PREP FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS : CITY 2-A : Bell vs. Roosevelt : This Matchup of Eastside Teams Could Be the Start of Something Big

Bell and Roosevelt, similar high schools schools in similar areas looking to start a rivalry similar to another in the Eastern League, will play for the City 2-A football championship Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at East Los Angeles College. The game is begining to look as much like a movie as a football game.

There’s a budding rivalry, for instance, in the mold of the Roosevelt-Garfield feud. Roosevelt Coach Dave Endow likes the idea.

“We have the possibility of a good rivalry with Bell,” Endow said with a smile. “They don’t like us, and we don’t like them.”

So, it shapes up as Eastside Story, and it features big, fast guys vs. mostly just fast guys. It’s also got Waldir Guerra.

Guerra, of Bell, may provide enough excitement for a movie of his own. He will try to play in two games in two different sports in two different parts of town, hoping to set a few records in the process, all in the span of about four hours.

The Bell-Roosevelt matchup may not upstage the 4-A game between Banning and Carson, but one thing seems certain: Fast, Eastside football will be played, even if soccer-style football determines the outcome.

That’s where Guerra comes in. He is an exceptionally good soccer player who has also developed a fondness for American football. Using mostly his right foot, but sometimes his left, the Bell senior has kicked 10 field goals, five of them from 42 yards or longer.

In soccer, Guerra scored 11 goals against Jordan earlier this season, but Coach Bill Albano unwittingly moved Guerra to defense in the second half, leaving Guerra one goal shy of the national record. Bell will play soccer at Jordan Thursday at 2:30, and Guerra will go for the record. Then he hopes to make it to East LA college in time for the football game.

Even if Guerra gets caught in the East LA interchange, Bell is still the favorite. The Eastern league champion Eagles will take an 11-0 record into the final, including a previous 24-15 league victory over Roosevelt. Bell also has Eluid Pacheco, the league’s Player of the Year.

“Mostly, we have small kids that come to play football on Friday night,” Nitta said. Bell’s small kids include All-City center Robert Hylton, 6 feet 1 1/2 inches and 230 pounds; tackle Gamalio Barmelos, 5-9 and 230, and an assortment of other 200-plus linemen on both defense and offense.

“Well, sure we have bulk ,” Nitta said, thinking twice. “But we don’t have real tall kids.”

The Rough Riders, on the other hand, lack the size of Bell across the line but try to make up for it with speed at the skill positions. “Our kids are basically small, like Eastside kids,” Endow said.

True, Endow’s players are small, but that didn’t keep Roosevelt from winning the 2-A championship last year for then-Coach Ken Fujinaga. Endow took over with “nothing,” but has put together a strong defense and a solid offense with mostly junior starters.

Roosevelt (8-2-1) relies on running backs Richard Mosqueda, who has rushed 124 times for 628 yards and 2 touchdowns, and Vannie Prudhomme, who has gained 440 yards in 94 carries. Roosevelt formerly relied on quarterback Hector Islava, who passed for 915 yards and 6 touchdowns before losing his eligibility.

For Bell, it’s nearly all Pacheco. The senior has thrown for 1,448 yards and 10 touchdowns. The Eagles, who earlier in the season relied solely on the strength of their line and the running attack, tapped the talents of Pacheco at midseason and won each of their last four games by no fewer than nine points.

Last year’s 2-A title game was decided on a last-second field goal by Simon Cantero of Roosevelt, bringing us back to Guerra.