Community College Football : Center Is a Skill Position to Fullerton’s Katnik

You tend to snicker when John Katnik, Fullerton College’s sophomore center, says he relies on athletic skill and blocking technique more than size and brute strength. After all, he weighs 250 pounds, bench presses nearly 400 and has arms that look like ship cables.

Yeah, you think, this guy has the technique of an earth mover.

But after you watch Katnik play, you come to realize that what he says is true. His style is right out of the textbook. His shoulders are always squared, his legs are always moving and his arms are always outstretched. Rarely will you ever see Katnik off balance.

And rarely is Katnik beaten by the player assigned to him.

He says things wouldn’t be any different if he were a lot smaller and a lot weaker.

“I’ve been playing center since I was 8 years old, and I know the position well,” Katnik said. “It’s all technique on the line, as far as I’m concerned. I think I could do an adequate job if I weighed 190 pounds.”

He’s also tired of linemen being referred to as less than athletic.

“Hey, in high school, I was as good an athlete as anyone,” Katnik said. “I played football, wrestled and threw the shot. People think linemen are all fat slobs. Well, a few may be, but the really good ones are the ones who are quick and fast. Believe me, they are athletes.”

Athletic skill isn’t the only thing that makes Katnik, an All-CIF Southern Section and Times’ All-Orange County selection at Foothill High School in 1982, an outstanding center. His intensity is also a great asset.

“John is not a holler-type guy, but he’s very intense,” Hal Sherbeck, Fullerton coach, said. “He has the temperament of a defensive player. He is very, very aggressive.

“And he really hates to lose. After a loss, you can really see how much it bothers him.”

Because he hates to lose, the 1985 season hasn’t been all that enjoyable for Katnik. The Hornets, perennially among the top teams in the nation, are 2-2, which is poor for them.

“That’s one reason I played so hard last week when we beat El Camino,” Katnik said. “I haven’t ever been on a team that has lost three games in a season. Not in Pop Warner, not in junior high and not at Foothill. And I don’t ever want to be on a team that has lost three games.

“I can’t stand losing at anything. I’m competitive even when I’m playing in a pickup basketball game. You can ask anyone on our street how badly I take a defeat.”

Katnik and Foothill teammates John Healy and Pete Carter first planned to play for Saddleback College. But after a few practices with the Gauchos, the trio quit the team.

“We were all just a little tired of playing football,” Katnik said. “We had been through three years of games and practices, and then I played in the Shrine All-Star Game, and I needed some time off.

After sitting out the 1983 season, he decided to play for Fullerton.

“Saddleback has a great program, but it seems Fullerton’s players get more four-year scholarships,” Katnik said. “And Fullerton plays in a tougher conference (the Pac-9).”

In community college football today:

Pac-9 Conference Bakersfield (2-1, 4-1) vs. Fullerton (1-1, 2-2), Fullerton District Stadium, 7:30--Freshman quarterback Richard Williams came off the bench last week to complete 12 of 19 passes for 257 yards and 3 touchdowns to lead the Hornets to a 35-28 win over El Camino. Unranked Fullerton will need another strong performance from Williams tonight if it is to beat Bakersfield, the seventh-ranked team in this week’s Southland Poll, for the 10th consecutive time. The Renegades, who haven’t beaten Fullerton since spoiling Hal Sherbeck’s debut as Hornet coach in 1961, 50-0, are coming off a 24-2 loss to Cerritos.

Golden West (1-1, 1-2-1) vs. Mt. San Antonio (0-3, 2-3), Memorial Stadium, 7:30--Since Golden West has Todd Parker and the Mounties lead the conference in pass defense, you can expect the Rustlers to keep the ball on the ground tonight. Two weeks ago, against Pasadena City, they did just that in earning their first win of the season, 42-25. In that game, Parker, the second-leading rusher in the Pac-9 with 437 yards, gained a career-high 180 yards on 38 carries. Mt. San Antonio has lost three straight after opening the season with victories over Citrus and Porterville.

Mission Conference Saddleback (3-0, 5-0) vs. Southwestern, (3-0, 5-0), DeVore Stadium, 7:30--The winner of this game will have the inside track to the conference title. Saddleback, ranked third in the nation and second in the Southland, is coming off big wins over San Diego Mesa and Riverside City. Last week against San Diego Mesa, the Gauchos shut down the Olympians’ potent passing attack and scored an easy 36-7 win. Saddleback, which is seeking its ninth consecutive championship, used an aggressive rush and extra defensive backs in passing situations to limit San Diego Mesa to only 140 yards passing. But Southwestern, ranked 14th in the nation and fourth in the Southland, may have an even better defense than Saddleback. The Apaches have allowed an average of only 11 points and 204 yards per game to lead the conference.

Orange Coast (0-2, 0-3-1) vs. San Diego Mesa (2-1, 3-2), Merrill Douglass Stadium, 7:30--Orange Coast is still winless more than a month into the season, but Coach Dick Tucker isn’t discouraged. “It’s because of our schedule--and some key mistakes--that we are winless,” he said. “We’ve got six games remaining, and we have the ability to win any of the six.” This game matches San Diego Mesa’s passing game, led by quarterback David Darroch, against the Pirates’ wishbone attack. Darroch, despite having a poor game against Saddleback last week, is second to only Saddleback’s Jason Schmid in conference passing with 1,088 yards. Orange Coast is led by sophomore fullback Chris Mendenhall, who has run for 323 yards on 53 carries from a 6.1-yard-per-carry average.

Rancho Santiago (0-3, 2-3) vs. San Diego City (0-2, 0-4), Balboa Stadium, 1:30--The Dons’ three-game losing streak will likely come to an end against the Knights, who have one of the weakest teams in the state. Turnovers proved to be the Dons’ downfall last week in a 31-16 loss to Southwestern.