NOTEBOOK : Will Coaches Ever Balk at Players for Going to the Mouth?

Pity the poor high school football officials who worked Friday night’s Kennedy-San Fernando game.

At times it seemed that players from both teams were more interested in taunting each other than playing football.

There were no fights, but plenty of talking and finger pointing, which is normal when the teams meet.

The bickering started early. Kennedy called time out after the games’s third play, prompting San Fernando strong safety Kevin Thomas to yell toward Kennedy, “Yeah, we’re worth a timeout . . . “

One of the officials quickly interceded and warned Thomas to be quiet or he would be thrown out of the game.

The warning didn’t seem to have much affect.

Later, after San Fernando scored on a blocked punt, one of the Tiger players got down on his knees near midfield and shot his fingers in pistol-like fashion toward the Kennedy bench. He got a 10 for style, but a zero for class and was penalized.

Still later, James Davison, a Kennedy defensive back, was called for unsportsmanlike conduct and ejected from the game.

Kennedy was penalized six times for 66 yards, including two personal fouls. San Fernando was hit with 11 penalties for 110 yards and seven personal fouls.

Taunting is common at many high school games.

Another example: Mike Stine of Camarillo back-pedaled the last 15 yards of a 64-yard touchdown pass on the last play of a 28-14 loss to Simi Valley. He was making hand gestures at Simi Valley players all the way.

When will it end?

Well, coaches?

The Red Cross Play of the Week:

North Hollywood pulled out its first win of the season, 10-7, over Sylmar, thanks to Steve Chuck, a kicker suffering from whiplash and wearing a neck brace, and Frank Scibella, a quarterback with a jammed index finger on his throwing hand.

The winning touchdown was scored by Scibella after he failed to handle the snap from center on a field goal attempt. The ball bounced to Chuck, who picked it up, scrambled away from three defenders and hit Scibella with a 10-yard pass.

Crespi was held to two first downs and 36 total yards during the first half of its 10-7 loss to Alemany Friday night.

The Celts’ offense was so boring, the Cal State Northridge pep band, which plays at Crespi games, kept playing The Del Taco Theme Song (“Same place, same thing”).

The band has been even nastier in previous weeks, however. When Sonoma State played Cal State Northridge before a small and very quiet crowd last week, the band took the opportunity to play “Silent Night.”

Reportedly, no one was paying enough attention to get the joke.

Quote of the Week:

Greg Friedman, Kennedy kicker, on a punt that San Fernando blocked and returned for a touchdown: “What happened? I don’t know. All I saw was four white shirts going after my leg.”

El Camino Real almost scored against Granada Hills Friday night. Honest.

In fact, the Conquistadores, who have been outscored 153-0 in five games, blew three scoring chances.

The first opportunity came in the first half when running back Warren Butler broke open for a 25-yard run on a draw play, but was tackled in open field by the only defender between him and the goal line.

Early in the fourth quarter, El Camino had the ball first and goal at the Granada Hills 10, but came away empty again when a fourth-down pass fell incomplete.

Finally, later in the same quarter, wide receiver Patrick Martin dropped a pass that probably would have gone for a touchdown. Martin was wide open at the Granada Hills 45 with nothing between him and the goal line.

Coincidentally, Martin started the season as El Camino Real’s quarterback. Carl McFadden, a sophomore, took over at quarterback when he turned 15 and became eligible for varsity competition.

The Down in the Valley Poll continued to work its magic for some of the valley area’s not-so-good high school football teams this week.

Four of last week’s 10 ranked teams won--North Hollywood, Notre Lame, Harvard and Hart. North Hollywood defeated Sylmar, 10-7, and dropped from third into a tie for fifth in the poll, while Notre Lame’s 6-0 win over St. Francis still sent it tumbling from fourth to ninth. Harvard and Hart fell out of the poll with impressive (that’s right!) wins.

1) El Camino Real (0-5). The undisputed champs of Down in the Valley. The Conquistadores have been outscored 153-0 in five games. 2) Oak Park (0-6). The Eagles offense has scored 22 points in six games. The Santa Ynez defense almost matched that total Friday night by running back Oak Park interceptions. 3) Royal (0-6). Calling the Highlanders’ defense a sive would be a compliment. It barely exists. 4) Sylmar (0-5). The Spartans weren’t even ranked last week. A 10-7 loss to North Hollywood took care of that. 5) Grant (1-4) and North Hollywood (both 1-4). Grant beat North Hollywood, 8-7, but was outgained 207-100. North Hollywood managed to win this week, while Grant was being routed, 47-0, by University. 7) Saugus (0-4-2). If Saugus had half as good of an offense as it does defense, the Centurions would win their share of games. It doesn’t and they won’t. 8) Van Nuys (1-4). Wolves fans have suggested the football team be thrown to its mascot. 9) Notre Lame (2-4). The Knights don’t have the injury problems they had earlier in the season. A big win over St. Francis would have moved them out of the poll. A 6-0 win does not. 10) Camarillo (1-5). The Scorpions have outscored opponents, 111-110, but have a 1-5 record. (Note: The Alpha League was ranked so high, it fell off the top of the poll).

Jim Bonds, quarterback at Hart, had his best game of the year, rushing for two touchdowns and throwing for another in a 34-9 win over Burbank.

One of Bonds’ rushing touchdowns went for 71 yards. He also completed 12 of 15 passes for 117 yards.

Bonds’ best play of the game, however, may have been a block he threw to spring Chris Hite for a 47-yard touchdown run.

“I love blocking,” Bonds said after the game. “It reminded me of the days when I played linebacker in Pop Warner.”

Uh, Jim, linebackers don’t block.

Taft lost to Chatsworth, 17-12, Friday night, but don’t blame Monty Gilbreath. He had two carries for 17 yards, four catches for 84 yards and a touchdown and a 48-yard interception return for a touchdown.

Maybe they should teach him to kick extra points.

Just an opinion:

The Marmonte League has some of the Valley area’s most explosive offensive players in Westlake quarterback Brad Gossen and running backs M.J. Nelson of Simi Valley, Marc Monestime of Thousand Oaks and Gary Wellman of Westlake.

Shaun Christensen, quarterback at Royal, would be rated with the same company if he had any kind of protection from his line.