-------- Narbonne Celebrates a Victory, the Moral Kind -------- : Losing With Pride : Coach Instills Winning Spirit--Without Winning

The scene was unforgettable. Here were sweaty, dirty young men who had just suffered their school’s 16th straight defeat raising their football helmets skyward, clanking them in unison and listening as their head coach bellowed: “Fellas, this is a victory for us!”

The scoreboard read: Banning 28, Narbonne 0. It was the proverbial moral victory, which could be the only kind Narbonne will see this year.

Before the Banning game, the Narbonne Gauchos of Harbor City had been shut out two weeks in a row. They’d been embarrassed, 72-0, by Dorsey. They had not scored since Westchester quieted them, 28-6, in their first game. And as if it couldn’t get any worse, casual pregame talk touted powerhouse Banning as a 100-point favorite.

How ridiculous that spread was became clear at half time. Banning had contracted fumble-itis and led only 7-0. And before the second half began, second-year Narbonne Coach Lynn Hughes boasted: “Our guys are playing the way they should have played all year.”

Then, in the second half, the Gauchos (0-5) played the way they have all year. Banning ran off 21 third-quarter points, obliterating any suggestion of an upset.

Still, to prevent Narbonne from scoring, the Pilots were forced to play their first-string through much of the final period. And in the end, the Gauchos had beaten the joked-about spread by 72 points and only two murderous games remained before the reprieve of league play. Something vaguely resembling hope was in sight.

The victory for morale even prompted one courageous Gaucho to yell to his teammates: “Stay eligible, because we are going to the City championship!”

Yes, it’s possible. Realigned City section conferences and leagues make it conceivable that Narbonne--after being thrown to the lions--could win all three of its league games against Gardena, San Pedro and Washington and contend for the 3-A championship with a 3-6 record.

But, that scenario is about as likely as Narbonne upending 1987 City finalist Carson (5-1) Friday at Gardena.

In its first five games, Narbonne has been outscored 205-13. Until they scored on a fake field goal with 11 seconds left in last week’s 36-7 loss to Crenshaw, the Gauchos had gone 18 quarters without scoring and suffered their 17th straight loss. Last year they were 0-9, the year before 2-7. And the last time Narbonne finished a season with a winning record, Ronald Reagan was a rookie President.

Some say the difference this year is pride. Students around school say Narbonne is “sorry,” will lose again and again and should simply stop playing. But after the Banning “victory,” the chant rising among players was: “1-2-3 Narbonne, 1-2-3 Pride!” And assistant coaches say optimistically that Hughes is instilling a winning attitude even without a winning tradition.

“Nobody has talked about quitting,” said senior tailback Warren Roberts. “That is what’s great about this team. Last year we had a number of starters and veterans quit because they just couldn’t handle it, but I think this team can take it.

“It takes a lot of character for these players to go through this every week and still come out and play and not have the amount of people quitting we had last year.”

Guts might be a better word. But against that is the fact that character alone doesn’t win games. Talent and organization are also required.

Narbonne has some talent, but not enough. Some players have one or two years of experience. And volunteer Assistant Coach Haywood Reed believes that the Gauchos lack the crucial support only the community can provide.

Reed thinks Narbonne should take a lesson from Carson Coach Gene Vollnogle. For 15 years Reed, whose youngest son plays for Narbonne, coached in Carson’s junior all-American program and participated in Vollnogle’s associated coaching clinics. He realizes now that the steam-rolling Carson High football program lives off youngsters who learn Vollnogle’s system as early as age 7. And Reed is sure that similar community efforts are lacking in Harbor City and Lomita because he’s seen junior all-Americans in Carson with better techniques than Narbonne players.

“When the kids in Carson get to high school, they know they are ready to go at that level,” said Reed. “What you have at Narbonne is raw talent. They are 2-3 years away from having a successful program.”

Vollnogle, who needed four years to develop a championship-caliber team at Carson in the mid-1960s, believes that Narbonne, which shared a 3-A championship with Van Nuys in 1980, can rebuild. “I know it can be turned around.” Vollnogle said. “It takes work from everyone--the whole staff, the players, the school, the community--and it takes time. I know I would not want to do it all over again, but they are going in the right direction.”

Vollnogle is famous for scheduling the best available competition. He said: “My feeling is that the only way to be good is to play good schools.” And he believes that Narbonne should do the same, because he is not convinced that talented players live only east of Figueroa Street, which runs between the Harbor City-Lomita area to the west and Carson to the east. In other words, Vollnogle suggests, Narbonne can win with the players in its area.

