Ferragamo Humiliated by 28-0 Loss

Chris Ferragamo’s success as football coach at Banning High was surpassed only by his enthusiasm when talking about his teams. For that reason, it should have come as no surprise to hear he had grandiose plans for Harbor College as he prepared to make his debut as coach of the Seahawks against Moorpark College last Saturday.

A few of Ferragamo’s statements in the week preceding the game:

“We have more Division I players here than I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“We have 90 players in uniform, all great players, all hand-picked.”

“We’re trying to run a major college program at the junior college level.”

On paper, it looked like he was off to a good start. At his disposal was an offensive line that averaged 6-5, 275 pounds and a number of all fill-in-the-blank players at the skill positions.

So what happened? Moorpark won, 28-0, giving the man who led Banning to 10 City titles in 18 years a large helping of humble pie.

Moorpark, which drove 80 yards for a touchdown on its first offensive series, held Harbor to 113 total yards. It was the first time a Ferragamo-coached team had been shut out since Banning’s 1983 team tied Fremont, 0-0.

Ferragamo’s last shutout loss was in 1977, when Gardena beat Banning, 14-0. The last time his team was defeated by as many as 28 points was in September, 1975, when Loyola beat Banning, 42-14.

“I’m very, very humiliated,” Ferragamo said after the Moorpark game.

There is no truth to the rumor that Cal State Northridge punter Trent Morgan will replace Rob Huffman at quarterback in the team’s home opener against San Francisco State on Saturday. Morgan was, however, more impressive than either Huffman or backup Sherdrick Bonner in a 30-0 loss to Boise State last Saturday, completing the only pass he tried--on a fake punt--for two yards.

Huffman was intercepted five times in 28 attempts and Bonner had his only pass picked off. In all, the Matadors had eight turnovers--including one on Morgan’s completion, which was fumbled by Dan Coleman.

Morgan, a junior transfer from Harbor College, was one of the few bright spots for Northridge, which was shut out for the first time since 1984 when it was blanked by Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (28-0) and Santa Clara (31-0) en route to a 2-8 record. He punted five times for a 43.8-yard average. His longest punt traveled 72 yards.

Northridge quarterbacks were intercepted by Boise State six times and the damage might have been worse. The Broncos were playing without Chris Truitt, a former Valley College player and one of Boise’s best defensive backs.

Truitt, a 5-10, 170-pound senior, was first-team All-Big Sky Conference last season as a kick-return specialist and was voted the team’s most improved defensive back in spring practice. Truitt suffered a season-ending knee injury in the Broncos’ opener against Delaware State two weeks ago and will redshirt.

John Bankhead of Cal Lutheran was selected offensive player of the week in the Western Football Conference.

Bankhead, a transfer from Southwestern in San Diego, caught 8 passes for 146 yards and 2 touchdowns in the Kingsmen’s 23-13 win over San Francisco State.

Joe Monarrez, another wide receiver, caught seven passes for 56 yards.

CLU’s defense allowed San Francisco State 167 total yards and only 15 yards rushing. The Kingsmen had seven sacks, recovered two fumbles and scored a safety when Earl Bentancourt and David Moore tackled Gator running back Gary Simon in the end zone.

CLU punter Kent Sullivan set WFC records against San Francisco State for most punts (14) and total punting yardage (533) in a single game. Sullivan’s total yards broke the record set by former Northridge and current Chicago Bears punter Bryan Wagner.

None of Sullivan’s 14 punts was returned.

George McKenzie, a defensive tackle who was academically ineligible for Cal Lutheran’s opener against San Francisco State, will play Saturday when the Kingsmen play host to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo at Mount Clef Stadium. McKenzie, a transfer from Moorpark, since has completed the required classwork.

Season-opening victories by the Valley and Moorpark football teams helped both schools move up in the state rankings compiled by the JC Athletic Bureau.

Valley, which beat Ventura, 26-21, moved from 17th to 11th. Moorpark, which defeated Harbor, 28-0, moved from 20th to 14th.

Valley Coach Chuck Ferrero had to choose between quarterback Barry Hanks, wide receiver James Reaves and running back Dondre Bausley for offensive player of the game honors after the Monarchs’ season-opening, 26-21 win Saturday over Ventura.

Ferrero picked Reaves because he caught two touchdown passes in Valley’s 20-point fourth-quarter rally. Reaves caught seven passes for 107 yards.

