ESPN likes to feature their #1 rated QB recruit during their annual high school interstate extravaganza. They had Trevor Lawrence a few years ago and this year it was Malachi Nelson, the QB of Los Alamitos (CA), against American Heritage of Plantation, Florida.
Although he threw for 4 TDs, two of which were in garbage time, but Nelson’s team got crushed. American Heritage put up 56 on them. The mercy rule was applied to have a moving clock halfway through the 3rd quarter.
American Heritage is probably the opposite of the typical private school power, like many of the so-called “schools” playing big time basketball. It is one of the best private schools in the country and regularly has 100% of its graduating seniors go to college. And not to rinky dink schools either. Their 2022 graduating class had 11 seniors going to CMU and 20 going to Northwestern. The tuition is over $36,000 per year. It also has a very diverse student body.
One of my friends has his oldest daughter going there. He says it’s a financial struggle even though they pay reduced tuition because his wife is a librarian there. She was a librarian at a college, but took reduced pay to take the job there so they could get the cheaper tuition. (The salary reduction, after taxes, was about half of the tuition savings.) He and his wife are especially grateful now because as a private school it doesn’t have to follow the state mandates on what can’t be taught in school or in banning books. Last year was his wife’s first year there, and she was surprised at how many of the athletes there spend a lot of time studying in the library.
Los Alamitos is a public school located just south of Long Beach. It also is notorious for recruiting. It’s legal because it offers programs which most public schools in the area don’t. Essentially, it is following in the footsteps of Long Beach Poly back when it was a national power. However, it is most famous as the home of the largest Steelers’ bar in the country, located just outside the racetrack. I started going there in 1975, when I moved to LA. Back then there was no DIRECTV or other ways to get Steeler games at home. They used to have a huge dish next to the bar to get the games. It wasn’t unusual for them to have 500 Steeler fans there back in the late 1970s. For games against the Browns or Oilers back then, the late arrivals had to listen to audio of the game in the parking lot. I used to get there two hours before kickoff.
Although he threw for 4 TDs, two of which were in garbage time, but Nelson’s team got crushed. American Heritage put up 56 on them. The mercy rule was applied to have a moving clock halfway through the 3rd quarter.
American Heritage is probably the opposite of the typical private school power, like many of the so-called “schools” playing big time basketball. It is one of the best private schools in the country and regularly has 100% of its graduating seniors go to college. And not to rinky dink schools either. Their 2022 graduating class had 11 seniors going to CMU and 20 going to Northwestern. The tuition is over $36,000 per year. It also has a very diverse student body.
One of my friends has his oldest daughter going there. He says it’s a financial struggle even though they pay reduced tuition because his wife is a librarian there. She was a librarian at a college, but took reduced pay to take the job there so they could get the cheaper tuition. (The salary reduction, after taxes, was about half of the tuition savings.) He and his wife are especially grateful now because as a private school it doesn’t have to follow the state mandates on what can’t be taught in school or in banning books. Last year was his wife’s first year there, and she was surprised at how many of the athletes there spend a lot of time studying in the library.
Los Alamitos is a public school located just south of Long Beach. It also is notorious for recruiting. It’s legal because it offers programs which most public schools in the area don’t. Essentially, it is following in the footsteps of Long Beach Poly back when it was a national power. However, it is most famous as the home of the largest Steelers’ bar in the country, located just outside the racetrack. I started going there in 1975, when I moved to LA. Back then there was no DIRECTV or other ways to get Steeler games at home. They used to have a huge dish next to the bar to get the games. It wasn’t unusual for them to have 500 Steeler fans there back in the late 1970s. For games against the Browns or Oilers back then, the late arrivals had to listen to audio of the game in the parking lot. I used to get there two hours before kickoff.