Doing so might require a Carson-like junior all-American program. Unlike Banning, Carson and Narbonne no longer have major busing programs that provide large talent pools. Both play with what walks in their doors.

The difference is, Carson attracts and Narbonne doesn’t because Carson wins and Narbonne doesn’t. According to Hughes, some of the Harbor City-Lomita area’s best find a way to obtain a Carson address and thus legally play for Vollnogle. And other potential Gauchos jump to Bishop Montgomery, a Catholic school.

The situation incenses Hughes. “If Banning had to play with kids that walked in their front door, they would get their . . . kicked just like I am,” he said. “They get a lot of kids from tougher areas, and there are no real tough areas here. It would be nice to see some buses come here.”

Athletic Director Jack Bobinette, who coached football at Narbonne from 1952 to 1976, is more of a realist. He has no interest in trying to find young people from other areas to play at Narbonne and thinks that the Gauchos are simply out of their league.

“Everything is not lost this season, but football has certain limits,” Bobinette said. “When it comes to the game, you can’t make something out of nothing. If a team is faster than you, you cannot catch them. Lynn (Hughes) can’t make a guy with 10.5 speed faster than a 9.6 guy. You have to be realistic.

“Football is a game of giants, and we don’t have the kids in the door. And 165 pounds cannot move 300 pounds. After hearing about our problems, the average guy would say that we have to get a good coaching staff, get the players together and start moving on, but that is just lip service because we are so limited.”

Bobinette confirmed his view a few days later watching Narbonne lose to Banning. After pulling out his calculator, he figured out that there was a gross difference in Banning’s favor between the average weight of a Gaucho and a Pilot.

During the game, however, Narbonne’s Art Hagner, a 6-foot-3, 285 pound defensive lineman, wasn’t buying any talk about his team not deserving to be on the same field with Banning, even if it was his first year of football.

“They’ve been cussing at me,” Hagner said of Banning’s mammoth offensive linemen, “but that’s about all they could do. They aren’t bragging now.”

Hagner’s attitude is semi-typical. Most players seem to believe in Hughes’ program, but for different reasons.

Senior outside linebacker John Manchester recently became ineligible and is kicking himself because he feels he is letting the team down. Manchester also believes that some Gauchos are too intimidated to give 100%.

Sophomore Dimitri Rideout, though, says it’s not difficult to put his uniform on every week because “my main goal is to satisfy myself. I’m an athlete, I want to play and it doesn’t matter if we lose or not because my main goal is just to get seen and go to college and play pro ball.”

At 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, Rideout might well fulfill his goal. But his comments make you wonder if Narbonne is a simply a group of individuals playing for personal attention or a team that truly wants to win.

Senior fullback Richard Gilford (5-10, 195) thinks it’s the latter. “We are not going to give up no matter what,” he said. Despite three years of losing at the varsity level, Gilford says he loves his school and that a win would leave tears in his eyes.

“I would do all I can for this school, and I hope all these guys feel the same way,” he said. “I’m pretty sure they all do.”

Gilford has won only two games in his high school career. A player in his situation probably wonders what his team is doing wrong.

One of Gilford’s teammates suggested that preparation was part of the problem. “We don’t hit enough in practice,” the player complained. It was a common refrain at a recent practice.

Most coaches say hitting, or a full contact practice, is necessary to prepare for the pounding players endure on Fridays. But sometimes the more hitting a team endures in practice, the less team it will have on game day. At Narbonne, that problem is aggravated because limited numbers mean any loss could be crippling.

Another obstacle for Hughes is an inexperienced coaching staff. Two years ago, Hughes coached the offensive line without much know-how. Last year, an experienced line coach was hired but couldn’t stay. Then a 33-year-old ex-dentist who had never coached got the paid assistant’s job. And soon a Narbonne graduate with no coaching experience joined Hughes’ staff to help with the lineman while Hughes, who played at Oklahoma and Cal State Long Beach, handled the skill positions.

Not surprisingly, “our line looked terrible,” Hughes said.

Though Hughes now has two paid assistants and two volunteers, the offensive line still has serious problems. On running plays, Roberts and Gilford rarely have penetrable holes, and when they do “they are just waiting for me on the other side,” Roberts sighed.

What do you say to players who come out on the wrong side of the score every week?

“I am,” Hughes acknowledged, “finding it hard to figure out what to say.”