Carson’s Malauulu Spells Double Trouble

Carson Coach Gene Vollnogle can be excused if he can’t give specific answers to questions about his senior quarterback, George Malauulu. He can spell the player’s surname--no small feat--but there a few other details about Malauulu that defy description.

For instance, is Malauulu right-handed or left-handed? The Throwin’ Samoan has even thrown Vollnogle off track.

“He’s normally a lefty,” Vollnogle said. “Or at least I think he is.”

The question arose after last week’s 46-0 win over Kennedy in which Malauulu threw touchdown passes with both hands. Malauulu brings his ambidextrous act to Granada Hills at 8 tonight.

“I’m pretty sure he throws a baseball with his right hand and a football with his left,” Vollnogle said. “That might be because he injured his right elbow a while back playing baseball. You’d never believe it, but he’s a junkball pitcher.”

In light of Carson’s success, Vollnogle isn’t about to junk anybody, especially his quarterback. Carson (3-0) is ranked No. 3 in the nation by USA Today, and so far this season Malauulu has thrown five touchdown passes.

“They’re good everywhere,” Granada Hills Coach Darryl Stroh said. “You can’t pick one thing out and say, ‘We have to stop that.’ They just do everything well. They are awesome, just awesome.”

Granada Hills also has been awe-inspiring at times, too. Last week, the Highlanders (2-1) beat Canoga Park, 49-14, with senior quarterback Jeremy Leach passing for 366 yards and five touchdowns.

Carson, however, hasn’t allowed a point in three games and has surrendered a grand total of 41 yards. The Colts have allowed 67 passing yards and minus-26 on the ground, which works out to .25 yards per play or 13.7 yards per game. Leach is averaging 13.7 yards per completion.

“Nobody’s scored,” Stroh said. “What can you say? It should be interesting.”

In the 4-A playoffs last year, Carson buried Granada Hills, 56-14. The Colts advanced to the City final where they upset Banning, then the No. 1 team in the nation.

Despite Carson’s strengths, Stroh expects a closer score this year.

“To tell you the truth, last year they would have beaten us no matter what we did, and we didn’t even play well,” he said. “But I’d be very surprised if we laid down this time. The team’s up and eager to see where they are in relation to one of the best teams in the country.”

Add Carson: In passing-league competition over the summer, Granada Hills twice defeated Carson.

“This isn’t passing league,” Vollnogle said. “This time we’ll have players out there to rush the passer.”

Granada Hills’ offensive line, which has been steadier than expected, will have to keep the heat off Leach. Last week, Leach threw 33 passes and was not sacked.

“We need 3.5 seconds,” Stroh said. “That’s what we like to have.”

Carson’s defensive line will be pressing to allow Leach little, if any, time to throw.

“I don’t know who they are,” Vollnogle said. “The defensive line is a bunch of no-name guys. But they’re tough. Let’s see, who do we have on the line. . . . There’s a kid named Samali Mann. That first name’s spelled S-A-M-A-L-I. Or is it E-L-I?

“I don’t know how he spells it. He is right-handed, though.”

Saugus-Canyon showdown: All eyes in the Santa Clarita Valley will be on Harry Welch and Dick Flaherty tonight. And there should be plenty of eyes watching.

Extra bleachers have been installed at Canyon to accommodate the 4,000 spectators who are expected to watch Welch, Canyon’s coach, go against his former assistant.

“It should be a whale of a contest,” Welch said.

Said Flaherty: “It will be a great high school experience for the whole community.”

OK, so it will be wholesome fun for the whole family and all that stuff. But what everyone really wants to know is: Who is going to win? Or more specifically: Can Flaherty outcoach Welch?

“I don’t think of it as Dick Flaherty against Harry Welch,” said Flaherty, who coached under Welch the past five years. “I have tremendous respect for him, but I see it as Saugus needing a win a lot more than Dick Flaherty. I will not create pressure for myself or my team by setting it up as the ex-coach going up against his old mentor.”

Said Welch: “Dick works his kids with the same discipline and work ethic as we do at Canyon. We’ll have our hands full with them.”

