THE HIGH SCHOOLS : Afarian, Terzian to Go Toe to Toe in Duel Between Top Kickers

Two of the Valley’s best kickers, Chris Afarian of Notre Dame High and Chaminade’s Michael Terzian, will face each other tonight when their teams meet in a game that likely will decide the San Fernando Valley League championship.

Afarian, a senior, has made good on each of his 19 extra-point kicks and two field-goal attempts of 22 and 37 yards. Terzian, also a senior, has converted 18 of 19 extra-point attempts and a 42-yard field goal attempt.

Afarian, who also plays soccer, says that his kicking game improved markedly last spring while he was under the tutelage of University of Pittsburgh punter Brian Greenfield. Greenfield, who attended Notre Dame High and Glendale College, is ninth among National Collegiate Athletic Assn. Division I punters with a 41.7-yard average.

“He’s a real good kid,” said Greenfield, who helped Afarian polish his footwork and drop. “You can’t go in there and totally change around a person. You just try to give any help you can.”

Afarian, at 5-foot-7, 140 pounds, will help the Knights however he can. He often gets lighthearted ribbing from teammates, who suggest that he switch from kicker to linebacker because of his three solo tackles on special teams, including one on Kennedy speedster Ontiwaun Carter.

Afarian doubts that he left much of an impression on Kennedy’s 5-11, 175-pound running back.

“I don’t even know if he knew it was me,” Afarian said. “He probably thought there was a hole in the ground.”

Besides, Afarian’s forte isn’t his fortitude, it’s his foot. Make that feet. He uses his right foot to punt and his left to kick.

Carter update: Kennedy Coach Bob Francola will not decide until the last minute whether Carter will play in tonight’s game at Canoga Park. Carter, the leading rusher among Valley City Section players (618 yards), left last week’s game in the first quarter after suffering a bruised left thigh. He worked out sparingly all week and had difficulty running.

“There’s no way we’re going to rush him, but I’ll take a look at him when he works out before the game,” Francola said. “He took a helmet right in the middle of his thigh and his range of motion has been limited all week.”

If Carter is unable to play, Kennedy will start Elijah Raphael, a 145-pound sophomore who Francola calls a “tiny mite.” Without Carter, Kennedy also will rely on its passing game and quarterback Tony Vazquez, who leads Valley City passers with 365 yards.

Still, offense is not the Golden Cougars’ biggest problem. Kennedy’s defense is the worst among Valley City teams, allowing 347 yards a game, the main reason Kennedy is 1-3.

“It doesn’t matter who we play on offense if we don’t stop the other team’s running game,” Francola said. “Everybody’s waiting to play us to beef up their stats. We’ve put in some different schemes, so I hope that works.”

Back to basics: After an 0-3 start, San Fernando resurrected the wishbone offense for last week’s Northwest Valley Conference opener against Canoga Park. Whether it was the new look or a weak opponent, the move paid off in a 35-3 victory, so Coach Tom Hernandez is sticking with the wishbone that San Fernando scrapped three years ago.

Will Taylor rushed for 85 yards and three touchdowns and fellow halfback LaKarlos Townsend ran for 90 yards and fullback Vince Hall added a score on a two-yard run. While the running game prospered, quarterback Michael Wynn continued to struggle, completing two of six passes for 38 yards and one touchdown.

The return to a run-oriented offense does not mean that San Fernando is quitting on Wynn, who was forecast as one of the best quarterback prospects in Southern California at the start of the year.

“Michael is a good option quarterback and we can still throw the ball 20 times out of the wishbone,” Hernandez said. “We can always jump in and out of it. We just wanted to simplify things.”

Simi Valley skein: Sixteen football Fridays have passed since Simi Valley’s last victory--a late-season win over El Camino Real in 1987. Needless to say, Coach Dave Murphy is among the most concerned in the Pioneer camp.

“Certainly there’s hope for the future,” he said. “I’ll tell you where the heat comes from more than anywhere else--internally. I’ve been sick and tired of watching us play poorly for 14 1/2 games.”

Murphy said that the second half of last week’s 28-6 loss to Thousand Oaks was the best a Pioneer football team had played since the last game of 1987, when Simi Valley tied Thousand Oaks, the eventual Coastal Conference champion.

“I’m not a real happy guy,” he said. “I want to win very much.”

Murphy said that school officials have continued to be supportive, saying there is every indication he will return next season.

Put on hold: Remember Monroe’s Rachel Gagliano, the girl who was going to make City football history by kicking PATs and field goals for the Vikings this season? Thus far, Gagliano and the Monore offense have been no more than a memory.

Three games of offensive ineptitude have, for the most part, relegated her to the sidelines, still without an opportunity to make her debut in City football. Monroe has averaged 64.3 yards a game and the Vikings have yet to score on offense.

Gagliano almost had her first field-goal attempt in a 24-0 loss to Grant after an interception near the end of the game gave the Vikings a chance to line up for what would have been a 35-yard attempt.

But as Gagliano stepped back and waited for the snap, time expired.

Staff writers Tim Brown, Sam Farmer, John Lynch and Brian Murphy contributed to this notebook.