NOTEBOOK / SEAN WATERS : Loss Stirs Pleasant Memories in Garner

Eleven years ago, a Culver City tailback named Rob Garner ran behind two behemoth linemen and carried the Centaurs to a 13-0 record and a Northwestern Conference championship.

Fillmore Coach Curtis Garner remembers that season well. He began his coaching career as the Centaurs’ assistant line and special-team’s coach.

And that unstoppable force was his younger brother, Rob, currently a Fillmore assistant.

Last Friday in the Southern Section Division IX football quarterfinals, the Garners watched their defense get dragged across the field by two freight trains named Sparks and Jones.

Derek Sparks had 241 yards of total offense and four touchdowns and Michael Jones rushed for 134 yards to give Montclair Prep a 35-8 victory.

“We ran into a good team with two potential Division I players,” Garner said. “We thought we did a good job preparing our players. We had Montclair Prep’s offense down cold.”

“It was pretty frustrating,” he added. “We would penetrate past their offensive line and they would run you down.”

But Montclair Prep’s offense was one-dimensional.

“It was very predictable what they did,” Garner said. “One ran right off guard, the other left. It was no great mystery. It was a matter of trying to stop them.”

Frontier Flashes: The Tri-Valley League doesn’t have to worry about the resurgence of the Fillmore program because the Flashes will move to the Frontier League next season.

That means Garner will spend more time watching game films and urging players to participate in off-season weight programs and passing leagues.

“My wife knows she’ll be seeing less of me,” Garner said. “We don’t belong in the Frontier League. Obviously, the level of competition is much higher.

“Hopefully, more kids will get excited about playing football at Fillmore after the success we had this season.”

Bowling: Whereas bowl games generate thousands of dollars for Division I schools, junior college bowl games are--not surprisingly--often billed as a learning experience. In that vein, Ventura College (7-3) will get a course in budgeting on a shoestring when it travels to San Diego to meet Palomar (6-4) in the Hall of Fame Bowl on Saturday.

Ventura is hoping to break even on its expenses for the trip, which involves a bus ride and overnight stay. Ventura Athletic Director Jerry Dunlap said it will cost the athletic department between $3,000-4,000 for transportation, food and lodging for the players and coaches.

“We hope to break even,” Dunlap said. “If we weren’t staying the night, we might make some money.”

Sixty percent of the gate receipts go directly to the athletic committee sponsoring the game and the remaining 40% will be divided between the two schools. Between 2-5,000 fans are expected to attend.

Add bowling: Ventura is one of five Western State Conference teams that will compete in area bowl games.

Bakersfield (8-0-2) will meet Taft (8-0-1) in the Shrine Potato Bowl; L. A. Southwest (7-2-1) will meet College of the Desert (8-2) in the Southern California Bowl; Valley (5-5) will play Santa Barbara (6-4) in the Western State Conference Bowl; and the Orange County Classic will feature Moorpark (9-1) and Rancho Santiago (9-1).

“I think it’s a sign that our conference is tough,” Ventura Coach Phil Passno said. “It’s coming close to being one of the strongest in the state.”

Football honors: Tom Briggs of Moorpark College has been named a first-team J. C. Grid-Wire All-America at linebacker. One of three linebackers selected, Briggs, a 6-foot-6, 230-pound sophomore from Liverpool, N.Y., led Moorpark with 19 1/2 sacks and an additional 16 1/2 behind-the-line tackles.

Moorpark running back Freddie Bradley was selected to the second team in what Grid Wire publisher Hank Ives called a remarkably deep year for running backs. A Hueneme High graduate, Bradley (6-1, 205) led the state in scoring and rushed for 1,266 yards.

Ventura’s Kyron Johnson (5-9, 174) a sophomore defensive back from Ventura High, was an honorable-mention choice.

Basketball blitz: The 21st Moorpark College basketball tournament will be held at Moorpark, beginning today and running through Saturday. Moorpark (4-2) will open against Rio Hondo College tonight at 7. Oxnard College plays San Jose City College at 5 p.m., and Ventura plays Pasadena at 9 p.m.

The championship game will be Saturday at 8 p.m.

Coaching change: Scott Randles has been hired to run the Oak Park High baseball program, filling a vacancy created when Ron Veres resigned in September.

The vacancy was created when Veres resigned as football and baseball coach Sept. 6, citing philosophical differences with the administration.

Add coaching: Moorpark High Athletic Director Rich Uphoff will coach the boys’ wrestling team this season after failing to find a successor to Fred Fredette.

Moorpark begins the season with an overnight trip to the Oceanside tournament beginning Friday.

Jeff Riley and staff writer Brendan Healey contributed to this notebook.