Cast Changes, but Lincoln Still Plays Lead Role

Don’t be fooled, the changing facade of the 2-A Central League is just that--a facade. Although two members have dropped out, one dropped in and three teams have new coaches this year, the end result is likely to remain the same.

Lincoln is expected to win at the end.

Let’s look at the changes.

Christian High and St. Augustine High are out, having defected to the smaller-school Harbor League.

Madison is in, having dropped down from the 3-A Eastern League where it compiled losing records for three consecutive years. Many feel the Warhawks were at a disadvantage being a relatively small school (enrollment 1,600) in a league where the average enrollment is 2,012.

The three new coaches are at: Madison, where Steve Jacobocci takes over for Steve Miner (who is now at Kearny); San Diego, where Art Anderson replaces Scotty Harris (who stepped down for personal reasons); and at Crawford, where Chuck Fawcette filled the job vacated by Dan Armstrong (who left because of burnout).

The two coaches who remain from previous seasons are John Johnson, who is entering his 10th year at Hoover, and Vic Player, who has guided Lincoln since 1974.

Those two coaches may have the most difficult time. All the game plans they’ve drawn, all the preparation they’ve done to get ready for San Diego, Crawford and Madison in the past are no longer of any use.

“With three new coaches in the league,” San Diego’s Anderson said, “I think what will happen is you’ll see different philosophies, different offenses, different defenses, so the two who are back will have to spend a little more time preparing for three games.”

Lincoln’s Player agreed.

“I just sat down today and threw out all my scouting cards,” he said last week.

Under Harris, San Diego ran out of the Delaware Wing T. Now with Anderson, the offense will run the option out of the I formation.

There will also be drastic changes at Crawford, where Fawcette, a linebacker with the Chargers until he sustained a neck injury in 1988, will guide the defense and Dan Henning Jr., the Charger coach’s son, will work with the offense.

The coaching change aside, Madison hopes to be more successful simply because of its drop from 3-A to 2-A.

“We would, because of our numbers (about 30 players), have a tough time in the Eastern League,” Jacobocci said. “But now I expect to do better than 5-5.”

That may be difficult. No other Central League coach really expects much out of the Warhawks. They have suffered from a deficiency in talent ever since 1986 when they went 7-4 and made it to the opening round of the Section playoffs where they lost to eventual 3-A champion Fallbrook, 55-6.

Jacobocci says the starters on this year’s squad are sound, yet they may not be enough to live down recent Madison squads.

“Madison didn’t do too well the last two years we played them,” said Lincoln’s Player. “They weren’t even as good as Crawford, or Saints, or Christian.”

Even Jacobocci conceded that his team’s drop in competition may not be enough to resurrect the program.

“It won’t be a cakewalk,” he said.

In fact, the odds-on favorite to be the stiffest challenge for Lincoln was St. Augustine. That won’t happen now, not with the Saints becoming the team to beat in the newly formed Harbor League.

Yet there may be another challenge. Last year, in fact, Crawford finished in a virtual tie with Lincoln atop the league with a record of 4-1 (both teams were also 8-2 overall), but was declared league champ by virtue of defeating Lincoln during the season, 13-6. It came on a day when Lincoln was without four key starters, but it was a victory nonetheless.

This year Fawcette is high on his team’s chances. He has five starters on both offense and defense returning, plus a bevy of returners who did not start last year but have shown solid skills in practice.

And it didn’t do any harm to the confidence of other Central League teams when Lincoln opened its season in Hawaii August 25 by getting bombarded by St. Louis of Honolulu, 47-13.

“I can’t explain that,” Player said. “We just looked so awful.”

But Player said the performance was not indicative of things to come.

“We’re still Lincoln,” he added. “We’re still fast and we’re still going to be tough.”

CENTRAL LEAGUE

Defending champion: Crawford (8-2 in 1989, 4-1 in league).

Who should win: Lincoln (8-2, 4-1).

Who could win: Crawford and San Diego (3-7, 0-5).

Who should look toward 1991: Madison (4-6, 1-4), Hoover (5-5, 3-2).

The Game: Lincoln vs. Crawford at Mesa College, Nov. 10. During the 1980s, the winner of this matchup always claimed the league title. This year, it’s the final game of the season.

Impact players: Marvin Green, Lincoln cornerback/wide receiver, 6-1, 185. Green made 80 percent of Lincoln’s tackles in opening game in Hawaii, had a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and caught five passes. Roger Blake, Hoover linebacker, 6-4, 220. A Times second team all-county pick a year ago. Phil Parker, Crawford quarterback/free safety, 5-10, 175.

New faces: Terrence Luckett, Crawford linebacker, 6-0, 175. Caused Coach Chuck Fawcette “to almost swallow my whistle” when he timed Luckett at 4.5 in the 40 on grass in L.A. Gear fashion high tops. Ryan McClintock, Madisonlinebacker, 5-9, 180. Coach Steve Jacobocci wishes he had an entire team of players with McClintock’s instincts.

Last word: San Diego, 10-49-1 over the last six years, has several players up from last year’s 8-2 JV team.