Loyola Takes Another Run at Title It Hasn't Won for Last 14 Seasons

By LONNIE WHITE

Nov. 21, 1989 12 AM PT

This has been a relatively quiet season for Loyola High School’s football team, despite its success--the Cubs won their third consecutive Del Rey League title and advancement into the second round of the Southern Section’s Division I playoffs with a 9-1 record.

For most schools, this would be a banner season. But the Cubs have won six league title in the 1980’s and on Loyola’s Los Angeles campus, expectations run high. Last season, for instance, Loyola was undefeated and regarded as the top high school team in the nation before losing in the semifinals to La Puente Bishop Amat, 16-0.

So, Loyola finished last season with a disappointing 12-1 record, unsatisfactory only because the Cubs failed to win the Southern Section Division I championship, which they have not done in 14 seasons.

The pressure on this year’s team, though, was not as great as it was on its predecessor. Gone were such name players as Matt Butkus, Jimmy Klein and Johann Fuller. They were replaced with a team nickname of the Lunch Pail Gang.

Coach Steve Grady, who as a player led Loyola to its first Southern Section championship in 1962, is happy with the development of this year’s team.

“We have improved consistently as the season has gone on,” said Grady, who has coached at Loyola since 1973. “We have a bunch of guys who just work hard in games and in practice.”

A major reason for the Cubs’ success this season has been the play of Kahlil (Kio) McAlpin. He and teammate Kevin Dell’Amico were named Del Rey co-most valuable players.

The 5-foot-9, 163-pound McAlpin is a two-way starter for the Cubs, at tailback and cornerback. He has averaged better than six yards a carry in gaining 960 yards. Last Friday night, he rushed for 113 yards in 22 carries in the Cubs’ 35-7 win over Lakewood.

“Kio gets everything done with desire, hard work and determination,” Grady said. “He never leaves the field in our games. He plays practically every play on defense, offense and special teams.”

Loyola hopes that the addition of Dell’Amico in the starting backfield will open more holes for McAlpin. Dell’Amico is the team leader on defense from his linebacker position but has started at fullback the last three games for the Cubs.

“This is playoff time and we need to have Kevin in there because there are no more tomorrows,” Grady said. “He justs adds to our team whenever he is on the field.”

At quarterback for the Cubs is senior Brian Dennis, who does not have outstanding passing statistics but has shown that he is a winner. Dennis is 14-1 in games he has started and, behind an offensive line led by 6-3, 245-pound tackle Justin Yarro and 6-2, 235-pound center David Vida, has completed 55% of his passes.

Defensively, Loyola has only given up 69 points all season. Dell’Amico is the team leader in tackles, but defensive tackle Brian Zalewski has come on strong. In the secondary, McAlpin receives support from junior safety Corby Smith, who is USC Coach Larry Smith’s son.

Last season was the only year the Cubs have advanced beyond the second round in the playoffs in the last 10. With a tough test against Redlands Friday night at Glendale High School, the Cubs are hoping that their early playoff departure seasons are over.

In the City, this week marks the deadline for the 10-week grade report period which will make any student with a failing grade or an overall grade-point average below 2.0, ineligible for extracurricular activity.

Many City football coaches are upset over the possibility of losing players before the start of the playoffs Wednesday. There has even been talk of coaches boycotting the playoffs. Fairfax Co-Coach Ron Price said that the Lions will have to forfeit their opening-round game against El Camino Real of Woodland Hills because of too many ineligible players.

“We just do not have enough players to compete with,” Price said. “We will lose up to 14 starting positions because of ineligibility.”

Palisades Coach Jack Epstein, whose Dolphins received a bye in the City 4-A Division playoffs this week, is a strong opponent of the timing of the grade reports.

“I will probably lose 10 starting positions because of grade ineligibility this week,” said Epstein, whose Dolphins won the Metro League title last Friday night with a 26-24 win over Manual Arts.

