High school notes: His season cut short, Carlos Hernandez sees the long view of life

It’s an hour before Saturday’s City Section Division III championship football game at El Camino College. Carlos Hernandez, one of the top players for Reseda High, has limped out of the locker room without his crutches and is sitting on a bench looking upon an empty field.

He can’t play against Franklin because he injured a knee in the semifinal game last week.

“I felt it popped out of place,” he said in a low, subdued voice. “I tried to go back into the game. I should have stayed out.”

Except Hernandez wasn’t down Saturday. He was pumped.

“Football saved my life,” he said. “It means everything to me right now. I can’t play but I’m still a big part of this team. I’m still happy for the team because we’re still in the championship game.”

With the help of Coach Alonso Arreola and his assistants, Hernandez has made a turnaround. He got into trouble off the field and spent time in the juvenile justice system until the lessons learned in football began to take hold.

“When I was younger, I did something I shouldn’t have been doing and got stuck in the system,” he said. “After football season, I was going back to what I was doing.”

His coaches kept giving him the chance to change his life.

“It gave me something to do,” he said. “It gave me possibilities. It gave me another family. It gave me discipline. I got to meet a lot of great people.”

Of course, the real question will be whether Hernandez, who scored 17 touchdowns this season, has really changed.

“I’m 18 years old now. I don’t have time for that,” he said of getting into trouble off the field.

Reseda lost to Franklin, 27-18.

Resumes coming fast

San Juan Capistrano JSerra has received more than a dozen resumes for its vacant head coaching position. The school wants to name a new coach before the month is completed to replace Jim Hartigan.

Several former Hartigan assistants are expected to be given strong consideration. It will be interesting to see if an outsider can secure the position. Nine sophomores got a lot of playing time this season, so JSerra has plenty of talent.

Westlake Village Westlake is also expected to move fast after firing Tony Henney. The big question is whether Calabasas Coach Casey Clausen, a former Oaks Christian assistant, would be interested in the job.

State regional playoffs

Every section champion in California is eligible to participate in the CIF state bowl games that begin next weekend with regional games.

The CIF will announce the matchups on Sunday. Concord De La Salle is expected to be selected for the Open Division bowl game on Dec. 17 in Sacramento and will likely face the Southern Section Division 1 champion.

Open Division teams get a bye next week.

Sacramento will be the site for bowl games Dec. 16 and 17. Other games will be played around the state matching mostly Northern California against Southern California teams.

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

Twitter: @latsondheimer