The High Schools : Sylmar’s Casey Diversifies His Portfolio

Going to a Sylmar High game to watch Jerome Casey run the ball?

If he’s not in the backfield, don’t be disappointed. Just look to either side of quarterback Daniel Terry.

Meet Jerome Casey, Sylmar receiver.

Casey, ranked by a national publication as one of the nation’s top 10 running backs, is being utilized as a receiver by Coach Jeff Engilman this season in an attempt to take advantage of the senior’s talent as much as possible.

“We put him in the slot,” Engilman said. “We’d like to show a different formation to free him. He’s a great receiver with great speed.”

No one can argue with results. Casey carried the ball 15 times for 78 yards and one touchdown last week, and he also caught three passes for 97 yards and two touchdowns.

Casey’s reaction?

“It’s all about being a team player,” Casey said.

And the coach?

“Two touchdowns?” Engilman said, beaming. “I’ll take that.”

Silver lining dept.: Even though San Fernando has lost its first two games, both to Southern Section Division I opponents, Coach Tom Hernandez is sticking by his we’ll-play-any-team-at-any-time philosophy. In fact, he insists that the losses can be therapeutic.

“We could very easily be 2-0 right now,” he said. “We could have played a couple of 3-A teams like Verdugo Hills or Van Nuys, beat the heck out of them and thought we were a great team. Then we would have played somebody good and got our butt kicked.

“We’ll get better. This week we’ll be better.”

Next up is a road game tonight with Southern Section Division I member St. Paul, a 30-14 loser to Fontana last week. San Fernando lost to Fontana, 35-9, in its opener two weeks ago.

Don’t get the idea that Hernandez excuses the losses, however. In fact, the loud roar heard around San Fernando High over the past few days was probably Hernandez warming up his vocal cords.

Said Hernandez on Monday morning: “I’ve been looking forward to today’s practice since I got up on Saturday morning. We’re gonna make some changes today and straighten some things out.”

New discovery: After scoring 25 points in its first two games, Royal was looking for some offense. “We thought our offense needed a little something,” Coach Gene Uebelhardt said.

What he got was a big something--in the person of sophomore Ryan Fien (pronounced FEEN). The transfer from Riverside Poly was promoted from the junior varsity to spruce up the passing game.

Fien (6-foot-2 1/2, 170 pounds) is a pure drop-back passer who did not figure to make his varsity debut until next season. But, in Royal’s 19-12 loss to Arroyo Grande, Fien completed 11 of 17 passes for 165 yards.

“He’s definitely a varsity football player from now on,” Uebelhardt said.

Senior Charlie Snyder, who is still better at running Royal’s option offense, will play wide receiver and defensive back when he is not playing quarterback. The real decision as to who will play, Uebelhardt said, will come from opposing defenses, which no longer will be able to stack against the run.

Giving offenses the heebie-DBs: Granada Hills’ secondary may be young, but according to co-Coach Darryl Stroh, the foursome is a bunch of not-so-teeny boppers.

“Each one of them will hit you, that’s for sure,” Stroh said.

And after two games, the secondary has hit quarterbacks the hardest, intercepting four passes--and four that could have been caught were dropped by Franklin last week.

Of starters Derrick Stewart, Leon Glasgow, Eric Moss and Robert Haywood, only Glasgow is a senior. The others are juniors. Haywood and Stewart started last season.

“By the time we get these guys into next season, they might be the best I’ve ever had,” Stroh said.

Add changes: As if the Hart passing attack isn’t confusing enough to opponents, it now employs two additional features.

In Friday’s 14-13 win over Palmdale, quarterback Rob Westervelt took the snap from a shotgun formation. “It gives him a little extra time on third and long,” Coach Mike Herrington said.

And, quite likely, keeps Westervelt on his feet longer. A week earlier, Crespi sacked him four times for 40 yards.

Westervelt also has been given the option to call audibles at the line of scrimmage. He called about a dozen against Palmdale.

“We thought we could get past their man coverage,” Herrington said. “He (called audibles) a number of times but just couldn’t connect. Most were correct calls.”

Overshadowed: Montclair Prep (3-0) has been stealing headlines and ravaging opponents, but league rival Village Christian has embarked on a mission of its own.

With last Saturday’s 20-6 win over Murphy--the team Coach Mike Plaisance thought would be his toughest foe, excluding Montclair Prep--Village Christian improved to 3-0. The Crusaders’ defense has not allowed more than one touchdown in a game.

A strong ground game features hard-running sophomore Chad Everett (230 yards in 51 carries) and junior Rick Nickels (206 in 40).

Staff writers Tim Brown, Steve Elling, Vince Kowalick and Brian Murphy contributed to this notebook.