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AROUND THE LEAGUES : Injury Takes Punch Out of Reseda Attack

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Reseda High’s football program was dealt a serious blow last week because starting quarterback Don Grant came to blows.

Grant, a 6-1, 180-pound senior, broke his right hand in a hallway fight with another student three days before Reseda’s season opener against against Birmingham.

“It looks like another of those ‘boys will be boys’ type of fights,” Coach Joel Schaeffer said. “Grant hit the other kid in the side of the head and broke his own hand.”

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Mike Lance filled in for Grant and led Reseda to a 24-7 win.

Shawn Patrol: Sylmar has four players on the varsity team named Sean/Shawn. “It’s driving me crazy,” Coach Tom Richards said. “I can’t keep them straight.” The Sean/Shawn list includes Times’ All-Valley running back Sean Hampton, utility back Shawn Fontenot, fullback Shawn Wilson and split end Shawn Aleshire. Hampton sat out the season opener with bruised ribs and a bruised collarbone, but is expected to play Friday. . . . Although he was overshadowed by Albert Fann’s 243 yards rushing, Chatsworth quarterback Bryan Addison made an impressive debut in Chatsworth’s 18-7 loss to Cleveland. A junior making his first varsity start, Addison completed 7 of 11 passes for 100 yards, and scrambled for gains of 35 and 21 yards. Addison appears well-suited to Chatsworth’s sprint-out passing game. . . . After touting his team as the best in school history, Kennedy Coach Bob Francola is understandably sheepish after losing to Crenshaw, 15-13. “Our balloon was popped real quick,” Francola said. Kennedy scored the first time it had the ball but didn’t mount another drive until moving 89 yards in the last two minutes of the game. Quarterback Jeff Newman called audibles on seven of nine plays on the final drive.

Computing a new record: Westlake is off to a surprising 2-0 start and Coach George Contreras credits a computer for helping prepare the Warriors. “We started using computers this year quite extensively,” Contreras said. “We feed the information into the computer and it starts spitting it all out. It has been a very big aid.” . . . Westlake split end Chris Mann has a 4.0 grade-point average and is ranked No. 1 in the senior class of more than 500 students. . . . St. Genevieve amassed 180 yards in penalties in Friday’s 21-9 win over Village Christian. “One time I looked up at the scoreboard and it was fourth-and-41 because of penalties,” Coach Lindon Crow said. .

Too many zebras on the field? Leading Taft, 7-6, in the third quarter Friday, Fairfax appeared to have recovered a fumble after Taft quarterback Jon Thompson made an errant lateral. The officials, however, did not allow the play, ruling that Fairfax had 12 men on the field during the previous play. “The ref told me that we had too many men the play before,” Fairfax Coach Dennis Furlong said. “He said, ‘I can do that. I can call that anytime I want.’ ” Taft maintained possession and scored the winning touchdown two plays later.

Injury report: Hart may be 1-1 in the won-lost column, but the Indians are leading the Valley in the players lost column. Defensive back Eric Ferguson and defensive end Jim Blowers each broke a thumb in Friday’s 14-13 win over Mission Viejo and are out indefinitely. Linebacker Jack McKeon injured his knee and may require surgery. . . . Thousand Oaks quarterback Robb McKinnon dislocated his left shoulder Friday against Buena and will be lost for five weeks. Crespi running back J.J. Lasley broke his hand on a car door Sunday and is out indefinitely.

Over the line: When Newbury Park scored a touchdown with seven seconds left Friday against Ventura, Coach Ken Cook decided to go for two points, which would have given Newbury Park a 21-20 win. The Panthers were penalized three times for delay of game before a pass failed, however. The unsuccessful conversion plays were new to the Panther playbook. “The kids just got excited,” Cook said. “Nobody knew where they were supposed to line up.”

For the record: Royal running back Ralph Blanks did not fumble a punt that gave Agoura a touchdown in Friday’s 24-21 victory, as was reported in Saturday’s editions. Manny Escobar was Royal’s punt returner on the play. . . . First Lutheran, which plays in the Eight-Man Division, scored a 24-8 win over Buckley’s junior varsity, not the varsity as reported.

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