Burbank, South Pasadena Lose Big Off Football Field

From the departments of bad timing and costly reminders comes the news that the football teams at South Pasadena and Burbank have forfeited their victories because of the use of an ineligible player.

Both are especially painful since the penalties came down in the middle of successful seasons for programs that haven’t had many of those in recent years. But the situation at South Pasadena was even more curious, since Coach Fred Cuccia was penalized by the Southern Section for the nearly same offense in 1985 while at Glendale Hoover--playing an ineligible transfer. A clerical error was cited both times.

That year, Hoover went from 8-2 at the end of the regular season to 0-10 and out of the playoffs, and last week South Pasadena dropped from 6-1-1 to 0-7-1 before beating Pasadena Blair, 20-0, Friday. The Tigers could have used a good season. Since going 5-4 in 1980, they have had a trying decade, going 1-9, 3-5-1, 2-7, 3-7, 1-9 and 4-6 for a combined 14-43-1.

Burbank, meanwhile, had won six straight games and was heading into its important Foothill League game against Newhall Hart last Friday with a 6-2 record. That after having had only one winning season and one at .500 in the 1980s.

Then, as was the case with South Pasadena, a transfer player was discovered to be ineligible, and Burbank turned itself in to the Southern Section. The Bulldogs suddenly were 0-8, and a 17-14 loss to Hart, the No. 1 team in the Northwestern Conference, dropped them to 0-9. All hopes of finishing second in the Foothill League with a win over cross-town rival Burroughs this week are gone, too.

“They came out as though they had nothing to lose,” Hart Coach Rick Scott said. “They were throwing on fourth and inches. They were tough.”

Said Burbank Coach Dave Carson, who blamed the problem on an administrative error: “It was hard on the kids when we told them. They cried. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.

“We may be 0-9 on paper, but we’re 6-3 in our hearts. Personally, as long as I know we’re doing a good job, that’s all that matters.”

Thus, this week’s Northwestern Conference rankings take on a strange look:

1. Hart (Foothill), 8-1

2. Burbank Burroughs (Foothill), 8-1

3. Gardena Serra (Camino Real), 8-1

4. Lawndale Leuzinger (Pioneer), 7-1-1

5. Arroyo Grande (Northern), 6-2-1

6. Lompoc (Northern), 7-2

7. Long Beach St. Anthony (Camino Real), 7-2

8. South Pasadena (Rio Hondo), 1-7-1

9. La Canada (Rio Hondo), 7-1-1

10. Burbank (Foothill), 0-9

La Canada’s record includes a forfeit win over Burbank.

Loyola’s 15-8 victory over Encino Crespi last Saturday figures to last in most people’s memory for a while. But one of the best parts of what has become an outstanding rivalry--two of the best teams in the state two years in a row and two well-coached teams--did not happen anywhere near the 11,000 people on hand for the game at Birmingham High in Van Nuys.

John Winnek, now a walk-on red-shirt freshman at UCLA, missed much of the game last year after breaking his leg while scoring a Loyola touchdown. Later, the Crespi team sent him a get-well card in the hospital.

This time around, Crespi quarterback Rob O’Byrne sat out after breaking his right--passing--arm Oct. 30, almost a year to the day of Winnek’s injury. After hearing of the injury, Winnek called O’Byrne to send best wishes and help commiserate about missing the most important regular-season game of the season, not to mention all the playoffs

Southern Section playoffs continue today for water polo, girls’ tennis and girls’ volleyball.

In water polo, third-seeded Long Beach Wilson is the lone Los Angeles County team alive in the 4-A Division in a sport dominated by Orange County schools. The Bruins will play at Tustin in the quarterfinals.

As is Fullerton Sunny Hills in the 4-A, the top-seeded teams in the two other divisions are still alive--San Clemente of the 3-A, which will play host to Rowland, and Costa Mesa in the 2-A, which will play El Rancho of Pico Rivera at the Santa Fe Aquatic Center.

