Prep Wrapup / Rob Fernas : Carson Offensive Coach Saw Vision Turn Into 55 Points

Steve Clarkson, offensive coordinator for Carson High’s football team, sat in the peristyle end of an empty Coliseum late Friday afternoon and visualized the plays he planned to call in the L.A. City 4-A championship game.

“I sat up there by the (Olympic) torch and said, ‘This is what I want to do.’ I just pictured the whole game,” he said.

Later that night, Clarkson was on the sidelines when reality surpassed his wildest dreams.

“You can never envision something like this,” he said, following Carson’s stunning 55-7 win over Banning. “I’m in shock.”

So, too, were many of the estimated crowd of 12,000 who watched as Carson scored touchdowns on its first seven possessions en route to the most lopsided victory in the City final since Fremont beat Hollywood, 59-0, in 1949. It was largest winning margin in the 26-year history of the Banning-Carson series.

The Colts (12-1) finished the season with 11 straight wins after losing the second game of the year to Bishop Amat, 17-13. But Clarkson said the team that lost to the Lancers on Sept. 16 was a shell of the one that outgained Banning, 515-190, in total yards.

“We’ve improved 75% since then,” he said. “If we played Bishop Amat now, it would be no contest. We’re the best team in the nation.”

While the season couldn’t have ended on a better note, Clarkson said it was a shame that Carson’s players had to hang up their uniforms just as they were beginning to execute his double-spread offense to perfection.

“If they had more games,” he said, “they would get even better.”

Nearly everything the Colts attempted against Banning turned to gold. They marched 80, 63, 59, 77 and 89 yards on five first-half possessions to take a commanding 35-0 lead. When punter Tarriel Hopper was finally called upon with 10:32 left in the game, Carson had built a 49-0 lead.

Several Colts enjoyed exceptional games:

--Quarterback Perry Klein completed 13 of 15 passes for 173 yards and 2 touchdowns and rushed for 50 yards on 4 carries.

--Running back Errol Sapp carried the ball 10 times for 102 yards and 3 touchdowns, giving him a school-record 21 TDs this season.

--Junior wide receiver Michael Ross caught two scoring passes from Klein, including a diving grab in the deep left corner of the end zone in the first quarter.

--Linebacker Peter Hunt had 10 tackles, setting Carson’s career record with 166.

--Defensive end Eric Bender led a pass rush that put constant pressure on Banning quarterback John Ma’ae.

“Everyone played so exceptionally well, you can’t pick an MVP,” Clarkson said. “This is what I expected at the beginning of the year.”

Clarkson, who helped Palisades reach the City 3-A final last year as that team’s offensive coordinator, is moving on again. The man for one season said he will not return to Carson in 1989 but will be available if the Colts ever need his advice.

What he has left behind is an innovative offense that Coach Gene Vollnogle intends to use again next year, although to a lesser degree, and the memory of a season that ended more gloriously than anyone could have hoped.

Clarkson said Friday night’s win was even more of a thrill than when he quarterbacked L.A. Wilson to the City 3-A title at the Coliseum in 1978.

“This is as high as it gets,” he said. “It can’t get any better.”

Banning (11-3) suffered its final indignity when Carson defensive back Tim Lincoln stripped Ma’ae of the ball and raced 76 yards for a touchdown to make it 55-0 midway through the fourth quarter.

Afterward, Coach Joe Dominguez offered no alibis for his team’s loss.

“I don’t have an excuse in the world,” he said. “They kicked our butts. I guess they are a much better football team. They certainly showed it.

“They executed well. We just couldn’t stop them. We had a good week of practice, but it’s hard to read kids. Maybe we didn’t prepare them properly. The kids have been patient with me, and maybe I let them down a little bit.”

For all intents and purposes, the game was over for Banning in the first quarter. Carson racked up 205 yards and scored three touchdowns, while the Pilots were held to minus 1 yard and failed to gain a first down.

This forced Banning, a run-oriented team, out of its normal game plan and contributed to the rout that would follow.

“We got too far behind too early,” Dominguez said. “(Carson) came out and played, and we came out and didn’t play.

“After a defeat like this, maybe I’ll get another job. Gene (Vollnogle) might make me retire before he retires.”

Vollnogle, who captured his seventh City title in 26 years at Carson, said three factors helped motivate the Colts:

1) The memory of last year’s 24-14 loss to Granada Hills in the final.

2) Comments made by Dominguez the week before the game.

3) Banning’s players running through Carson’s players during warm-ups.

“They ran through our kids and made remarks to our kids,” Vollnogle said. “That was a mistake.”

Carson defeated Banning, 24-13, last month in a showdown for the Pacific League title, but Dominguez was quoted as saying that he thought the Pilots could have won the game if not for some critical mistakes and penalties.

“I thought we dominated (Banning) the last time we played them,” Vollnogle said. “Then their coaches came out and said we were lucky. I resented that.”

As for keeping the Colts from forgetting what happened to them in the City final last year, that was accomplished with a simple message in the locker room: “Don’t get a big head.”

Rolling Hills, which led South Bay basketball teams with 152 3-point shots last season, picked up where it left off this week in the 37th annual Pacific Shores Tournament.

The Titans (4-0) made 11 3-point shots Friday night to beat St. Bernard, 87-75, in the championship game at Redondo. Junior guard Steve Clover led the Titans with seven 3-pointers and senior guard Mark Tesar had four.

After St. Bernard (3-1) scored 6 straight points to pull within 3, 76-73, with 2:37 left, Clover answered with a 3-point shot that began a game-ending 11-2 spurt for Rolling Hills, which won the tournament title for the second time in three years. The Titans also beat St. Bernard in the 1986 final.

Forward John Hardy, the tournament MVP, led Rolling Hills with 35 points, and all-tournament selection Clover added 30. Titan forward Ron Dinnel, who scored 27 points in a 83-76 semifinal win over Carson, was also named to the all-tournament team.

Rolling Hills, which is 4-0 against St. Bernard in the last three years, might face the Vikings again next week. St. Bernard is seeded No. 1 and the Titans are No. 2 in the Beverly Hills Tournament starting Monday.

St. Bernard opens the 16-team tournament at 4:30 p.m. Monday against Culver City, and Rolling Hills plays at 4:30 Tuesday against Thousand Oaks. Redondo, which placed fifth in the Pacific Shores Tournament with a 77-71 upset over Inglewood, plays host Beverly Hills at 7:30 Monday night.

Defending champion Westchester (2-0) is the top-seeded basketball team in the Tournament of Champions that gets under way Monday at Ocean View High in Huntington Beach.

The Comets, led by 6-7 forward Zan Mason and 5-9 guard Sam Crawford, will play Fresno Edison at 5:30 p.m. Monday.

Morningside, third-place finisher in the Pacific Shores Tournament, and Serra are also entered in the Tournament of Champions, which includes Merrimac High of Surfers Paradise, Australia.

Morningside plays No. 2-seeded Capistrano Valley at 8:30 p.m. Monday and Serra will meet the winner of Monday’s Mater Dei-Bosco Tech game at 7 p.m. Tuesday.