Richards Will Take University to Beat Reseda

Reseda High lined up with a flanker split to the left and a tight end on each side of the line. A standard run formation by Coach Joel Schaeffer’s run-oriented team. A few seconds before the ball was snapped, Sylmar Coach Tom Richards leaned back in his chair as the video tape rolled and muttered, “That’s a run.”

It was. A lot of people might have predicted that. But Richards said he knew a run was coming.

“Joel Schaeffer hasn’t passed from that formation in eight years,” Richards said. “Not once.”

As Reseda lined up for another play a few minutes later, running back Ronald Wilkinson stood up and moved a step closer to the quarterback.

“Pass play,” Richards barked.

Again, he was right. Very few observers would have predicted that.

“The tailback moved up, and they haven’t run the ball out of that formation in eight years,” he said.

During a review of the tape of the Nov. 14 game between Reseda and University, the teams that will meet tonight at Birmingham High for the City 2-A championship, Richards called plays before the ball was snapped and was correct a startling number of times. Not only run or pass, but where the play was going.

Which prompts two questions:

How did Richards learn the offensive schemes of the two teams so well?

And, if he is able to predict the plays of his two Pac-8 League rivals so accurately, what the heck is he doing sitting in a dark room with a sports writer while the other two teams are on the practice field preparing to play for the 2-A title?

The answer to the first question is that Richards is, simply, a football fanatic, spending hours each day dissecting game films and learning the tendencies of his opponents. And he’s been in the business for 29 years.

The answer to the second question isn’t as simple. Richards’ Sylmar team beat Reseda, 12-0, but lost to University, 13-6, in regular-season play this year. By knowing the offense of Reseda so well, he was able to direct his defense on virtually every play against the Regents in the shutout victory. Sylmar also played a fine defensive game against University and Coach Joe Sedia, but marched inside the Warriors’ 10-yard line four times without coming away with a single point.

“I know Reseda’s offense as well as I know my own,” Richards said. “And I can read Joe Sedia like a book, too.”

As Richards watched the film of University’s 29-24 victory in the first meeting between the 2-A finalists, he marveled at the size of the Reseda players and the skill of the University players.

“Reseda’s lines are so big, they just dominate people,” he said. “But University has the players, the skill people, the kids who are the major college prospects.”

On that list, he said, are receivers Marc Rodgers, Paul Richardson and Varian Smith--all of whom averaged 19 yards a catch this season--quarterback Daryl Hobbs and running back Amani Davis.

“What you try to do against anyone is to put your best players on their best players,” he said. “But against University, you get outnumbered. They have more major college prospects than anyone else.”

Schaeffer has said his Reseda defense will not attempt man-to-man coverage against University as it did in the first game, in which Hobbs threw long touchdown passes to Rodgers, Richardson and Smith. But Richards said a zone defense might be even easier for Hobbs to pick apart than a man-to-man defense.

“I think Joel has to use the zone because he knows that University’s skill people--the receivers--are better than Reseda’s defensive backs,” Richards said. “But University uses that run-and-shoot offense, and if they go against a zone trying to deny the deep pass, Reseda could get picked to pieces by Hobbs.”

The key to the game, he said, will be Hobbs.

“Look at that,” Richards said, watching the screen as Hobbs was intercepted. “When Hobbs is off, he’s bad. He spaces out. He didn’t even think about that pass. Terrible.

“If he’s hot, he can murder you. He can be just unstoppable. But if he’s not on his game, University could be in big trouble.”

And he has some advice in that department for Reseda.

“If I were Joel Schaeffer, I’d go after Hobbs with a passion,” he said. “Blitz and stunt and just overpower that small line. They have to try to get to Hobbs early, sack him three or four times in the first quarter and rattle him.”

Richards’ prediction: “University is the better team. They’ll beat Reseda again. About 20-14. If Reseda wins this game, they’ve got to do it with a score like 12-7. . . a low-scoring game. But against University, with the talent of Hobbs and those receivers, I think that’s almost impossible.”

HOW TOM RICHARDS RATES RESEDA-UNIVERSITY

A 1-TO-10 SCALE ON TONIGHT’S MATCHUP

University Reseda Size 5 8 Speed 7 6 Passing 8 5 Running 4 7 Pass Defense 5 6 Run Defense 6 9 Special Teams 5 8

Prediction: University 20, Reseda 14