HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PREVIEW : Tides of Pacific Unchanged Over Time

Responding to a shortage of linemen at Crescenta Valley High, Coach Jim Beckenhauer transforms a 160-pound reserve safety into a defensive end.

A few miles to the south, Glendale Coach Don Shoemaker grimaces and screams for ice after watching a starting linebacker leave a drill clutching his shoulder. The injury--which proves to be minor--alarms Shoemaker. Glendale doesn’t have a stockpile of linebackers.

Meanwhile, about three miles east of Glendale, 20 would-be players in street clothes stand on the sidelines along the Muir field watching practice. They are watching and waiting like vultures for one of the 120 varsity and junior varsity players to quit the team so they can use the uniform. Practices are so crowded, many players conduct their own drills. Spare Muir uniforms don’t exist.

Such is the parody of parity in the Pacific League.

During the past two seasons, Glendale, Hoover and Crescenta Valley are 2-15-1 versus Arcadia, Muir and Pasadena, and have been outscored, 375-95.

“Year in and year out, we just have better players,” Arcadia Coach Dick Salter said. “I don’t think I’ve ever outcoached any of those guys. Our players are just more talented.”

And there are more of them. Whereas Glendale-area coaches are pleased with a 40-player turnout, twice that number show up for practice at the three Pasadena-area schools.

Muir’s is the the most impressive program. The Mustangs have won or shared seven of the past nine league championships and have won two Southern Section titles this decade. And Muir is responsible for the bulk of that lopsided scoring.

Last season, the Mustangs beat Hoover, 34-7, Glendale, 25-7, and Crescenta Valley, 41-3. A year earlier, they thumped the Tornadoes, 27-0, the Dynamiters, 35-0, and the Falcons, 34-0. In the 1986 Coastal Conference title game, Muir crushed Golden League champion Antelope Valley, 37-0.

Those drubbings and others like them left opposing coaches crying foul. Muir was accused of running up scores. Those complaints will not die this season, first-year Muir Coach John Tyree says.

In fact, he says he has no qualms about letting opponents choke on the dust along the Muir trail.

“There will be (accusations) with this staff too,” he said. “We’ll ask no quarter, we’ll give no quarter.”

To hear Mustang quarterback Demetrius Martin tell it, other league teams will be lucky to last two quarters. “Late in the second quarter they’re all tired, you can see it in their face,” Martin said. “They’re not in as good a condition.”

To make matters worse, Muir has a demanding preleague schedule that includes Palmdale, Verbum Dei, Banning, Bishop Amat and Servite. Tyree says losing a few of those games would make the Mustangs ornery.

“We might have to worry about teams running up the score but it won’t be us,” he said, laughing. “We may not score until the sixth game of the season, so we’ll be hungry.”

Muir’s 15 returning starters and 10-0 junior varsity record could cause some coaches to lose their appetites. In addition to an experience advantage, the Mustangs have bigger players.

Crescenta Valley, which boasted some of the league’s biggest players last season, has just two who weigh more than 200 pounds and only one--tight end Shane Cowsill (6-3, 220)--is a starter. That’s a far cry from the Mustangs’ beefy offensive line, which includes guards Orlando Benn (6-4, 308) and Johnny Drawn (6-3, 250).

Consequently, Beckenhauer plans to make some adjustments.

“You can’t sit and moan about it,” he said. “We’re going to have to block a little bit differently. Maybe throw a little bit more. You have to make do with what you have.”

What the the Falcons do have is a strong-armed quarterback and some swift receivers. Last year, they used the wing-T formation and passed for just 531 yards, relying primarily on a strong ground game. “The bottom line is you’ve got to do what you do best,” he said. “A little guy can never be big, he’s just hoping that he can bring the big guy down to his size.”

According to Salter, Crescenta Valley’s situation is not nearly as bleak. “Even though they will be small, they will be tenacious--they always are against us,” he said.

Tenacity can help tackle size differences but it does little to compensate for disparity in speed. Muir traditionally has had many of the league’s fastest players.

Said Hoover Coach Dennis Hughes: “It’s hard to stop fast teams when you’re not as fast. You can try anti-aircraft guns, tanks. . . No, those are probably too slow.”

Hughes points to the opening drive of last year’s Hoover-Muir game: “We drove the ball down in 15 plays and scored. We kicked off and two plays later, Muir’s in the end zone.”

Memories like that are difficult to erase.

“At the beginning of the year, when I tell my kids that we’re playing for the Pacific League title, they kind of look at me funny,” Hughes said. “They know we have to play the team that wears the blue and yellow (Muir uniform).”

With nine returnees on defense, Hoover is probably the Glendale-area team with the best chance of stopping the Mustangs. But the Tornadoes lack depth--no second-string defensive players have varsity experience.

Some argue a power shift in the league is imminent. “By and large it’s cyclic,” Pasadena Coach Gary Griffiths said. “Muir is a well-coached football team, but there’s not a doubt in my mind that in the next four or five years, that cycle’s going to change.”

The cycle will change next season when Arcadia leaves to join the Renaissance League and the Foothill League disbands, sending Hart, Burroughs and Burbank to the Pacific League. Muir, however, is staying put--a reality with which Shoemaker has come to terms.

“We’re in the Pacific League and that’s that,” he said.

PACIFIC LEAGUE FINAL 1988 STANDINGS PROJECTED FINISH Pasadena 7-4, 4-1 Muir Arcadia 7-4, 4-1 Pasadena Muir 3-4, 4-1 Arcadia Crescenta Valley 3-7, 2-3 Hoover Glendale 4-6, 1-4 Glendale Hoover 1-8-1, 0-5 Crescenta Valley

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Player School Pos. Ht Wt Class Mike Gassner Arcadia OL 6-1 190 Sr. Rich Humphrey Hoover DE 6-3 225 Sr. Pat Kennelly Crescenta Valley LB 6-0 190 Sr. Elic Mahone Muir TE 6-5 230 Sr. Demetrius Martin Muir OB 5-10 180 Jr. Albert Ocon Glendale OL 6-2 270 Jr. Tim Pescatello Arcadia RB 5-8 160 Sr. Reggie Reser Muir DB 5-11 180 Jr. Torus Stepney Pasadena RB 5-11 180 Sr. Allen Williams Pasadena DE 6-2 205 Sr.