The Wilson volleyball team, top-seeded in the 4-A, will play host to Huntington Beach Edison in a quarterfinal match. None of the No. 1 teams have lost--Newport Harbor of the 5-A, which plays at Culver City; San Gabriel of the 3-A, which travels to Redondo; Thousand Oaks of the 2-A, which gets its second straight road match, this time at Palm Springs; Campbell Hall of North Hollywood in the 1-A, which plays host to Ontario Christian; and Flintridge Sacred Heart of La Canada from the Small Schools, which plays at Ramona Convent of Alhambra.

Likewise, the favorites are all still playing as tennis heads into the quarterfinals--Miraleste of Rancho Palos Verdes from the 4-A, which plays at Mission Viejo of Capistrano Valley; San Marino of the 3-A, which plays at Laguna Beach; Chaminade of Canoga Park in the 2-A, which plays host to Barstow; and St. Bonaventure of Ventura of the Small Schools, which plays host to St. Joseph of Santa Maria.

The volleyball finals will be played Saturday. The tennis and water polo finals are set for next week.

Prep Notes

Jim Brownfield, who coached Pasadena Muir to consecutive Coastal Conference football championships in 1985 and ‘86, announced that he will not return until the 1989 season, one year later than originally planned. The 58-year-old Brownfield, who led the Mustangs to the Southern Section playoffs in 10 of his 11 years, including last year when he missed a game under doctor’s orders to help cure his hypertension, cited continuing health problems as the reason. The decision came as no surprise, since he has been hinting at it since last summer.

Southern California is well represented on the 1987 All-American tennis team. Mike Briggs of Corona del Mar of Newport Beach, Pete Sampras of Palos Verdes, Don Isaak of Beverly Hills and Bill Behrens of Rolling Hills were named to the boys’ team, and Debbie Graham of La Quinta of Westminster, Noelle Porter of San Clemente, Stella Sampras of Palos Verdes, Julie Tullberg of Ojai Nordhoff and Dorey Brandt of Sonora of La Habra made it for the girls. Linda Lee of San Marino was a girls’ honorable mention, and Graham was also named an academic All-American.

The No. 1 teams in the latest state cross-country rankings: Arroyo of El Monte (boys’ Division I), Corona del Mar (boys’ Division II) and McFarland of the Central Section (boys’ Division III), Palos Verdes (girls’ Division I), Woodbridge of Irvine (girls’ Division II) and Coronado of the San Diego Section (girls’ Division III). The Southern Section finals will be held Saturday beginning at 8 a.m. at Mt. San Antonio College.

Times’ Prep Polls

SOUTHERN SECTION

No. School, League Record 1. Fontana, Citrus Belt 9-0-0 2. Loyola, Del Rey 9-0-0 3. Capistrano Valley, South Coast 9-0-0 4. Bishop Amat, Angelus 9-0-0 5. Santa Monica, Ocean 8-0-0 6. Eisenhower, Citrus Belt 8-1-0 7. Crespi, Del Rey 7-1-1 8. Palmdale, Golden 8-1-0 9. Hart, Foothill 8-1-0 10. Santa Ana, Century 8-1-0 11. Mission Viejo, South Coast 8-1-0 12. Los Alamitos, Empire 8-1-0 13. Thousand Oaks, Marmonte 8-1-0 14. Canyon Country Canyon, Golden 7-2-0 15. Muir, Pacific 8-1-0

CITY

No. School, League Record 1. Carson, Pacific 7-0-0 2. Granada Hills, Valley 4-3-0 3. Banning, Pacific 4-3-0 4. Palisades, Crosstown 5-2-0 5. Gardena, Pacific 4-3-0 6. San Fernando, Valley 5-1-1 7. Reseda, Pac-8 6-0-0 8. Taft, Sunset 6-1-0 9. San Pedro, Freeway 5-2-0 10. Franklin, Freeway 5-1-0