University Coach offers assist to Garfield linebacker

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Many observers of City Section football who have seen Garfield linebacker David Lopez, pictured, play this season, say the 6-foot-3, 235-pound senior has the size and talent to play Division I football.

But Bulldogs Coach Lorenzo Hernandez has been frustrated in getting college recruiters to appreciate Lopez. ‘We’ve sent film everywhere. We tried to play bigger teams like San Pedro to show how he could perform. When [recruiters] see the film they say he’s great, but then they disappear.’

Lopez may get some help from an unlikely source -- University Coach E.C. Robinson, whose team plays Garfield for the Invitational championship at 4 p.m. Friday at the Coliseum.

During a dinner Monday night for the City and Invitational coaches, Robinson told Hernandez that Boise State Coach Chris Peterson was coming to visit him on Tuesday to see some of the University players. ‘I’ll make sure he also sees film on Lopez,’ Robinson said. ‘If it’s OK, I’ll give him the game film you exchanged with us. I also think he’s the real deal, the best linebacker we’ve seen among [Invitational] teams.’

-- Mike Terry

-- Image by/Mel Melcon, Los Angeles Times