They arrived on electric bikes, skateboards, walked or were dropped off by car early on Thanksgiving morning at Cleveland School in Reseda.
It's Schools Football Championship week and Thursday's training means the teams are still alive and one win away from the trophies.
“Turkey day,” yelled starting lineman Adam Garbisch as he joined his teammates in warmups.
In coach Mario Guzman's soccer office, his wife Elizabeth volunteered to be a cook and breakfast worker. On Wednesday, Guzman bought 15 dozen eggs, 25 pounds of pancake mix, 15 pounds of bacon.
“It comes from my huge scholarship at the end of the season,” Guzman said.
Elizabeth Guzman, wife of Cleveland football coach Mario Guzman, cracks one of 180 eggs Thursday morning to serve to players on Thanksgiving morning.
(Eric Sondheimer/Los Angeles Times)
His wife had already watered the family turkey the night before and was now cracking 180 eggs with a smile and plastic gloves. After finishing, she decided to take a short break. “I need coffee first,” she said.
Cleveland will play San Fernando in the City Section Division II championship Friday at 6 p.m. in Birmingham.
You can tell the Cavaliers created the culture of a championship team because players ran onto the field when they were late and there were no coaches to tell them to hurry up.
Across Southland, similar scenes occurred in the Southern Section and City Section as teams prepared for the championship games on Friday and Saturday.
Elizabeth, who teaches preschool, was thrilled to volunteer on Thanksgiving Day for her husband's team.
“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be than here,” she said.
After breakfast after her workout, she was going to rush home and put the family turkey in the oven.
This is a daily look at positive developments in school sports. To report any news, email [email protected].
