Prep Notes / Rob Fernas : Amat Coach Gives Tip on How to Beat Carson Gridders

If Banning’s football team is looking for a way to beat Carson in the L.A. City 4-A championship game Friday night at the Coliseum, the Pilots might be interested in what Bishop Amat Coach Mark Paredes has to say.

Paredes, whose team handed Carson its only loss this season, says the way to beat the Colts is to control the ball and put pressure on the quarterback.

That formula worked for the Lancers in a 17-13 win over Carson on Sept. 16 at Bishop Amat in the second game for both teams. Carson’s quarterbacks were sacked five times (the Colts finished with 8 yards rushing) and Bishop Amat had the ball 32 minutes and 58 seconds, compared to 15:01 for Carson.

“We played one of our best games of the year,” said Paredes, whose team faces Fountain Valley for the Southern Section Division I title Friday night at Anaheim Stadium. “We were very intense and very emotional. I know Banning will be very intense and very emotional.

“I think our control of the ball and our pass rush is what hurt (Carson). We rushed the quarterback and played man-to-man on the receivers. That was pretty successful. We controlled the ball and they basically had three downs and had to punt. That’s how the game went.”

Paredes said Bishop Amat rushed at least five players on every down, and sometimes six or seven. Carson quarterback Perry Klein, who was sacked three times for minus 25 yards, had to leave the game with an injured elbow.

“We felt with their speed, if we gave them any time (to pass) they would eat us up,” Paredes said. “With their size, they would have had no problem blocking us one-on-one. We wanted to confuse the offensive line and not give the quarterback any time to throw.”

Offensively, the Lancers relied on their running game and timely passing.

“We kept running the ball as much as we could, and our quarterback came up with key third-down throws,” Paredes said. “It was nothing fancy. We kept it simple.”

Bishop Amat (11-2) moved into the No. 25 spot in USA Today’s national poll after beating previously top-ranked Loyola, 16-0, last week in the Division I semifinals. When the Lancers beat Carson, the Colts were ranked No. 2 by USA Today.

Carson (11-1) has not reappeared in the national rankings since its loss, but the Colts will probably move into the Super 25 if they beat Banning.

Pine Forest of Pensacola, Fla., (11-0) took over the nation’s No. 1 spot.

Carson football Coach Gene Vollnogle says the Colts will not deviate from their normal game plan in Friday night’s L.A. City title game with Banning.

Just the opposite was true in 1984 when Carson switched to a wide-open passing attack for the finals and rode the arm of quarterback Carl Thompson to a 33-20 win over Banning, avenging a 28-7 loss to the Pilots in league play.

“We changed our whole offense during Thanksgiving,” Vollnogle recalled. “We worked on it for three weeks. We barely got by our preliminary (playoff) games because we weren’t playing what we were practicing.”

The one-game offense, which employed four wide receivers and no running backs, was dubbed “Air Vollnogle.”

Vollnogle says the worst aspect of the Carson-Banning rivalry is that the losses are harder to accept than other defeats.

“I think it’s devastating to either team,” he said. “With the community pride and family and schools, the closeness of all those things, it’s hard.”

Asked how he’s dealt with losses to Banning, Vollnogle replied: “I feel bad about it. I lose sleep for a few nights thinking about what we could have done. It takes a while to get over it completely. I think it’s worse the younger you are. Going back to some of the early games, oh my God, I would take a month or so.”

In 26 years, Vollnogle has slept a little better than the Banning coaches. Carson leads the series, 18-16.

PREP NOTES--Three former Carson football players started as freshmen for major colleges this season: linebacker Arnold Ale of Notre Dame, defensive back Charles Gardner of Alabama and wide receiver Brian Treggs of UC Berkeley. . . . Tim Ammentorp, girls basketball coach at Redondo High, has replaced Harry Jenkins as the Sea Hawks’ baseball coach. Ammentorp played catcher at UCLA and was an assistant baseball coach at West Covina High and UC Irvine before coming to Redondo. Jenkins resigned last week after 19 years as the baseball coach. . . . Miraleste High will hold an alumni basketball game Dec. 16 at noon. Alumni interested in playing can contact Coach Todd Mirsky at either 547-9575 (nights and weekends) or 547-1103 (weekdays). . . . Leuzinger, which lost to Antelope Valley in the quarterfinals of the CIF Division II football playoffs, will open the 1989 season against the Antelopes at home. The Olympians will play at Antelope Valley in 1990. . . . Palos Verdes’ soccer team is ranked No. 1 in the CIF 4-A preseason coaches’ poll. Also ranked are South Torrance (No. 8) and West Torrance (No. 10). El Segundo is ranked No. 7 in the 1-A poll.

South Bay’s Basketball Top 10 Selected by Times Sportswriters Rank, School, League: Record 1 Westchester (Westn.): 1-0 2 Inglewood (Bay): 1-0 3 Rolling Hills (Bay): 1-0 4 St. Bernard (Camino Real)): 1-0 5 Carson (Pacific): 2-1 6 Morningside (Ocean): 1-0 7 Gardena (Southern): 2-0 8 Redondo (Pioneer): 1-0 9 Leuzinger (Bay): 3-1 10 Bishop Mont. (Angelus): 2-2