FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK : Tri-Valley Teams Find Rare Victim

Down-trodden Tri-Valley League teams take heart. Bishop Diego appears on your schedule.

One week after helping Fillmore to break a nine-game losing streak, the Cardinals were on the short end of a 40-0 score against Moorpark last Friday.

That’s the same Moorpark team that had scored 62 points in its previous eight games and had been outscored by an average of 24 points a game.

It was the first time Moorpark (2-7), a perennial Ventura County doormat, had cracked the 40-point mark in 20 years. Bishop Diego had 44 yards in total offense and three first downs.

Moorpark graduates in attendance for homecoming must have wondered if they were cheering for the right team.

The Musketeers led, 26-0, at halftime and Coach Bob Noel let his starters play the first series of the second half and score. After that, he played reserves.

“We know what it’s like to be embarrassed,” he said.

Guess again: Steve Dann has been right on with a couple of his preseason predictions. Now he can only hope he’s not too accurate.

Dann, coach at Santa Clara, picked Agoura to win the Frontier League championship. On Friday, his own team will be out to prove him wrong.

“I picked Agoura to win it,” Dann said, “because they returned the most varsity starters.”

But he likes Santa Clara’s chances.

“This team has improved throughout the season,” he said. “Every week we get better.”

Dann said a position change, senior leadership and the play of sophomore quarterback Tim Gutierrez have been key elements in the Saints’ success.

Richard Mendez was moved from wide receiver to tight end, giving Gutierrez another target to go along with Matt Young and Kasha Clemons.

The seniors, Dann said, have responded well to sophomore leadership. “The seniors just want to win,” Dann said. “They don’t care who’s playing.”

Santa Clara (7-2, 3-0) has defeated three teams that emphasize the pass in Frontier League play but will receive a different look from Agoura.

“Their strength is running the football,” Dann said. “They line up double tight end, everyone in four-point stances, and try and wear you down.

“We haven’t faced that much in our league. Now we’ve got to switch gears. And sometimes that can be hard to do.”

Agoura (6-3, 3-0) has struggled on offense of late. The Chargers had a five-year low of 55 yards rushing in a 36-6 loss to Carpinteria in a nonleague game two weeks ago. Last week in a 14-12 win over Santa Paula, Agoura completed only one pass for two yards.

“It’s not a crime if we complete only one pass,” Agoura Coach Frank Greminger said. “There’s no set formula for winning that says you have to pass or run for so many yards. As long as you win, that’s all that matters.”

Scott Heflin started at quarterback for Sean McCune, who was benched for disciplinary reasons. Heflin, who suffered a rotator cuff injury earlier in the season, was 0 for 3.

They were warned: Oak Park players were cautioned by Coach Ron Veres that Santa Ynez loves to use trick plays. He even made a note of it on the team’s scouting report--underlined with three stars. Get the point, guys? Yes coach, they said. So then what happened?

Santa Ynez, trailing 3-0, scored on a fake punt and a fake field goal attempt to win, 12-3.

Add Oak Park: Jason Stein, Oak Park’s standout running back, was held scoreless for only the second time this season against Santa Ynez. The Eagles have lost both games. Stein has scored a school-record 15 touchdowns.

Broom ball: Hueneme clinched its first playoff berth in six years by defeating Rio Mesa, 27-20, last Friday. At the same time, the Vikings completed a sweep of their Oxnard Union High School District rivals. Hueneme, 1-9 last season, defeated Channel Islands, 13-12, and Oxnard, 14-12, in addition to beating Rio Mesa.

Apology not accepted: Nate Makela and Alan Sharon, both two-way starters for Nordhoff, were thrown out of the Rangers’ 21-12 loss to Calabasas last Friday. The reason: fighting. Or was it really peace-making?

Makela and Sharon tangled in a first-quarter pile-up with Calabasas linebacker Kevin Menteer. All three players were ejected. Calabasas was penalized half the distance to the goal line, or 1 1/2 yards. Nordhoff was then assessed 30 yards in penalties.

The loss of the players hurt more.

“Two guys went to break up the fight and they get ejected,” Nordhoff Coach Cliff Farrar said. “We not only lost the yards but we lost two players that play five positions. The referee apologized after the game for making a mistake. But what good does that do? He should have corrected his mistake during the game.”

Victory ‘jackets: Oxnard may not make the playoffs this season, but if nothing else it has served notice that it should be a force in the Channel League for the next few years.

A glance at the box score of the Yellowjackets’ 28-12 win over Buena says it all--almost. Oxnard’s scoring plays:

Gaston 25 pass from Turner.

Turner 48 run.

Taylor 45 run.

Turner 1 run.

The only thing the box score doesn’t tell is that quarterback Johnel Turner, running back Bryant Taylor and receiver James Gaston are all sophomores.

Two-game warning: Time is running out for Marc Monestime. The senior running back from Thousand Oaks needs 232 yards to break the Ventura County career rushing record of 3,709 set by Hilria Johnson of Channel Islands in 1977-79. The Lancers are guaranteed only two more games--one in the playoffs and their regular season finale at home against Simi Valley on Friday.

Former Pirate honored: Gary Lunsford, a junior transfer from Ventura College, was selected Western Football Conference defensive player of the week for his performance in Cal State Sacramento’s 19-7 victory over Southern Utah State last Saturday.

Lunsford, 6-1, 190, was in on 11 tackles, intercepted two passes and broke up two others.

JC Watch: Moorpark (6-2) defeated Santa Monica, 21-14, last Saturday to keep its slim bowl-game hopes alive. The Raiders finish the regular season Saturday at Allan Hancock. Ventura (0-8), lost to Hancock, 45-17, last Saturday. The Pirates will try to avoid a winless season when they play Bakersfield on Saturday. Bakersfield needs a win to tie Glendale for the Western State Conference championship.

Games to Watch: In Marmonte League games Friday night at 7:30, Camarillo plays Royal at Simi Valley High, Simi Valley visits Thousand Oaks and Channel Islands plays host to Westlake at Hueneme High.

In Channel League games, Oxnard visits Ventura tonight at 7:30 and San Marcos visits Buena. Rio Mesa visits Santa Barbara on Friday night at 7:30. Hueneme plays host to Dos Pueblos on Saturday night at 7:30.

In the Frontier League, Santa Paula plays at Nordhoff and Santa Clara visits Agoura on Friday night at 7:30.

Calabasas plays at Oak Park and Fillmore visits Santa Ynez in Tri-Valley League games Friday night at 7:30. St. Bonaventure plays host to Moorpark on Saturday night at 7:30.

In a nonleague game Friday night at 7:30, Newbury Park visits Cleveland, a City Section team from Reseda.