Montclair Prep Shows Merciful Side in 54-0 Win

Yikes.

This game, pitting unbeaten Montclair Prep and its two 600-yard-plus running backs against winless Marshall Fundamental and all 15 of its players in an Alpha League opener, was a bad one to watch Thursday night.

How bad?

Really, really bad.

It ended with Montclair Prep winning, 54-0, at La Canada High.

But it wasn’t that close.

Put it this way: Six hours before game time, Marshall Fundamental Coach Lew Underwood was on the phone, begging out of the game.

Forfeit, he said, we’ll just forfeit.

It was clear that Underwood had the right idea. It was nobody’s fault, but this game, talent-wise, was a mismatch along the lines of Billy Barty guarding Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the paint.

But there would be no forfeit. No call from the governor. The execution would go on as planned.

The Mounties wanted to play. Could you blame them?

Oh, concessions were made. Like Montclair Prep (6-0, 1-0 in league play) would play its starters only for a half.

And in the second half, quarters would be reduced to eight minutes, running time, if Montclair Prep was ahead by more than 40 points.

It was 41-0 at halftime.

Mercifully.

“I felt there was a need for (the running clock),” Underwood said after the game ended just minutes after 9 p.m.

“There was no need for them to score 90 points. That’s not the kind of thing you do with young kids.”

Montclair Prep Coach George Giannini agreed.

“We work real hard all week to play football,” Giannini said. “But there are certain things called sportsmanship.

“It gave our kids a chance to play who aren’t normally starters.”

And so the game went on. But it was over before it even started.

Truthfully, what do you want out of a school whose band members outnumber its football players?

But about 150 spectators watched in numbed silence as the Mountie running tandem of junior Derek Sparks--who was ranked sixth in the state in rushing entering the game--and senior Michael Jones--who was the Valley’s fifth-ranked rusher--ran early and often.

Sparks had 170 yards and three touchdowns in 12 carries to boost his season total to 1,049 yards and 20 scores in 97 carries. He also caught a 12-yard pass for another score. Jones gained 114 yards in nine carries and scored once to give him 770 yards and nine touchdowns in 94 carries this year.

As for Marshall Fundamental? Well, the Eagles gained more yards in total offense from a late-hit penalty on the Mounties than they did the rest of the game.

The final totals: penalty, 15 yards; Marshall Fundamental offense, three yards.

After the carnage, Underwood kept it in perspective. After all, his team has been ravaged by injuries, attrition and eligibility problems.

“It’s just a numbers game,” he said of the mismatch.

Unfortunately for him, and all present, the numbers, like the game, were woefully lopsided.