Articles

-1950's

Noel Garcia - Class of 1992

Noel Garcia attended Rivera Middle School in Pico Rivera, he grew up on Lindell Ave.

1. What years did you play at El Rancho High School?

I played football for "The Ranch" from 1988 until 1991.

2. What position did you play?

Freshmen and Sophomore year I played Offensive Tackle. Jr year I played Inside Linebacker and Fullback. Senior Year I played Inside Linebacker, Center and Fullback.

3. Did you recieve any special awards or recognition while at El Rancho?

I was All League Center, All Southeast Center, All League Inside Linebacker, League Defensive Linemen of the year, All CIF Division IV, played and was nominated captain in both the 605 and Hall of Fame All Star games.

4. Where did you play College Football, what position did you play and did you recieve any awards?

I played Inside Linebacker for Rio Hondo college for 2 years where I was a Two Time all conference selection and I was the Team defensive MVP in 1993. I then played Middle Linebacker for UC Davis for 2 years where I eventually recieved my Bachelors Degree.

5. What was your experience like playing for El Rancho High School given its tradition of excellence in football?

My experience playing for "The Ranch" was awesome. If I could go back and do it all over again I would choose to play at El Rancho over any other school. If you are willing to work your tail off and you're playing at a school that is so rich in tradition like "The Ranch," you will experience what unfortunately many other schools never experience that is "Success." Football can be fun when you win very often and are making the playoffs almost every year its very rewarding. It is something you cannot explain, it's something you have to experience first hand in order to understand it.

6. Does any game you played at El Rancho stand out in your mind?

There is definetely more than one game, but I have to narrow it down to one. The 1991 Semi Final game aginst Nogales High School. Even though we lost on a 67 yard pass play with just over a minute left in the game, it was awesome playing at home in front of the biggest crowd I had ever witnessed at El Rancho. There were alumni all over the field and stands wearing their letterman jackets, and just to hear our crowd cheer and the band play the drums with the famous cow bell and to finish my career in our own backyard with a bunch of stand up young men that were my teammates and great coaches is something that I will cherish the rest of my life.

7. How well did the El Rancho teams do when you were at El Rancho?

As a Freshmen we were league champs and the Varsity made it to the CIF Finals. As a Sophomore playing JV we were league champs and the Varsity made it to the Quarterfinals. As a Junior playing Varsity we were league champs and reached the CIF Playoffs. As a Senior playing Varsity we were league champs and we made it to the CIF Semifinals. During my Senior year we were 9-0 at one point and rancked #1 in CIF Division IV, and I cannot remember what # we were ranked in the State. Our Defense allowed an average of a little bit over 100yds a game. (LA Times Newspaper) Our Quarterback was the only starter who was over 6ft tall.

8. Did playing at El Rancho High School prepare you well for College Football?

Everything I learned at El Rancho prepared me to play College Football. From my college experience I noticed the guys that had discipline, commitment and hard work ethics were the ones who excelled and succeeded in football as well as in their studies. These were the traits that I picked up while at El Rancho High School.

9. Would you like to share any special moments while playing at UC Davis?

Sacramento State was our biggest rival labeled the Causeway Classic. I had never been nor played in one of these games, well the day of the game you had to be at the school before 12pm for a night game because the town of Davis closes all the streets around the school to begin preparing for this rival game. Well sure enough come game time when we took the field there were a ton of people all over going nuts and being extremely loud. The crowd was unreal it seemed like a pro game the fans would go nuts when the opponent was on offense and every time we would score the whole town knew it because of the noise. And to top it off we won in the last seconds with a game winning field goal you can only imagine what this special moment that I was fortunate to experience felt like.

10. Any players you played with at the high school or college level play in the NFL?

Yes, in high school I played with Jim Arellanes (Seattle Seahawks) at UC Davis I played with Kevin Daft (Tennesse Titans) and Mark Grieb (San Jose Arena Football).

11. Any advice or comments you would like to give to the student/athletes currently at El Rancho High?

Enjoy being a student/athlete because you will never get the chance to experience high school ever again. I'll leave you with a couple of my favorite quotes; "What matters is not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog". (Coach Bear Bryant) Another has to do with selective listening. "Don't spend most of your time on the voices that don't count, voices that are going to add too little worth to your future. Don't waste time on the shallow and the silly. Tune those voices out and tune in the voices that are going to add something to your life." (Jim Rohn)

The 1991 season was the last time the El Rancho Dons reached the CIF Semi-final game. As previously mentioned there were three players that played collegiate football from that team. Besides, Noel Garcia (UC-Davis) and Jim Arellanes (Fresno State), Abraham Flores played at USC. 1991 was also the last time El Rancho won back to back league championships. Following on the previous comments made by Noel Garcia, for those interested you can read a bit about the 1991 team in the Los Angeles Times article, dated November 21, 1991, page 8, entitled "El Rancho players small but big on team pride football: The school has a 40-year tradition that includes winning 18 league titles and nearly 70% of its games." An excerpt of the article is quoted below:

The large logo "ER" is painted in blue and white on the concrete floor of the football team room at El Rancho High School. Step on it and you pay the price.

"There have been administrators from other schools that have been knocked on their cans for standing there," Coach Dick Shelko said.

The logo symbolizes the pride that exists at the school. When you walk on it, you are, in effect, stomping on Pico Rivera, a Southeast Los Angeles County community with a small-town devotion to its only high school football team. El Rancho football has been the focal point in this tight-knit community since the high school opened 40 years ago.