HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PREVIEW : Foothill Bowing Out Amid Misgivings

It is fourth and long. All the receivers are covered. And the Foothill League is about to be sacked.

In fact, one might say that the league already is “in the grasp.”

This is the final year of the Foothill League. Last April, Foothill-area member schools approved by a 26-to-16 vote a releaguing plan that will disband the league and place Burbank, Burroughs and Hart in a revamped, eight-team Pacific League.

Alhambra, San Gabriel and Schurr, the Foothill League’s remaining teams, will join Arcadia, Bell Gardens and Montebello in the fledgling Renaissance League.

Coaches and administrators from both the Foothill and Pacific leagues have appealed in vain to the Southern Section executive council to keep both leagues the way they are. Another appeal is planned in September.

“It has a great reputation and a lot of tradition,” Burbank Coach Randy Stage said of the Foothill League. “We don’t want to lose the name.”

At this stage, however, any appeal is a Hail Mary pass. Southern Section Commissioner Stan Thomas described the prospect of a successful appeal as “very thin.”

“I can tell you that, right now, it’s done,” Thomas said.

And so, the league’s swan-song season it most likely will be. And Stage, along with Hart Coach Mike Herrington and Burroughs Coach Butch McElwee, will say goodby to years of allegiance to one of Southern California’s oldest and most competitive leagues.

Stage, 33, entering his second year at Burbank, ran pass patterns through Foothill defenses as a wide receiver at Burroughs--Burbank’s archrival--from 1970-72.

Herrington, 31, in his first season as coach at Hart, bucked and slugged in Foothill trenches as a member of the Hart offensive line from 1973-75. From 1980-87, he roamed the sidelines during Foothill games as an assistant coach at Hart.

And McElwee, 42, entering his third season as coach at Burroughs, patrolled Foothill secondaries as a defensive back at Burroughs from 1963-65.

All three, more or less, have the Foothill League in their blood. And they don’t want a transfusion.

“What’s in a name?” Stage asked rhetorically. “But there is something in a name. What’s the sense of tradition for these kids? A lot of people are proud to have played in the Foothill League and this is the last year. For someone who has only been in the league three or four years, big deal. But for Burbank and Burroughs. . . .”

Burbank has belonged to the Foothill League since the league’s inception--which, according to some accounts, dates to 1927. Burroughs has been a member since the early ‘50s, and Hart, with the exception of a four-year stint in the Golden League from 1977-81, has been a member since 1974.

Herrington, who long had coveted the head coaching job at Hart, said that his allegiance is to the school first, the league second.

“I don’t really care about the name,” he said. “But I’d like to have it stay status quo. I think it’s a good league.”

Herrington’s attitude is understandable. In this decade, Hart has dominated the league, winning five consecutive titles from 1983-87 and Southern Section titles in 1983 and ’86. Meanwhile, Burbank has not won a league title since 1972 and Burroughs has not won since 1981.

Hart, which won 22 consecutive league games from 1984-88, is 78-27-2 in this decade and should rebound from last season’s disappointing third-place finish.

Who would want to leave a league in which your team is a proven power?

“That’s part of it,” Herrington said. “But I like a six-team league. If we went in with the teams in the Pacific League, it would be more challenging.”

Indeed, the new Pacific League, which will include Crescenta Valley, Glendale, Hoover, Muir and Pasadena, figures to be more competitive.

Muir (8-4) and Pasadena (7-4), co-champions last season, long have been area powers. Muir won a Southern Section title in 1986, flattening Antelope Valley, a Golden League power, 37-0.

“A few teams will very seldom have a chance to go to the playoffs,” McElwee said. “Muir is always going to go to the playoffs. Pasadena, right next door, they’re always going to have a lot of kids. And Hart always has a lot of players.”

McElwee, in contrast to his colleagues, favors the new Pacific League over the existing Foothill League.

“I would rather get into the new league simply because there are rivalries,” he said. “Our rivalries are with Glendale (area) schools. We don’t have anything in common with Schurr. We don’t have anything in common with Alhambra. From the kids’ standpoint, they go out and play San Gabriel and they don’t know who San Gabriel is. Even with the Pasadena schools, there is more of a rivalry than there is with Hart. I don’t mind this league; we have always done well in it. But the rivalries aren’t there.”

McElwee is no traitor. Rather, his allegiance is to the Foothill League of yesteryear. During the ‘60s, the league consisted of Glendale, Pasadena, Muir, Crescenta Valley, Hoover, Burbank and Burroughs.

“It wasn’t a bad league,” McElwee said. “Muir never destroyed us. My senior year, they beat us 12-3. I wouldn’t mind going back to the original Foothill League.”

Well, for the most part, he will be going back. As for this year, the Foothill League doesn’t exactly figure to make a dramatic exit.

In recent years, the league has been a showcase for talented players. Jim Bonds, quarterback at Hart in 1985 and ‘86, is now a UCLA sophomore. Former Hart offensive lineman Brian Jacobs, a 1987 graduate, and tight end Brian Allen, who graduated in June, also attend UCLA.

Jeff Barrett, who graduated in 1988 as Burroughs’ career passing leader, attends Nevada Reno.

But this year, Hart quarterback Rob Westervelt, who passed for 2,130 yards and 21 touchdowns as a junior last season, appears to be the only proven marquee player. Seniors Dennis Rodriguez of Burroughs and Jeremy Sparks of Burbank both are inexperienced at quarterback.

Hart senior tailback Howard Blackwell, who rushed for 850 yards and two touchdowns in 172 carries last season, is the league’s premier ballcarrier.

“The league is not going to be that good,” McElwee said. “It’s a little bit weak as far as having an overall lot of talent. In the past, you had the Bondses and Barretts and Allens. This year, they’re not there.”

But the Foothill League--and the honor of being crowned its final champion--is.

“We’re going to go out and play to the best of our potential and try and win it,” Stage said. “And then wave ‘Bye.’ ”

Tomorrow: the Pacific League

FOOTHILL LEAGUE FINAL 1988 STANDINGS PROJECTED FINISH Schurr 9-3, 4-1 Hart Burbank 7-4, 3-2 Burroughs Hart 6-5, 3-2 Schurr Burroughs 6-4, 3-2 Burbank Alhambra 4-6, 1-4 Alhambra San Gabriel 2-8, 1-4 San Gabriel

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Player School Pos. Ht Wt Class Andre Banks Burroughs TB 5-11 160 Sr. Howard Blackwell Hart TB 5-10 175 Sr. Doug DeGroote Hart OT 6-2 230 Sr. David Hernandez Schurr WR 5-11 170 Sr. Jay Macias Schurr QB 6-2 180 Jr. Robert Montoya Alhambra OT/DT 6-3 265 Sr. Cliff Parker Burroughs WR/P 6-2 175 Sr. Maurice Randin Burbank TB 6-3 220 Sr. Rob Westervelt Hart QB 6-3 200 Sr.