Dangerous Duo Provides Punch for Palos Verdes Soccer Team
Each day in practice, Jim Miller and Paul Kaemmerer enjoy a little one-on-one on the soccer field.
Miller, the star center halfback for Palos Verdes High School, doesn’t seem to mind when his buddy Kaemmerer runs him ragged at the end of their solo skirmishes.
“Paul helps me work on my defense,” Miller said of Kaemmerer, who is Palos Verdes’ high-scoring center forward. “He runs all over the place and I get dog-tired chasing him. I haven’t seen anyone who can keep up with him.”
The Sea Kings’ opponents have had a hard time keeping up with Kaemmerer as well. In dogfights on the soccer field, Kaemmerer is like a Messerschmitt pilot who darts in and out of your gun sights and holds his fire until he’s on your tail.
Kaemmerer has notched 18 goals this year and is bearing down on Rod Cummings’ 12-year-old school record of 20. And Miller, the sleek and graceful halfback who feeds Kaemmerer his ammunition, has tallied 13 assists and 11 goals.
The dangerous duo, both juniors, are two reasons why Palos Verdes is unbeaten in eight Bay League contests. And the Sea Kings, underrated at the season’s start, are riding the crest of a 14-game winning streak and are perched with a lofty record of 20-2-2.
Aside from their different styles, the pair can sometimes be difficult to distinguish. Both play baseball in the off-season (Kaemmerer is a center fielder and Miller is a power-hitting third baseman). And both are 6-2, sinewy and serious--Miller’s grade-point average is 3.65 and Kaemmerer carries a 3.75.
Despite his smarts, Kaemmerer has the endurance of a Clydesdale. Miller must think his partner eats oats instead of Wheaties.
“Paul is a horse--a big, fast horse,” Miller said. “He never gets tired and he can run forever. I can feed balls over the center’s head and Paul will run ‘em down. Defenders get worn out because Paul drags them into the midfield and then finds a way to get open.”
Last week Kaemmerer did just that against scrappy Torrance. Torrance had threatened to snap the Sea Kings’ winning streak in overtime against an undermanned Palos Verdes (which had lost a player to a red card in the first half). But Kaemmerer thwarted that when he took a feed from Miller on a free kick and rifled a left volley around Torrance’s wall for a 3-2 Palos Verdes win.
“Paul’s shooting ability is something that God gave him,” said Alan King, Palos Verdes coach. “He’s looking for the perfect shot all the time.
“He’s not satisfied with a dinky goal. He thinks he should be able to crack that ball all the time. In soccer you score some of your best goals on balls that bounce the wrong way. But Paul thinks that if you hit it right, it should go right.”
Miller gives his partner a lot of opportunities to do just that. King says Miller has an uncanny knack of being in the right spot at the right time.
“Center halfback is the most physically demanding position on the field,” King said. “He runs more than anyone else, but still, when the ball comes out of the air, he’s got to be able to place it immediately in play regardless of how tired he is. Jim Miller does a good job of that.”
Although Kaemmerer is Miller’s primary target, Miller likes to get all Palos Verdes players into the offensive flow. Much of Miller’s intuition on the field was honed through years of feeding passes to many of the same teammates--most of the Sea Kings’ current players have banded together for as long as seven years on various Palos Verdes Raiders club teams.
“We found out how everyone plays and we all learned our roles,” Kaemmerer said of his Pacific Soccer League experience. “A lot of times we know where the other guys are going to be without even seeing each other.”
And while Palos Verdes boasts an oiled offensive machine, it also has a Spartan defense that has allowed only four goals in the Bay League. Mark Vasey, the senior captain and leader of the opportunistic defense, set the pace when he scored the team’s first goal from the back line in the season opener against Paramount.
“We do what it takes to win,” Vasey said. “You have to put your body on the line. When we play tournaments, five games in three days, the defense is usually pretty beat up from getting hammered on all the time.”
It’s a defense that’s generally equal to the task. The back line is anchored by Vasey and fullbacks Sean Smith and Leo Lundy, a 5-foot-5 speedster. They support Graham Harrison and Danny Phillips, seniors who platoon in the goal.
Miller is flanked in the midfield by senior Rich Van Doren, who has been plagued by injury in his three years as a varsity player, and halfbacks Greg Sproson and Lance Haworth.
Palos Verdes also has a young and talented front line, headed by Kaemmerer in the middle. But sophomore Doug Kay and juniors Jeff Bowers and Mel Campbell are also dangerous up front.
“The good Lord has blessed us with kids that have some talent and know what they have to do on the field,” said King, who has coached Palos Verdes since 1973. “If they play within their means with some intelligence we could carry over quite a ways in the playoffs.”
One thing King and his team have on their side is momentum. Since playing Damien to a 1-1 tie in the consolation bracket of the South Holiday Tournament, Palos Verdes has been unstoppable. They plowed their way past five talented Orange County teams in the Marina (Huntington Beach) Tournament in late December and haven’t looked back.
“We got hot at the right time,” Vasey said. “There were some close games in that tournament and we pulled out of it.”
In a second-round game against Canyon of Anaheim, Kaemmerer showcased some of his best shooting. Then, in the final against Marina on a muddy field, Miller put on a stunning display of passing and Palos Verdes won, 2-0.
If Kaemmerer and Miller can keep the momentum going with more performances like that, Palos Verdes might be able to do what King calls the “superhuman”--going undefeated in the talent-laden Bay League. The Sea Kings have three league games remaining, and the two toughest--against Rolling Hills and West Torrance--will be played on Palos Verdes’ turf.
“In our league, any team could beat anyone at any time,” Miller said. “It’s a shame that only three teams can make the playoffs because any five of the Bay League teams could go a long way in CIF.”
In the meantime, Kaemmerer and Miller will prepare for a rough stretch drive. Kaemmerer says West Torrance, which features stars Mike Kafka and Sparky St. Pierre, is the most physical team in the Bay League.
King feels his team will be ready for the bruising.
“We’ve gotten physical games from everyone in our league,” said King, who knows about rough sports. He was an offensive and defensive lineman for Long Beach State’s football team in the early ‘60s and played 17 years in the Southern California Rugby League.
