BY DIANE A. RHODES
The Hemet Sportsman’s Club recently recognized top high school football players from the San Jacinto Valley during its second Bob Stangel Award ceremony. Stangel was the head football coach at Mt. San Jacinto College from 1974 to 1999 after a successful stint at Riverside Notre Dame High School. He is a member of the state community college football Hall of Fame and a charter member of the MSJC Athletic Hall of Fame. The club picked Jeff Martin of Hemet High as the Most Outstanding Senior Prep Football Player from the six football-playing high schools in the valley. Martin, a running back, rushed for 2,097 yards and scored 22 touchdowns for the Bulldogs this season. He ran for more than 100 yards in all 10 games, including 414 yards on 46 carries, both school records, against Tahquitz High on Oct. 17. “In my four years of coaching at Hemet, I’ve seen about three or four incredibly great character kids come through the program – Jeff is one of them,” said Jeff Reitz, Martin’s coach. “He has a heart of gold and is absolutely the hardest worker.” Other finalists were: Jeremy Briones, Noli Indian School; Markus Cordova, West Valley High; Ti’Alik Davis, Tahquitz High; Jacob Giambaresi, San Jacinto Valley Academy; Ryan Muir, San Jacinto High; and Ruben Roman, Hamilton High. Each player received a plaque during the Dec. 13 banquet at the Hidden Hacienda in Valle Vista. The Hemet Sportsman’s Club is a nonprofit corporation founded in 2011 to serve amateur athletics in the San Jacinto Valley. The purpose of the club is to provide youth programs with equipment, uniforms, transportation costs and recognition. “The ceremony was awesome,” Noli coach Clyde Miller said. “The Sportsman’s Club went out of its way to recognize the outstanding players of the Valley and I was really impressed. As a former player of Coach Bob Stangel, it was an honor to get the chance to tell a couple of stories of what it was like to play for him and to be a part of a tradition that recognizes excellence on the field because that’s what kind of coach he was: excellent.” CONTACT THE WRITER: [email protected]