and whatever we felt the strength of the opponent for that week was, we would try to put Dietrich in a position to help us stop the other team’s strength.

“To have a kid with his athletic ability and his football sense on your team, obviously, we’re gonna miss that.”

Posthuma passed for 2,115 yards and 19 touchdowns to just five interceptions, while rushing for 787 yards and 14 touchdowns. He only missed three plays in a game against Alemany when he broke his non-throwing hand and played the team’s final three games with a cast on his arm.

“Justin, I think, really surprised a lot of people because he didn’t get a chance to play as a junior,” Bonds said. “To come out and throw for over 2,000 yards and run for close to 1,000 yards, that’s an unbelievable season for anybody.

“That’s not easy to do and he not only did it, but he had three outstanding games with one arm.”