Franklin Discovers There Is Electricity With Return to Airways

Last season, Franklin High School finished 11-1 and reached the City Division 3-A football semifinals behind Lamont Lovett, who rushed for more than 2,000 yards.

This season, Franklin (5-1) is winning with a passing offense, which pleases Coach Armando Gonzales.

“Last year, we started out as a passing team but turned into a rushing team because Lamont was so dominant,” Gonzales said. “We became complacent with him once he started turning in one 200-yard rushing game after another.

“We had always featured a passing offense because we’d never had the luxury of a great tailback.”

With Lovett now a University of Arizona freshman, Gonzales has returned to his first love, throwing the football.

In six games, the Panthers have passed for more than 1,800 yards, and senior quarterback Santiago Alvarez has emerged as one of the City’s best passers.

In Franklin’s 52-0 rout of Northern Conference rival Lincoln Friday night, Alvarez completed 23 of 38 passes for 322 yards with five touchdowns.

“Santiago was a young kid last season who made a lot of first-year (starting varsity) mistakes,” said Gonzales, who was a receiver in high school and college. “This season, he has confidence and experience gained from last year.”

At 5-feet-11 and 160 pounds, Santiago does not fit the mold of a quarterback. However, his passing more than measures up.

In six games, he has thrown for 1,750 yards and 22 touchdowns, and has completed 142 of 237 passes. Three times, he has passed for five touchdowns in a game and has connected for at least one score in every game this season. Also, he has had only five passes intercepted.

Santiago said he knew last summer that he would play a more important role than he did last season.

“I knew that we’d be throwing more this season because Coach told me we would every time we talked during the off-season,” Santiago said. “It is a 180-degree turnaround from last season because now everyone is dependent on me.”

Gonzales said that Franklin’s early loss to City Division 4-A power Granada Hills was the turning point of the Panthers’ season.

“That game was important to us because we gained confidence in that we can throw the ball on anyone,” he said. “Granada Hills has probably the best secondary in the city, and we threw for over 200 yards on them. After that, we have just taken off.”

Gonzales is happy with Franklin’s progress this season. The offensive line has been impressive in that Santiago has been sacked only five times and has had ample time to complete passes to 10 receivers.

The Panthers’ best receiver is senior Lamar Lovett, Lamont’s brother.

Lovett, who also starts at safety, has caught 46 passes for 611 yards and scored eight touchdowns. On defense, he has three interceptions.

Other key offensive players for the Panthers, who have a 25-2 record in their last 27 games, are running back Benny Gallo, with 31 catches for 323 yards, and Adrian Wong, with 28 catches for 340 yards and five touchdowns.

Franklin’s defense has also been outstanding.

Ralph Ortiz is a mainstay in the secondary, with three interceptions returned for touchdowns this season, and 6-foot-2, 235-pound noseguard Phang Huo is the leader of the interior line. They are two main reasons the Panthers have given up only 28 points.

With a stingy defense and an offense that has made a smooth transition from running to passing, Franklin is a strong contender to win its second City championship in the last three years.

South Gate, the defending City 3-A champion, will play host to Locke in a key Central League game Friday night. Last season, the Rams defeated Locke, 9-8, with a late goal-line stand.

The Rams, who have the longest winning streak in Southern California with 20 consecutive victories, are led by running back Ivan Wilson, last season’s City 3-A player of the year.

South Gate improved to 6-0 Friday with a 34-8 victory over Fremont as Wilson and fullback Marcos Villa each rushed for more than 130 yards.

Locke is regrouping after a slow start. The Saints are 1-2-2, with losses to Wilmington Banning and Garfield.

“We had a tough start,” Locke Coach E.C. Robinson said. “We had some players (running back James Fuller and linebacker Mark Thompson) hurt in our game against Banning and we are now just getting healthy.”

Locke is coming off a 42-0 victory over Jordan last Friday, a game that was stopped at the end of the third quarter because of unusual circumstances.

“There was a minor fight early in the game, and two of (Jordan’s) key players were thrown out along with one of ours,” Robinson said. “Jordan was really hurt because they already had two key players out because of injury. So, their coach (Darrell Devinity) asked me if it was OK not to continue.

“After checking with our administrators, we decided to not continue. The kids wanted to keep on playing, but Jordan just did not have the numbers to do so. It was not because of any kind of gang fight or anything like that.”

Prep Notes

In Southern Section football action last weekend, Chris Alexander gained more than 100 yards in Hawthorne’s 14-6 Bay League victory over Rolling Hills . . . Roger Boden rushed for 239 yards in Los Altos’ 29-6 Sierra League victory over Baldwin Park. . . . Ron Rivers of San Gorgonio rushed for 212 yards as the Spartans upset Riverside Rubidoux, 32-27, in a Citrus Belt League game. . .In City action, Kevin Hicks of Crenshaw rushed for 186 yards in the Cougars 35-14 victory over San Pedro. Hicks has 1,195 yards for the season.

In basketball news, Pepperdine received oral commitments from Dana Jones, a 6-6 forward from North Hollywood, and Rodney Sanders, a 6-3 guard from Fairfax. . . . Ryan Jamison of Los Angeles Loyola, a heavily recruited 6-11 center, announced last week that he will attend California.

TIMES’ TOP TEAMS

Southern Section

No. School, League Record 1. Fontana, Citrus Belt 7-0-0 2. Long Beach Poly, Moore 5-1-0 3. Los Altos, Sierra 7-0-0 4. Lompoc, Northern 7-0-0 5. Hawthorne, Bay 7-0-0 6. Serra, Camino Real 7-0-0 7. El Toro, South Coast 7-0-0 8. Loyola, Del Rey 6-1-0 9. Palos Verdes, Bay 6-1-0 10. Thousand Oaks, Marmonte 6-0-1 11. Arcadia, Pacific 6-1-0 12. Paramount, San Gabriel Valley 6-1-0 13. Los Alamitos, Empire 6-1-0 14. Capistrano Valley, South Coast 7-0-0 15. Montclair Prep, Alpha 7-0-0

City

No. School, League Record 1. Carson, Pacific 4-1-0 2. Banning, Pacific 5-0-1 3. Granada Hills, North Valley 6-0-0 4. South Gate, Central 6-0-0 5. Dorsey, Pacific 3-2-0 6. Franklin, Northeast 5-1-0 7. Westchester, Metro 5-1-0 8. San Fernando, North Valley 3-3-0 9. Grant, Valley East 6-0-0 10. Venice, Western 6-0-0