THE COLLEGES : Community College Football : Fullerton Reaping Returns From Imperiali’s Presence

Tim Imperiali quietly established himself as a quality kickoff returner last season for Fullerton College.

He averaged 24.5 yards a return, which was fifth best in the South Coast Conference.

But there weren’t too many raves coming his way because teammate Brian Hatcher, a sophomore, averaged 28.4 yards a return to lead the conference.

Imperiali also returned punts, but managed a total of 17 yards in 11 tries.

Imperiali was a standout wide receiver and kick and punt returner at Sunny Hills High School for three seasons, and was the Freeway League’s most valuable player in 1986.

But he didn’t catch a pass last season at wide receiver.

“I was more into blocking last season but that was fine,” Imperiali said. “It was just nice to be playing at least some of the time.”

This season, Imperiali is starting at wide receiver. And with Hatcher gone, he’s the team’s main threat returning kicks and punts.

Fullerton plays host to Cerritos tonight at 7 in a Mission Conference game at Fullerton District Stadium.

Imperiali started this season even better then he could have imagined in Fullerton’s 34-13 victory over College of the Desert on Sept. 10.

He caught touchdown passes of 37 and 35 yards, and finished with 6 catches for 124 yards.

He returned 3 kickoffs for 55 yards, the longest for 31 yards. He also returned a punt 24 yards.

After one game, Imperiali leads the 16-team Mission Conference in all-purpose yardage with 203. He was also the state’s all-purpose player of the week Sept. 10.

“He’s quite a versatile athlete,” Fullerton Coach Hal Sherbeck said. “He does a lot of things very well. Not only can he catch the ball but he can run well with it afterward. He’s one of the better people we’ve had to do those things.”

In other Mission Conference games:

El Camino (1-0, 0-0) at Orange Coast (1-0, 0-0), 7 p.m.--This is the matchup many at OCC wanted in last season’s PONY Bowl. OCC and El Camino had seemed destined to meet in the PONY Bowl last season, but the bowl was expanded to two games in the final week of the regular season. Taft--the state’s top-ranked team--played No. 2 El Camino for the mythical national championship, which El Camino won. Then OCC turned down the bowl bid to play Saddleback and the Pirates lost their share of the conference title when they were upset by Citrus in the final game.

OCC opened last Saturday with a 39-14 victory over Rio Hondo and El Camino defeated Los Angeles Harbor, 42-25, two weeks ago. But OCC struggled on offense. El Camino is the top-ranked team in the Southland poll. OCC is third.

San Diego City (1-0, 0-0) vs. Rancho Santiago (1-0, 0-0) at Santa Ana Stadium, 7 p.m.--Both teams were picked near the bottom of the conference but were impressive in opening victories. Rancho Santiago piled up 506 yards in total offense in a 41-24 victory over Citrus. City defeated Mt. San Jacinto, 35-14, mostly behind quarterback Mike Maine’s three touchdown passes. Rancho Santiago is led by running back Mike Miscione, who had 144 yards in 17 carries and scored 3 touchdowns in the victory over Citrus.

Grossmont (0-1, 0-0) at Saddleback (1-0, 0-1), 7 p.m.--Grossmont was picked by many to win the Southern Division title, but lost to Mt. San Antonio, 27-15, last week. Saddleback gained only 206 yards, but got a big lift from the defense in a 17-14 victory over San Diego Mesa. Saddleback needs to solve is passing problems. Lance Stewart was only 6 of 17 for 77 yards. Saddleback’s Robby Smith had two interceptions.