The High Schools : Taft Victory Stranger Than Fiction

After listening to Taft High Coach Tom Stevenson talk about last Saturday’s improbable upset of Southern Section Division I power Servite, one quickly becomes convinced that somebody up there--yes, up there --is on Taft’s side.

Strange fact No. 1: Playing at Anaheim’s Glover Field, Taft ran 41 offensive plays and fumbled the ball a mind-boggling eight times, but the Toreadors recovered all eight.

“That’s gotta be a state record, don’t you think,” Stevenson said.

Strange fact No. 2: Taft was stomped by Servite, 35-7, last year and by Crespi, 44-0, in 1987 in its two most recent attempts to beat Division I teams.

“I guess it proves that if you play a good (Southern Section) team often enough, you have to win one sooner or later,” he said.

Strange fact No. 3: Servite had two games under its belt and its quarterback had broken two school single-game passing marks the week before. Taft was playing in its opener with an untested quarterback.

Servite quarterback Rob Walker completed 28 of 43 passes for 371 yards in a 45-28 loss to Los Altos in the second week of the season. The amount of yardage and number of attempts are school records. Against Taft, Walker completed 13 of 17 for 174 yards with one interception. Taft quarterback Edwin Velasco was four of nine for 61 yards.

Add Taft: And you thought your favorite pro team looked bad the Sunday after it played on Monday Night Football?

If most of the Toreador players are bent over with their hands on their knees this week, don’t be surprised. After playing Servite last Saturday night, Taft must play Los Angeles High on Thursday at 3 p.m., which doesn’t leave much turnaround time.

The team worked out in full pads Monday--normally a light day--and had only three days to prepare. What’s worse, Stevenson said, the City Section’s late start date hasn’t left much time for conditioning. Practice time has been spent covering the basics--who to block, how to block, mental blocks . . .

“We spent most of the first couple of weeks teaching the younger kids the fundamental stuff, where they had to be and what they had to do,” said Stevenson, who has five new starters on the offensive line.

Perfect fit: Some players are tailor-made for certain coaches. At Cleveland High, where Coach Steve Landress first met Kosal Uch, something instantly clicked.

Maybe it was because the 5-foot-9 Landress could see eye to eye with the 5-6, 150-pound Uch. Maybe it’s because Landress, never one to keep quiet for long, likes Uch’s pregame rituals.

“He isn’t a shy kid,” Landress said. “He belts out the National Anthem real loud before games, way louder than the other guys. He’s one of our rah-rah guys.”

Or maybe it’s Uch’s hellbent-for-leather, raw-raw style, which is exhibited each time he runs back a punt.

“If I had 11 or 12 like him, I’d have a good little team,” Landress said, with no pun intended. “There are no fair catches when he’s out there. He runs around until somebody sticks his butt and knocks him down.”

And another reason Landress likes Uch, is that Uch does his share of damage. In Friday’s 14-6 win over Van Nuys, Uch (rhymes with pooch) intercepted three passes from his cornerback position, returning them 56 yards. He also caught four passes for 39 yards while playing wide receiver.

His B-team dimensions are offset by his grade-A attitude. “He has B size,” said Landress, who awarded Uch the game ball. “But he has a Division I heart.”

Out of action: Burbank tailback Nelson Randin, the Bulldogs’ leading ballcarrier with 146 yards in 19 carries, is out indefinitely because of strained ligaments in his left knee and ankle. Randin also starts at defensive back.

Staff writers Steve Elling and Vince Kowalick contributed to this notebook.