Big Games : Pasadena at Santa Monica

Santa Monica (6-3 overall), fourth seed in the CIF-Southern Section Coastal Conference, breezed into this first-round playoff game, at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Santa Monica College, by routing Mira Costa, 56-0. Pasadena (6-4), the No. 3 team in the Pacific League, fell to top-seeded Muir, 27-7, last week.

Santa Monica Coach Tebb Kusserow, whose team finished as Bay League runner-up to West Torrance, got a chance to play his reserves and rest his regulars against Mira Costa. But Viking quarterback Pat O’Hara still threw for three touchdowns to raise his season total to 20, and favorite receivers Dominique Holland and Travis Clark stayed sharp. Holland caught two scoring tosses and Clark one.

Kusserow said Pasadena is “extremely fast and is primarily a running team.” He said that the Bulldogs, who run a wishbone, give the ball much of the time fullbacks Anthony Hall, Kenny James and Adesino Luke and that quarterback Ray Murphy will now and then fake a pitch and run.

Beverly Hills vs. Verbum Dei

Maybe Beverly Hills co-Coaches Bill Stansbury and Dick Billingsley should take their players to task for trouncing Culver City, 31-7, last week to finish in third place in the Ocean League.

Their reward is to meet Verbum Dei (10-0), the second-seeded team in the Northwestern Conference. This playoff opener is at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Jackie Robinson Stadium in Rancho Cienega Park, 5001 Rodeo Road, West Los Angeles.

Against Culver, the Normans exploded for four second-half touchdowns, three on short runs by fullback Keith Long, after trailing at halftime, 7-3. The passing combination of Beverly quarterback Eric Mueller to Gregg Silver worked well. Mueller completed 17 of 30 passes for about 175 yards, and Silver caught 11 for about 130 yards.

Last week Verbum Dei defeated St. Bernard, 38-21. The Eagles were spurred by linebacker Yul Jenkins, who ran 80 yards for a touchdown after picking up the ball on a blocked field goal attempt and shortly after that recovered a St. Bernard fumble and sprinted 40 yards for another score.

Verbum Dei quarterback Keith Washington has completed 34 of 75 passes for about 700 yards and nine touchdowns and has carried 72 times for 408 yards.