Next Generation of Backs Will Carry On : Football: Ground game again is on solid footing in run-happy league.

East Valley League teams typically feature strong running attacks and this year should be no different, considering the league’s roster of talented ballcarriers.

The league lost its heavyweights with the graduation of Sylmar’s Jerome Casey and Grant’s Marlowe Lewis and Shawn Booker. But all four of the league’s teams--Poly and North Hollywood are the other two--have potentially high-profile running backs.

North Hollywood’s Leon Gable and Poly’s Jonathan Campbell are at the forefront of the returning running backs. Gable, a scatback at 5-foot-7 and 145 pounds, is expected to average 30 carries a game, according to Coach Fred Grimes.

“He’ll be the offense,” Grimes said. “We will try to throw more, but only to get the ball to him in different places.”

Gable rushed for 1,081 yards and 10 touchdowns last year after missing the first four games of the season because of an ankle injury.

“He’s not real big, but he has ankles like a racehorse and that’s what tweaked him last year,” said Grimes, who has been making sure that Gable’s ankles are wrapped every day.

Poly has the league’s largest and most productive running back in Campbell, a 5-11, 190-pound senior who was the third-leading rusher in the City Section last year. Poly likely will keep the ball on the ground, and Campbell is the main reason. He rushed for 1,159 yards and 11 touchdowns last season. Only Kennedy’s Ontiwaun Carter and Sylmar’s Casey were more productive.

Casey, who rushed for 1,447 yards and scored 26 touchdowns last year, will be missed, but don’t feel sorry for the Spartans.

Sylmar has the league’s only returning quarterback in senior Danny Terry, who passed for 663 yards and six touchdowns last year. Terry is expected to run the option often; when he isn’t running the ball himself, he probably will be handing off to junior Tobius Bookens (6-0, 170), whom Coach Jeff Engilman said is as fast as Casey.

“(Bookens) has improved a great deal over the summer,” Engilman said. “He is going to be a major-type running back. He’ll surprise a lot of people this year and make people start to think about him.”

Even an average back would look extraordinary behind the strongest and most experienced offensive line in the league. Seniors Kenny Green (6-2, 235), Ezel Henry (6-1, 255), and Chris Schultz (6-0, 210)--all of whom were all-league selections last year--return.

It might be a long season for Grant without quarterback Lewis and running back Booker. With them, Grant generated 3,070 yards in offense, third best among City Section schools and more than 500 yards more than any other East Valley League team. But Grant Coach Bill Foster is quick to point to those who will take up the slack, including senior tailback Tony Johnson.

“We as a coaching staff think (Johnson) is as good a running back as there is in the league,” Foster said.

Lewis, who threw for more yardage than any other quarterback in the league last year (899 yards), has been replaced by senior Gerald Redmond (5-10, 165), a wide receiver last season. Redmond is expected to throw even more than Lewis, and his primary receivers will be senior Sargon Isaac (5-7, 145) and junior Eddie Moreno (5-7, 145).

EAST VALLEY LEAGUE

FINAL 1989 STANDINGS PROJECTED FINISH Grant 9-2, 6-1 Sylmar Sylmar 7-3, 5-2 North Hollywood North Hollywood 2-8, 2-5 Grant Poly 1-8-1, 0-6-1 Poly

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Player School Pos. Ht Wt Class Leon Gable North Hollywood TB 5-7 145 Sr. Jonathan Campbell Poly RB 5-11 190 Sr. Danny Terry Sylmar QB-FS 5-10 175 Sr. Kenny Green Sylmar C-LB 6-2 235 Sr. Mike Lewis North Hollywood DB-WR 5-11 185 Sr. Girmar Johnson Sylmar WR-S 6-2 185 Sr. Jeff Leedom North Hollywood LB-OT 6-3 190 Sr. Miguel Gonzales Grant TE-LB 6-2 215 Sr. Tony Johnson Grant TB 5-8 175 Sr. Jack Lovridge Poly DT 6-3 240 Sr.