Hanks threw three touchdowns and ran for another and completed 21 of 33 for 226 yards.

Bausley, who had two touchdowns called back because of penalties, rushed for 215 yards on 25 carries. However, he fumbled twice inside the 10-yard-line.

Ferrero said it was difficult to choose between Hanks and Reaves, but “Barry is going to get his share. Bausley was incredible. The only reason he didn’t get it was because of his fumbles.”

All three players earned Southern California Conference player of the week honors.

Moorpark College Coach Jim Bittner might not have to worry about picking a starting quarterback from the three players who are battling for the job. It might be done for him by process of elimination.

Dave Sommer suffered a shoulder pointer in the Raiders’ 28-0 season-opening win over Harbor and is questionable for Saturday’s game against Compton. He attempted two passes and his only completion was a 41-yard touchdown.

Bittner still has Dan Nagelmann, who started against Harbor (3 for 6 for 56 yards) and Andy Ramos, who saw limited action.

Right tackle Fernando Hernandez also will miss Saturday’s game. Bittner said Hernandez went to Mexico after the death of his grandmother.

The UCLA women’s volleyball team, ranked 6th in the nation, opens its Pac 10 Conference and home schedule Friday night against Stanford with two former Valley-area players starting as middle blockers.

Stacy Buck, a senior from Taft High, leads the Bruins (3-2) with a blocking average of 1.71 a game. She is second on the team with a hitting percentage of .363 and second in kills with 55.

Daiva Tomkus, a sophomore from Chaminade, leads the team in solo blocks with seven. She has a 1.66 blocking average.

UCLA plays Stanford at the John Wooden Center at 7 p.m. The Bruins also play host to California at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Michael Page adopted a unique strategy to recruit players for the Mission soccer team. The first-year coach put up advertisements at Pierce and Valley--schools that don’t have soccer programs.

“I know there are a lot of good players out in the Valley,” Page said.

The Mission team has 11 players but Page wants to increase the roster to 18 before Mission’s Western State Conference opener Oct. 13 against Barstow.

Darcy Arreola of Cal State Northridge cruised to an impressive win at the UCLA cross-country invitational Sunday.

Arreola, a Division II freshman All-American in both cross-country and track, defeated good Division I runners over the hilly 5,000-meter course at the Westwood campus.

Arreola set the early pace with Laurie Chapman of UCLA, then surged into the lead midway through the race and was never challenged. Her winning time of 17 minutes, 10.3 seconds eclipsed the school record (17:23.6) she ran ran at last year’s race. Chapman placed second in 17:24.6.

“She could have run 15 or 20 seconds faster if someone had been out in front of her,” CSUN Coach Don Strametz said. “She had a good summer training and she’s really strong this year. The weights have really helped.”

Arreola’s sophomore teammate, Theresa Poy, also improved her 1986 performance by a large margin (24 seconds), finishing 10th in 18:10.7.

UCLA freshman Melissa Sutton of Newbury Park, competing in her first collegiate meet, finished 14th in 18:33.6.

Heather Brookes (16th in 18:44.3), Tina Cheney (19th in 19:05.0) and Georgia McLean (31st in 19:44.6) rounded out the Lady Matadors’ top five.

Sophomore Derik Vett led the CSUN men, placing 14th in 20:06.9. Teammate Dane Costley placed 20th in 20:15.5.

“Derik and Dane ran exceptionally well,” Strametz said. “That was Dane’s best race in the four years that he’s been here.”

Chris Pressman, the only sophomore on the Moorpark cross-country team, might miss the entire season because of a severe ankle sprain he suffered Monday on a training run.

“I may have to jump off a cliff,” said Coach Manny Trevino, who is left with 12 freshmen. “Without Chris, it’s going to hurt us real bad.”.

The Moorpark women’s cross-country lineup is equally uncertain. Trevino has only five runners on the team.

“We’re really hurting on numbers,” said Trevino, who wants to carry nine. “Every year it’s a fight with the girls.”

Debbie Ball, a transfer from Cal State Northridge, is the team’s top runner. She placed second in the Moorpark Invitational last week, running the three-mile course in 18:41. Moorpark women finished third.

Ramon Perez, a graduate of Rio Mesa High, placed sixth in 21:09 to lead Moorpark’s men to a fourth-place finish.