Antioch High Panthers football players raise the Mayor’s Cup trophy in celebration of their victory against the Deer Valley Wolverines on Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Photos by Jesus Cano

By Jesus Cano

Antioch’s 20 unanswered points paved the way them to keep the city of Antioch Mayor’s Cup for the fifth year in a row in their 23-14 victory.

Antioch works to score another touchdown against Deer Valley.

“A lot of these guys played with me as sophomores, so they never lost against Deer Valley,” Antioch head coach John Lucido said. “Our focus was to get those seniors that trophy, and keep it at Antioch.”

Deer Valley struck early in the game on just three plays in their first drive, where Patrick Robinson ended the play by scoring on a five yard touchdown run.

After that, the Antioch offense answered back just three minutes later. In similar fashion, Dalaan Green rushed into the end zone from three yards out to tie the game. The Panther’s took a gamble right after by attempting the two point conversion after and were successful. Antioch lead 8-7 at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Deer Valley was in business inside the red zone, but fumbled just seven yards out, handing the ball over to Antioch in the process. Green ran 40 yards for the Panther’s and his quarterback Willem Karnthong simply rushed in for touchdown to extend their lead 14-7.

Karnthong also added another touchdown to his name, a much shorter two yard keeper. Karnthong ended the night with 72 passing yards and 42 rushing yards.

Mayor Sean Wright and Antioch High Varsity Football Coach John Lucido hold the Mayor’s Cup trophy won by the Panthers, Friday night.

“We stuck with the game plan and came out with a W,” Karnthong said. “My line played great, they helped open it up for us.”

His teammate Green ended the night with 131 rushing yards. He also attributes his success to the offensive line.

A lot was on the line for Deer Valley, and they did not give up. In a blink of an eye, Jason Johnson took off to the house for a long 48 yard run into Antioch’s yellow end zone.

Omar Curiel added an insurance field goal from 25 yards out to advance Antioch to a 23-14 lead, which ended up being the final score.

This mark’s Deer Valley’s 18th straight league loss since 2014, which was head coach’s Robert Hubbard’s debut season.

“You can make a million excuse but at the end of the game they won the game,” Hubbard said. “We’ve been playing tough against every team but can’t pull off a victory.”

After the game Mayor Sean Wright presented the Mayor’s Cup trophy to the Antioch Panthers.

By Allen Payton

According to a post by Principal Louie Rocha on the Antioch High School Facebook page, this week’s Junior Varsity football game against cross-town rival Deer Valley High has been cancelled due sexual assault and bullying by some of the players.

The Thursday morning post reads: “A message from Principal Louie Rocha of Antioch High School: Please note that due to the misconduct of several members of the Antioch High JV football team, the game vs. Deer Valley for this Thursday has been canceled. Antioch High does not condone or tolerate any level of sexual assault and bullying. Any students involved in this type of unacceptable behavior will be held accountable. At our school, we take pride in offering and exposing our students to educational and awareness programs on these topics. For example, we recently hosted the Consent is Everything assembly for all our male students. Antioch Police Det. Brian Rose and motivational speaker and former NFL player Anthony Trucks spoke about the seriousness of sexual assault awareness, making good choices and respecting all. Thank you for your support of Antioch High School.”

In a comment posted on Facebook early Thursday morning, Melissa Waren, a parent of a female Antioch High student who was one of the victims of the harassment and bullying, wrote:

So in case you didn’t know what standards we hold our Antioch Football JV team to, I’m going to let you guys know. Many of the members, not all, have participated in harassing five of the students. One of them being my daughter and her good childhood friend. They threatened to beat up one of the girls, who I will not name, if she came near them. This is after school hours and this is the only way she walks home. She went and got her other friends to walk her to the gate to feel more comfortable. As they walked her to the gate the guys were constantly insulting and harassing the girl with inappropriate profanities, name calling and more. One of the girls walked up to them and POLITELY asked one of the guys to leave her alone to which he responded with by harassing her about her sexuality. He also told her to “hit me so I can drag your a** and beat the f*** out of you.” He also said to another girl “ I’ll drag your white a**”. And to another “ you look like you would be a b**** to press charges.” Another guy physically pulled his pants down and rubbed his bare bottom on this girl. There were also many other things that were said and done to which I won’t mention. Again, this is not the whole football team’s doing, but MANY of them were there +3 randoms. Apparently, they were suspended and their game is cancelled. I’m sorry but I think this needs more attention. And til this very moment some of the girls are still getting messages from people about how wrong it was for them to have gotten suspended and a game taken away. They don’t call it a team for nothing! We should not tolerate this!!! I will not tolerate this and will be paying Antioch High school a visit tomorrow morning.

