PREP FOOTBALL SPOTLIGHT : FACTS, FIGURES AND COMMENTS FROM THIS WEEK’S GAMES

‘OUT OF CONTROL’

Frightening. Ugly. Embarrassing. They all describe a bench-clearing brawl that brought an early end to Friday night’s non-league game between Hawthorne and visiting Eisenhower High of Rialto.

The game, won by Eisenhower, 21-6, was called by officials with 4:59 remaining after players from both teams engaged in a free-swinging melee that was set off when Hawthorne’s players left their bench and stormed the field.

“I saw about 50 red jerseys running across the field totally out of control,” Eisenhower Coach Tom Hoak said. “Their whole program is out of control.”

The incident occurred after Eisenhower had scored its third touchdown to take a 15-point lead. Morell Ollis returned the kickoff, and several players began pushing and shoving near the Eisenhower sideline after the tackle.

But what appeared to be a mild skirmish turned into a donnybrook when Hawthorne’s players ran from their sideline. The brawl lasted about five minutes before coaches, officials and police could separate the combatants. Eisenhower remained on the field until the stadium was cleared.

Hawthorne Coach Goy Casillas said Saturday he would review films of the game before taking any possible disciplinary action against his players.

“I don’t want to blow it out of proportion,” Casillas said. “It was a hotly fought football game. There was a lot of good hitting on both sides. When you have a situation like that, emotions are high.

“(The fight) started on their sideline. If it happened on our sideline, maybe their team would have raced across the field.”

Casillas seemed more upset immediately following the game.

“It sure didn’t look like we were well-disciplined tonight,” he said. “We’ve never had that kind of problem before. This team is not going to have that type of behavior again.”

NO CLASS ACT

Before they were herded into the locker room, several Hawthorne players got up on benches and raised their helmets to the crowd, inciting Hawthorne’s fans into wild cheers.

Said an Eisenhower assistant coach: “That’s no class.”

BACK ON TRACK

Rolling Hills, which played dismally in a 29-8 loss to Mary Star two weeks ago, appears to have ironed out its problems after edging previously unbeaten West Torrance, 14-12, Friday afternoon at Rolling Hills.

“It’s unbelievable how much we have improved,” said Coach Gary Kimbrell. “We had a lot of inexperienced kids. Maybe some of them were fat-headed going into the first game. We let them know it.”

Rolling Hills tailback Robert Coulter, held to a career-low 36 yards in the opener, had his second consecutive impressive game, rushing for 213 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries. His 66-yard scoring run on the first play of the third quarter tied the game, and a two-point conversion pass from quarterback Bill DeMucci to tight end Matt Kuptz put the Titans ahead to stay, 8-6.

Coulter said he was a little apprehensive about playing a big, physical West team. But once the game got under way, his doubts faded.

“West has good size, but we weren’t intimidated,” he said. “We’re playing Titan ball now. We’re running hard and coming at ‘em. We can’t be stopped when we’re doing that.”

NO PASSING FANCY

Torrance, long known as a ball-control running team, has suddenly become one of the South Bay’s big passing teams.

The reason, says Coach Rich Busia, is the exceptional throwing ability of junior quarterback Jason Kendall, who passed for 198 yards and four touchdowns Friday night in the Tartars’ 25-21 come-from-behind victory over Redondo.

“We just haven’t had kids in the past who could throw like him,” Busia said. “We’ve never had anybody with his ability. That’s what we’re thankful for.”

MISSED CHANCE

Carson quarterback John Walsh, who tied a school record with four touchdown passes Friday in a 37-14 victory over Lynwood, almost had a record-setting fifth scoring throw.

In the first quarter with the ball at the Lynwood 41, Walsh hit wide receiver Fred Sims on a post pattern. But before Sims could score he was hit from behind at the three and fumbled the ball into the end zone, where Lynwood recovered.

In two games, Walsh has passed for 712 yards and five TDs. Do you think he regrets transferring from West Torrance?

STREAKS

--West Torrance fell to Rolling Hills, 14-12, ending its regular-season winning streak at 11 games.

--Bishop Montgomery beat Mira Costa, 21-20, to snap an eight-game losing streak.

--Banning fell to Pasadena Muir, 27-26, extending its losing streak to six games.

--Narbonne fell to Westchester, 18-3, extending its losing streak to nine games.

IN QUOTES

Eisenhower Coach Tom Hoak, on the bench-clearing brawl that marred the Eagles’ 21-6 victory at Hawthorne: “These kind of things take away from the victory a little bit. It was a frightening situation. I didn’t know what was going on for a while.”

North Torrance Coach Joe Austin, on his team refusing to shake hands with Morningside following a 34-0 loss because he felt the Monarchs were trying to run up the score: “That was wrong on my part. But I’ll talk to the Morningside coaches. I’ll apologize to them.”

Bishop Montgomery Coach Steve Carroll, on his team defeating Mira Costa, 21-20, for its first victory of the season: “It’s a big confidence builder going into Mission League play against Crespi (on Friday). The league is going to be so competitive. Every team is capable of beating us, and we can beat any team. We’re excited.”

