Mauldin Pilots Tigers’ Resurgence : Given His Options, Quarterback Returns San Fernando to Rarefied Heights

Joe Mauldin grew up watching San Fernando High running backs. He admired soon-to-be famous players such as Charles White and Anthony Davis as they helped establish San Fernando’s running tradition.

He watched them move, he saw them juke and he knew someday he would do the same thing for the Tigers.

“I remember most of the great backs,” Mauldin said. “I was hoping to become a great San Fernando player.”

Mauldin has realized that goal by becoming a top San Fernando player, but he has bucked tradition. After San Fernando spent the past 15 years running the wishbone, Mauldin has the school thinking new thoughts.

Passing thoughts.

“He’s the best quarterback in the City because he’s the most complete,” said Coach Tom Hernandez of the 6-foot, 2-inch senior. “I wouldn’t trade him for any kid anywhere.”

Mauldin was lightly regarded before the season began because of a poor junior season. He completed 53 of 117 passes (45.3%) for 560 yards with 10 interceptions and 1 touchdown for a 2-8 team.

But that was before Hernandez buried the ‘bone. After seeing his team plod through last season, Hernandez decided to switch to an offense that gave the quarterback full control.

The change came as a surprise to Mauldin.

“During the spring, he kept asking, ‘When are we going to practice the wishbone?’ ” Hernandez said. “I just kept saying not yet, not yet.”

During the summer Mauldin worked on his timing with receivers, improved his arm strength and practiced reading defenses. He did not develop into just another drop-back passer. Instead, he is an option quarterback who can burn a team with a deep pass or a long run.

He has taken the most impressive attribute of previous San Fernando running backs--the ability to turn any run into a long touchdown--and gone one step further.

“He’s more dangerous on the run than he is in the pocket,” Crenshaw Coach David Frierson said. “What you have to do to stop him is to get your linebackers to box him in and keep him from going outside.”

By definition, Mauldin is the quarterback. By action, he is the school’s top quarterback and running back. Mauldin has completed 54 of 103 passes (52.4%) for 810 yards and 8 touchdowns. He also has rushed for a team-high 275 yards and 6 touchdowns.

The result has been a Tiger turnaround. San Fernando is 5-0 and ranked No. 2 in the City Section 4-A Division going into Friday’s Valley 4-A League game against El Camino Real.

“They move the ball when he’s behind the wheel,” said Cleveland Coach Steve Landress, whose team lost, 29-15, to the Tigers in a league opener last Friday. “You need an excellent athlete to run the offense and he’s an excellent athlete.”

Mauldin is proud of the way he has led the offense, especially the running part. “I feel more confident being able to shift in the pocket and out,” he said.

At least one San Fernando wide receiver appreciates a quarterback who can avoid defenses long enough to throw a pass.

“I think he’s one of the best because he can throw and he can scramble better than any other quarterback,” Tiger receiver Tommy Howard said.

On one play during San Fernando’s victory over Cleveland, Mauldin was about to be sacked. He dodged the defender by running to his left, ran back to the other side of the field and threw a 25-yard completion, causing a San Fernando assistant coach to say, “He could make something that looked really bad, look really good.”

Hernandez said that play exemplified Mauldin’s value.

“He has a knack for running around and finding the open man,” he said. “He’s sprinting out and making the right choices of when to run. And he’s also done a good job of staying in the pocket. Last year, he wouldn’t find the pocket or step up into it. Now he has a sense of when to stay in there and when to leave.”

Running the offense so well this season after a poor junior year is a reflection of Mauldin’s maturity, Hernandez said. Instead of panicking at the first sign of a blitz, Mauldin is picking apart defenses.

“He’s really in control,” Hernandez said. “He takes charge. He does a good job and that’s one thing he needed to work on.”

Good enough to give San Fernando fans, accustomed to one of the top running attacks in the Valley area, more than a passing interest in this season’s games.