“This really hurts small schools like us, because I only have 32 players on the team to begin with and after losing 10, I am down to using junior varsity or B players. In fact, some of the starting B players are ineligible, so I will be playing their backups.”

Epstein said he realizes that it is up to the student to stay eligible and that many times having a student fail is because not enough time was put into the class. But, he adds that more factors are sometimes involved.

“Many of our players are bused here, which takes away a lot of study time for them,” he said. “I have one starting player who lives in the mid-city and works nights every weekend. He is failing one class, so he won’t play in the playoffs for us.”

To help prevent any players from becoming ineligible, Palisades has a five-week grade check and a special tutoring program. However, Epstein believes that teachers also add to the problem.

“I coach football, but I am a teacher first. I know that you tend to grade harder earlier to let a student know they are struggling,” he said. “Teachers just do not give breaks for 10-week reports, compared to final grades. The City seems to forget that in order for a student to play, the student had to pass courses from their last grading period.

“I just feel that teams should finish the season with the team they started the season with, like it is everywhere else. Only the City has it so teams can be depleted when it comes playoff time for only grade reports. “

In the City Pacific League, Crenshaw and Wilmington Banning finished in a tie for the third and final playoff position. Under City rules, the teams had to play a 16-play tiebreaker Monday at LA Southwest College, despite Crenshaw’s 20-18 regular season victory over Banning. Crenshaw also won the tiebreaker, 6-0.

The tiebreaker consisted of each team having eight plays, with the ball starting on the 50-yard line and teams alternating offensive series. It is an awkward way to decide which is the better team to have in the playoffs.

To put it in perspective, it is like choosing the better distance runner between the winners of the New York and Los Angeles marathons by having them race 100 yards.

Prep Notes

Franklin quarterback Santiago Alvarez completed a record-breaking regular season last Friday with a five-touchdown performance in the Panthers’ 42-0 win over Eagle Rock. Alvarez finished with a state regular-season record of most touchdowns with 45. Three weeks ago, Alvarez tied a state record for touchdowns in a game with eight, in Franklin’s 57-0 victory over Verdugo Hills. For the season, he has passed for 3,052 yards while only giving up six interceptions, according to Franklin Coach Armando Gonzalez. Franklin receiver Lamar Lovett has 74 catches for 1,052 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Next season, Carson could have three college Division I-A or I-AA starting quarterbacks. George Malauulu, who led the Colts in 1987, is a redshirt freshman at Arizona and led the Pacific 10 in passing efficiency before suffering a knee injury three weeks ago; Fred Gatlin, who quarterbacked the Colts to the City title with Perry Klein last season, is a freshman starter at Nevada Reno and passed for 323 yards and three touchdowns two weekends ago in a 45-7 victory over Nevada Las Vegas; Klein, an All-City selection last season, redshirted at California this season and is a prime candidate to start next fall. In addition, current Colt Armin Youngblood appears headed to a Division I school next season. Youngblood tied Carson’s school record for touchdown passes in a season with 24, after throwing for two in the Colts’ 39-12 win over Crenshaw last Friday. Youngblood accounted for 26 of the Colts’ 39 points, by also rushing for a touchdown and four 2-point conversions.

Cable’s SportsChannel America will telecast a 11-game high school basketball schedule, with a semifinal doubleheader from the Los Angeles Tournament Friday, Dec. 15. SportsChannel will also telecast Artesia versus Santa Ana Mater Dei, two of the nation’s most highly regarded preseason teams, January 12, 1990. Artesia will be led by senior 6-foot-8 forward Ed O’Bannon, while Mater Dei is the defending Angelus League champion.

TIMES’ TOP TEAMS

City

Final Regular Season

No. School, League: Record

1. Carson, Pacific: 8-1-0

2. Granada Hills, North Valley: 10-0-0

3. Dorsey, Pacific: 5-3-0

4. Franklin, Northeast: 9-1-0

5. South Gate, Central: 8-0-1

6. Garfield, Eastern: 8-1-1

7. Venice, Western: 10-0-0

8. Crenshaw, Pacific: 6-4-0