South Torrance quarterback Allen Hook, on being sacked on a two-point conversion try with 1:40 remaining that sealed a 22-20 loss to Palos Verdes: “It was a pass (call), but I saw the guys covered, so I tried to cut back. But it didn’t work out for me.”

West Torrance co-Coach John Black, on the trouble his team had tackling Rolling Hills tailback Robert Coulter, who rushed for 213 yards and a touchdown in the Titans’ 14-12 victory: “If you take a shot at him, you better wrap him, up. He’s one heck of a good athlete.”

A look at some of this week’s top performers. PASSING

Player Comp. Att. Yds. TD John Walsh, Carson 12 22 337 4 Jason Kendall, Torrance 12 5 198 4 Todd Seneker, Chadwick 16 7 140 2 Steve Sarkisian, West Tor. 28 15 135 1 Rino Marconi, San Pedro 16 5 115 1 Jamil Williams, Hawthorne 13 7 101 0 Larr Roberts, Gardena 12 26 100 1

RUSHING

Player Carries Yards TD Robert Coulter, Rolling Hills 25 213 1 Marvin Johnson, Leuzinger 23 146 3 Alex Schultz, West Torrance 20 126 0 Don Smith, El Segundo 22 125 2 Anthony Nicholson, Banning 11 123 2 Carlos Hilliard, Torrance 25 116 0 Travis Davis, Banning 18 109 1 George Felactu, Palos Verdes 24 84 2

RECEIVING

Player Rec. Yards TD Coby Kaopua, Torrance 3 135 2 Abdul Muhammad, Carson 3 93 2 Theron Hill, Carson 4 73 0 Mac McKinnie, Chadwick 2 69 1 David Rosato, South Torrance 2 64 1 John Miller, Palos Verdes 4 61 0 Mork Bailey, Chadwick 2 58 1 Demetrius Boykins, Gardena 7 55 1 David Snakenborg, West Tor. 5 55 0 John Romero, West Torrance 6 50 0

INJURIES

Leuzinger, which played last week without five injured starters, lost two more players Friday night in a 19-7 victory over Gardena. Coach Steve Carnes said offensive tackle Eric Donnelly and linebacker Anthony Prickett each suffered dislocated shoulders. Carnes said Donnelly will be out one to two weeks and Prickett will be sidelined about four weeks.

HOW THE TOP 10 FARED

Rank Team Record Next Game 1 Carson 2-0-0 At Eisenhower (Sept. 28) 2 Hawthorne 2-1-0 At Gardena (Sept. 28) 3 Serra 1-0-0 At St. Paul (Sept. 28) 4 Palos Verdes 3-0-0 At Torrance (Sept. 27) 5 West Torrance 2-1-0 Morningside (Sept. 27) 6 Leuzinger 2-1-0 Cerritos at Gahr (Sept. 28) 7 Banning 0-2-0 At Taft (Sept. 27) 8 San Pedro 2-0-0 At Venice (Sept. 27) 9 Torrance 2-1-0 Palos Verdes (Sept. 27) 10 Redondo 2-1-0 At Centennial (Sept. 27)

CARSON SYNOPSIS: Beat Lynwood, 37-14; Quarterback John Walsh tied school record with four touchdown passes, two to wingback Abdul Muhammad. It was Coach Gene Vollnogle’s 300th career victory, 279 on varsity level. HAWTHORNE SYNOPSIS: Lost to Rialto Eisenhower, 21-6; Game was called with 4:59 remining after teams engaged in bench-clearing brawl. Hawthorne lost two fumbles to thwart drives, including one at Eisenhower one-yard line. SIERRA SYNOPSIS: Did not play. PALOS VERDES SYNOPSIS: Beat South Torrance, 22-20; Sea Kings, after squandering 22-7 lead, sacked South quarterback Allen Hook on two-point conversion try with 1:40 remaining. W. TORRANCE SYNOPSIS: Lost to Rolling Hills, 14-12; Warriors couldn’t stop Rolling Hills tailback Robert Coulter, who rushed for 213 yards and a touchdown, and missed chance to tie game when Bill DeMucci intercepted two-point conversion try with 2:35 left. LEUZINGER SYNOPSIS: Beat Gardena, 19-7; Tailback Marvin Johnson rushed for 146 yards and three touchdowns. BANNING SYNOPSIS: Lost to Pasadena Muir, 27-26; Pilots suffered second consecutive one-point loss when quarterback Anthony Nicholson overthrew tight end Lino Quintana on two-point conversion try with one minute remaining. SAN PEDRO SYNOPSIS: Beat North Hollywood, 28-14; Pirates opened 21-7 halftime lead with help from two touchdowns by Herb Whitaker and coasted in second half. TORRANCE SYNOPSIS: Beat Redondo, 25-21; Junior quarterback Jason Kendall rallied Tartars by passing for 198 yards and four touchdowns, including 13-yarder to fullback Scott Hagerman for game-winner early in fourth quarter. REDONDO SYNOPSIS: Lost to Torrance, 25-21; Sea Hawks missed chance to stay unbeaten by squandering leads of 14-0 and 21-12. * Rankings according to Times South Bay sportswriters’ poll.