Westervelt Makes Most of Bad Situations

Give Rob Westervelt an inch and he’ll pass for a yard. Or 263 of them, as he did last Friday night against archrival Canyon.

The Hart High quarterback picked the Cowboy defense apart in the team’s nonleague opener at College of the Canyons, completing 18 of 24 passes--three for touchdowns--in a 30-12 romp.

Westervelt (6-3, 210) threw no interceptions and sustained numerous Indian drives. Hart did not punt in eight possessions.

Facing a second-and-24 situation in the first quarter, Westervelt passed 20 yards to tailback Howard Blackwell, who ran for a first down on the next play. Later in the drive, Westervelt converted on third and six, passing 17 yards to Lance Migita.

In the second quarter, Westervelt connected with Migita on third and 10 for 17 yards. On a fourth and seven at the Cowboy 28 in the fourth period, Westervelt hit John DePaco for an 18-yard gain. During one stretch, Westervelt completed nine consecutive passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns.

Rushing: Westervelt was given a breather on the Indians’ final scoring drive. In the fourth quarter, Hart began at the 50-yard line. Six Blackwell runs later, the Indians were in the end zone, Blackwell carrying 25 yards on the final carry. He finished with 107 yards in 19 carries.

Canyon, by contrast, was punchless on the ground. The Cowboys rushed for just 72 yards, fewer than any total in a game last season.

In its 27-0 victory Friday over San Marcos, Thousand Oaks rushed for 235 yards in 43 rushes--an average of 5.47 a carry. Only two of the 43 rushing plays resulted in negative yardage (minus-1 each).

Defense: San Fernando will open its season Friday against Fontana, the top-ranked team in the Southern Section Division I poll. San Fernando most recently played Fontana in 1983 and lost, 14-13, although it hardly wiped out the Tiger season. San Fernando allowed only 56 points the rest of the year and finished 8-3, and Fontana’s 14 points were the Tigers’ season high in points allowed.

In a 10-8 loss to Blair, Harvard allowed the Vikings just two yards passing. The Saracens were considerably more generous toward the Blair ground attack, which amassed 320 yards.

St. Genevieve, which allowed an average of 321 yards a game last season, held Daniel Murphy to 155 yards in a 9-7 win.

Miscellaneous: Burroughs, which beat St. Francis, 23-8, held possession for 20 of the 24 minutes in the first half Friday.

Since 1985, Channel Islands is 3-1-1 against Rio Mesa. But, in the past three years, the games have been decided by a combined five points. Last year, Rio Mesa won, 19-18.

Channel Islands was penalized just once in its 28-27 victory over Rio Mesa on Friday--five yards on an illegal-procedure call. Raider Coach Joel Gershon guessed it was a school record.

FOOTBALL TOP 10 Selected by Times staff writers

Last Rk Wk Team League Record 1 1 Granada Hills North Valley 0-0 2 3 San Fernando North Valley 0-0 3 4 Thousand Oaks Marmonte 1-0 4 5 Hart Foothill 1-0 5 7 Notre Dame S.F. Valley 1-0 6 2 Canyon Golden 0-1 7 8 Channel Islands Marmonte 1-0 8 9 Montclair Prep Alpha 1-0 9 10 Antelope Valley Golden 1-0 10 6 Alemany Del Rey 0-1