When reached for comment, Waren said, “I went to the school, today to meet Principal Rocha. I guess I was one of the only parents he hadn’t contacted. He said he had been contacting parents of the students that were involved, yesterday. These students have been suspended. The game has been cancelled. He said that kind of conduct is not acceptable at Antioch High and that the students were being reprimanded. Their parents have come in. They may or may not be able to play their very last game against Pitt.”

“I brought my daughter in and her friend, who the problem had originated with, and Louie thanked them for taking a stand and saying, hey this is what’s going on, that it took some courage and he was proud of them,” she continued. “We spoke for a good hour.”

“They had already had an assembly with the boys and spoke about sexual harassment and the code of conduct, just last week, and this happened,” Waren added. “It was ninth and tenth grades. I think the 11 and 12th grades will have one this week.”

Please check back later for any updates to this story.

According to a message on the Antioch Unified School District’s Facebook page about 6:00 p.m., Wednesday night, “The following autodialer is going out to all parents. It was sent out just a few moments ago so you may not get it immediately.”

“This is Stephanie Anello, Superintendent, with an important safety announcement from the Antioch Unified School District. Given the extreme poor air quality due to the recent, ongoing wildfires, schools will be closed tomorrow. Please know that your child’s safety was the primary factor leading to this decision. Many of our students walk or ride the…ir bike to and from school and will be exposed to the poor air quality even if we were to remain open and shelter in place as we did today. Currently, it is being reported that only three percent of the fires have been contained. Thus, we expect that the air quality will be even more dangerous tomorrow. We regret any inconvenience this may cause you but, again, your child’s safety is our number one concern. At this point school is only closed Thursday, but pending the containment of the fires, we ask that you make a short-term plan for your children should we need to close schools on Friday. We will be in contact with you as soon as possible should that be necessary.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support of our schools and our District as we work to ensure your child’s health is not compromised in any way.”

In addition, the following message was received by Herald Sports Reporter Jesus Cano from an Antioch High School football coach:

Photo courtesy of Antioch Parks & Rec Dept.

San Joaquin River is great for free fishing for kids

The California Striped Bass Association is hosting their 30th Free Kids Fishing Derby on Saturday, October 14, 2017 at the Antioch Marina.  Registration begins at 8:30am and the fishing is good.

The derby is held in the memory of Antioch resident “Compy” Compomizzo who inspired the mission statement Get Kids Hooked on Fishing, Not Drugs or Gangs.

The Fish Derby is a collaboration of the Antioch Marina, the Antioch Recreation Department, and the West Delta Chapter of the California Striped Bass Association. Participants have a chance to fish using tackle that is partially furnished by derby sponsors and partially provided by the club. Club members who are experienced fishermen provide coaching and fishing tips for many kids who are totally unfamiliar with fishing, the water, and the outdoors. Other club members clean and bag caught fish so kids can take their catch home for cooking. Kids learn the fun of fishing as well as the value of our resources and of nature in general.

Kids do not need their own fishing pole – there will be fishing poles to borrow.

For more information please call the Recreation Department at (925)-776-3050, ext. 0.

Adds instruction on adolescent relationship abuse and intimate partner violence to sexual health education

SACRAMENTO – Middle and high school students in California public schools will receive education on how to spot the early warning signs of abusive relationships under a bill authored by Assemblymember Jim Frazier (D-Discovery Bay) that Gov. Jerry Brown signed on Saturday.

Frazier’s bill, AB 643, adds instruction on how to recognize early warning signs of adolescent relationship abuse and intimate partner violence to sexual health education at California public schools, for grades 7-12.

“Domestic violence invariably leads to tragedy – broken families, long periods of incarceration and far too often homicide,” Frazier said. “It leaves untold suffering in its aftermath. It consumes law enforcement and other emergency resources. AB 643 gives our children the knowledge they need to help stop this destructive behavior before it becomes tragic. I thank the governor for recognizing the importance of this early education and its potential to prevent future suffering.”

Frazier authored AB 643 after a constituent, Sonia McClellin, came forward to relate the story of her sister’s murder at age 24 by an abusive boyfriend. Ms. McClellin asked Frazier to find a way to help educate youth to recognize the type of behavior that led to the tragedy that took her sister’s life.

“On behalf of my sister Deborah and my entire family, I would like to thank Assemblymember Frazier and his staff, who tirelessly saw this process through to the end,” McClellin said. “If any good can come of my sister’s tragic death, it would be that we now having something in place to educate our youth in an effort to prevent domestic violence from happening in the first place.”

Assemblymember Frazier represents the 11th Assembly District, which includes the communities of Antioch, Bethel Island, Birds Landing, Brentwood, Byron, Collinsville, Discovery Bay, Fairfield, Isleton, Knightsen, Locke, Oakley, Pittsburg (partial), Rio Vista, Suisun City, Travis AFB, Vacaville and Walnut Grove.