If neither Welch nor Flaherty will go out on a limb, maybe Rick Scott will. Scott’s Hart Indians have beaten both Canyon and Saugus this season.

“Unless Jared Snyder throws the ball well,” Scott said, “Saugus won’t move the ball on them. You’ve got to throw the ball against Canyon to beat them and they dare you to throw it. Dick knows that.

“Saugus will contain Canyon’s running game better than we did, but I’d have to give Canyon the edge by a touchdown or more.”

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Cook’s disappointment: here was talk before the season, most notably from Coach Ken Cook, that this would be one of Newbury Park’s best teams. The Panthers have yet to play league favorites Thousand Oaks and Channel Islands but already are 0-2 in league play, 1-4 overall, and one of the greatest disappointments in Cook’s 13 years at Newbury Park.

“I really thought if we stayed healthy we’d be in the championship race,” Cook said. “We just have a lot of people who are not playing up to their potential--at least what I thought was their potential.”

In addition, Cook is fighting morale problems. Several players have quit the team, including running back Geoff Black, and more are considering leaving, Cook said.

“I think mentally we have kids who have quit,” Cook said. “They’re giving me the physical aspects on the field, but I think mentally we’ve lost it.”

The players admit morale has suffered since the start of the season.

“We’ve got kind of a negative attitude going because we’re not used to starting 1-4,” senior wide receiver Steve Allison said. “We had a positive attitude coming into the season, and we were having good practices. Then that opening loss to Agoura, and just last week to Westlake. It’s been pretty bad, but it’s coming around now.

“If anything we’re going to go out and hit people and have some fun. We’ll just try to turn it around.”

The toughest games are to come. Newbury Park visits Channel Islands (4-1) tonight and Thousand Oaks (5-0) in two weeks. Accordingly, Cook has lowered his expectations.

“We’ve got to become the spoiler, upset somebody and make it close,” he said.

On the other hand: Simi Valley shares Newbury Park’s record but not its attitude. Dave Murphy isn’t talking like a coach whose teams have lost nine games in a row and 10 of the past 11.

“A lot of times, when you start out 1-4, you just kind of pack it in,” he said. “But this group of guys isn’t going to quit.”

That resolve stems from Simi Valley’s recent improvement, including what Murphy called the team’s best effort of the season in its 13-7 loss to Westlake last Friday. The bad news is that Westlake Coach George Contreras thought his team played its worst game in nearly two years.

Perhaps the running of Tony Kerr clouded Contreras’ view. Kerr gained 190 yards against the Warriors. The senior running back is the Marmonte League’s leading rusher with 694 yards.

“We haven’t seen Russell White play,” Murphy said, “but of the guys we’ve seen, if Tony Kerr is not the best, he’s one of them.”

Injury report: The Pac 8 League started last week with a bang--and an ouch. Poly will be without five starters for tonight’s game at Westchester, including two who were injured off the field.

Tony Yearwood, a 6-2, 270-pound tackle, sliced his stomach at a Saturday night party when he was pushed into a mailbox and was cut by its flag. The laceration required 14 stitches.

Carlos Montoya was stretching before practice earlier this week when he felt pain in his lower back. Poly Coach Kevin Kennedy said Montoya possibly pinched a nerve and won’t be able to play. “It’s funny but it’s a real freaky thing,” Kennedy said.

Also scratched from today’s lineup are free safety Jerome Holt (strained neck), defensive lineman Alonzo Cardiel (strained back) and linebacker Mike Garcia (possible torn cartilage).

“I had a 40-man squad. Now I’m down to 30 who I can put into the game,” Kennedy grumbled.

Sylmar has lost half of its secondary. Strong safety Danny Lopez dislocated his wrist two weeks ago and is expected to miss at least one more game. Free safety Chris Pikes, who was also Sylmar’s starting flanker and backup quarterback, tore a muscle in his hip last week and will be out the rest of the year.

Staff writers Vince Kowalick and Tim Brown contributed to this notebook.