COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEWS : WESTERN STATE CONFERENCE : Glendale, Bakersfield Remain the Favorites Despite New Structure

New teams, new coaches and new players abound in the newly aligned Western State Conference, but the consensus of conference coaches reveals that the more things change the more they are expected to stay the same.

Bakersfield and Glendale, the reigning WFC co-champions, are favored to win the title.

“Bakersfield is always good and Glendale is approaching awesome,” L. A. Southwest Coach Henry Washington said.

Valley and Moorpark, which open their seasons tonight against each other, are considered contenders, while much-improved Ventura and Harbor are the dark horses.

Santa Monica, under first-year Coach Ralph Vidal, Santa Barbara and L. A. Southwest are expected to be competitive, with Compton, Pierce and West L. A. bringing up the rear.

The 12-team WSC is a combination of the old WSC, the Southern California Conference and the resurrected Los Angeles Community College District programs that were lost in the wake of budget cuts in 1985.

The WSC, the second-largest conference in Southern California behind the 16-team Mission Conference, is split into two divisions. One includes Valley, Pierce, Compton, West L. A., Santa Monica and Bakersfield. Moorpark, Glendale, Harbor, L. A. Southwest, Santa Barbara and Ventura compose the other.

Teams will play five games within their division and four games against non-division opponents. At the end of the season, division winners will have the opportunity to meet in a bowl game. However, conference members may accept bids to play in other bowl games. Should that happen, the team with the next best record would participate in the WSC bowl.

“It’s going to create excitement because it will keep more teams in the race for a longer period of time,” Glendale Coach Jim Sartoris said. “My perception is that there is going to be a lot of balance in the conference.”

Bakersfield has nine offensive starters, including quarterback Stan Greene and all-conference running back Reggie Yarborough, back from a team that finished 6-5 last season.

“I feel good about our team offensively,” said Bakersfield Coach Carl Bowser, whose team opens tonight against Sacramento City. “But flip us on the other side to defense and it’s all freshmen except for two guys.”

For Glendale, the situation is exactly opposite. The Vaqueros defeated Pasadena, 24-13, in their opener last week and Glendale Coach Jim Sartoris was impressed with his team’s defense.

“We looked very solid on defense,” said Sartoris, who is in his 17th season at Glendale. “But we still have a long way to go on offense.”

Harbor, under second-year Coach Chris Ferragamo, seems certain to improve on last season’s 2-7-1 record if the Seahawks can come away reasonably healthy from last week’s 42-25 loss to defending national champion El Camino and tonight’s game against perennial power Taft.

Ventura was 0-9 last season but 15 starters return and the Pirates looked impressive in their 41-3 opening win over Porterville. Sophomore quarterback Juan Moreno completed 17 of 30 passes for 172 yards and 2 touchdowns as Ventura rolled up 410 yards.

Last season, Dondre Bausley rushed for 1,454 yards and 22 touchdowns for Valley. Roman Carter, a redshirt freshman from Kennedy High who broke his hand on a kickoff return last year in the opener against Ventura, replaces the graduated Bausley.

“Bausley was that rare jet that just runs away from everybody,” Valley Coach Chuck Ferrero said. “Roman is more of a stout kid. He’s a better blocker and catches the ball better than Bausley did. He can also break it.”

Moorpark had a strong recruiting year, but the Raiders will need a lot of help on defense if they hope to improve on last season’s 7-2 finish in the SCC.

Santa Monica and Santa Barbara’s hopes rest on quarterbacks Daryl Hobbs and Mark Whelan, who were among the conference’s top passers.

L. A. Southwest got a strong performance from multitalented quarterback Herman Tatum (20 for 35 for 351 yards and 3 touchdowns) in its opening 21-20 win over Rio Hondo last week and could pose problems with its wide-open attack.

Anthony Green, an all-conference running back last season in the SCC, is back for his sophomore year at Compton, but the Tartars are expected to struggle along with Pierce, which lost its opener to East L. A., and West L. A., which opens today against Glendale.

Washington might have been speaking for the 10 teams trying to keep up with Bakersfield and Glendale when he talked about his own team’s chances of winning the title.

“We think we’re better this year,” he said. “But better might not be enough.”