Newman Outduels Bonds, Sollom, to Lead West All-Stars, 21-6

When quarterbacks like Ken Sollom and Jim Bonds put the ball up, one can expect footballs to crackle through the air like July fireflies, receivers to scamper around like june bugs, and defensive backs, well, they’re just plain bugged.

In Friday night’s Daily News all-star football game, however, Sollom and Bonds looked more like caterpillars than butterflies as the underdog West team defeated the East, 21-6, in front of 4,000 at Pierce College.

Bonds and Sollom, who alternated at quarterback on each offensive possession, combined for 168 yards passing; the East team had only 183 yards in total offense.

Jeff Newman, who started at quarterback for the West, had the night of his life. He had passed for only 766 yards the entire season for Kennedy High but threw for 203 yards on 8 of 13 passing Friday.

Newman candidly said he never expected to outgun the East pair. He shot the lights out of Valley football’s version of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

“I just went mad out there tonight,” said Newman, a 6-0, 185-pounder who will attend the University of Hawaii. “I walked out there, saw Sollom and Bonds on the other sideline and all of these people in the stands, and I just thought to myself, ‘now I’ve really got to play.’ ”

The West game plan originally was designed to get the ball into the hands of running backs Albert Fann, Edwin Jones and Jeff Kellogg. But when the passing game opened up, Newman looked like a new man.

“He was really something,” Fann said. “They figured we couldn’t throw the ball and they put their linebackers way up at the offensive line at first. So we started with some short passes to spread them out.

“After we did that, it opened up everything--the running and passing attacks.”

The West had a 14-0 lead--on runs by Fann and Jones--before the East got its act together in the third quarter.

Sollom connected on passes to Trevor Doyle and Chad Zeigler to drive to the West 12. Andy Iacenda bulled his way over from the 1 with 1:50 left in the third to bring the East to within 14-6.

As far as the East was concerned, however, that was it. The West secondary had the East receivers so well covered that Sollom and Bonds spent more time scrambling than passing.

“I didn’t expect us to do that well against them,” said West defensive back Dion Lambert, who, like Bonds, will attend UCLA.

“Heck, we almost shut them out,” chimed in Troy Thomas, who teamed with Lambert in the secondary.

Sollom, who will attend Michigan, was 10 of 24 for 85 yards. Bonds was 8 of 17 for 83 yards.

The West put the game away with a touchdown on the drive after the East score. Newman led a drive to the 1-yard line but was injured on a quarterback sneak. Kevin Zeitz took over at quarterback, handing the ball inside to Kellogg, who sliced up the middle for the score.

The West defense did the rest.

“I’ve always liked a challenge,” West co-Coach Joel Schaeffer said. “Playing against those two guys has got to rank right up there with the toughest things I’ve ever done. I heard enough about Sollom and Bonds before this game to make me want to regurgitate. I’m just glad we were able to do the things that we set out to do.”

The West easily could have made the game a blowout but failed on several early scoring opportunities. They scored just once in the first half, after a 12-yard punt by David Lee gave them possession on the East 46. Fann gave the West a 7-0 lead when he took a pitchout from Newman on an option play from the 13 and sprinted into the right corner of the end zone with 9:20 left in the half, capping an eight-play drive.

The West blew an opportunity in the first quarter when Newman connected with Mike Eckel for a 44-yard gain to the 7-yard line. After Fann carried twice for no gain, Newman was sacked for a 13-yard loss by David Kleschick. Marty Garron missed a 33-yard field goal to the left.

The West also drove inside the 10 with under a minute to play in the half, which was set up by the 30-yard pass to John Carpenter, who was hauled down by linebacker Steve Chuck at the East 4.

After Newman carried for a 1-yard loss, Newman and Kellogg bungled an inside handoff and Sean Hampton recovered at the 5 for the East, killing the drive with 44 seconds left in the half.

Carpenter, who will attend Stanford, caught 5 passes for 97 yards. Fann led all rushers with 84 yards on 13 carries.