COMMUNITY COLLEGE NOTES / IRENE GARCIA : Weems Quickly Turning Harbor College Into a Winner

Don Weems will try to become the first Harbor College football coach in 25 years to lead the Seahawks to a 3-0 start when the Seahawks travel to Woodland Hills on Saturday for a Western State Conference game against Pierce College (0-2).

The last time Harbor went 3-0 to start a season was in 1965 when Scrappy Rhea’s squad started 5-0. That team won the Lions Bowl in Santa Maria and finished 8-2. Only two other times (1954 and 1964) has Harbor won its first three games.

“I wasn’t aware of that,” Weems said. “I’ll have to look into that. I had no idea.”

He does however, know that his team is a lot stronger than last year’s club, which struggled to a 3-7 record. Last week’s upset over 12th-ranked L.A. Southwest helped earn Harbor a No. 13 ranking in the state.

“Quite frankly, I expected to win the game against Southwest,” said Weems, a former defensive coordinator at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. “I know it sounds arrogant, but I did. We’re a better team than we were last year.”

Weems attributes Harbor’s success to a stronger and bigger offensive line and a field of solid defensive backs. The line includes sophomore tight end Mike Whitman (6-feet, 225 pounds, San Pedro High), guards Sergio Godinez (6-3, 235, Carson High) and Maurice Verdugo (6-6, 285, Long Beach Poly), center Tony Ross (5-11, 225, Gardena High) and tackles James Conlon (6-3, 275, Long Beach Poly) and Tony Smullen (6-3, 265, Hawthorne High).

“Those guys are just learning how to play the game with intensity,” Weems said. “They’re all very strong, big kids.”

Harbor’s top defensive player is sophomore safety Ricky Bradford (5-11, 175), who gained 20 pounds over the summer, and Casey Causey (6-2, 180), Harbor’s top returning back. The Seahawks also have two talented cornerbacks in freshmen Vincent Gardner (6-3, 190) and Carlos Roberts (6-2, 180). Tyrone Futch (6-1, 210), a sophomore from San Pedro High, has also been impressive at strong safety.

“The main thing is that we’ve upgraded physically and we have returning experience,” Weems said.

Sounds pretty simple.

A couple of local newcomers teamed with a few regulars has proven to be a winning formula for El Camino’s men’s and women’s cross-country teams. The women look powerful while the men are much improved from last season.

After opening with a solid victory at the Mira Costa Invitational, the women swept last week’s South Coast Conference dual meet and ended with a 4-0 SCC record. The Warriors have already beaten cross-country powerhouse and defending state champ Mt. San Antonio College twice this season.

Sophomore Diana Tracy, who placed third at last year’s state meet, is the Warriors’ top returner. Sophomores Sharette Garcia and Carla Swaim are No. 2 and 3. Garcia is a state champion 800 and 1,500-meter runner and a member of El Camino’s state champion 1,600-meter relay team.

Two Mira Costa High graduates, both in their mid-30s, will add depth to this year’s team. Mary Ludlow and Mary Redlitz are Coach Dean Lofgren’s top recruits.

His top newcomers however, are on the men’s side. El Camino added four talented freshman who, along with two sophomores, have brought the Warriors success early on.

El Camino won its opener at Mira Costa and finished the SCC dual meet with a 3-1 mark. Sophomores David Haskell and Mike Ward are the Warriors top runners so far. Freshmen Ryan Winn (Narbonne High), Julio Moreno (Venice High), Richard Raya (Carson High) and Troy Rowtham (Leuzinger High) will add depth.

“We’ve had great teams in the past, but I’d say we’re very solid and very tight,” Lofgren said. “This is as tight a group and as talented a group as we’ve had here at ECC. Now it’s just a matter of keeping them healthy and they’ll do very well.”

Forget the weight room and the heavy running. John Featherstone believes the key to a team’s success is developing the mind and getting it in shape, much like the body. El Camino’s successful football coach should know. In the past four years, his teams have gone 33-2-1.

“Our kids have two good work days during the week and the rest of the time we work on the mental side of the game,” said Featherstone, in his sixth season at El Camino. “Tuesdays and Wednesdays are our only tough days. Those are the only days we pad up. We have 2 1/2-hour practices and they’re very productive.”

The rest of the week is spent on mental preparation. Featherstone and his assistants go through films and conduct classroom meetings with players during that time.

“Good teams are teams with mental discipline,” Featherstone said. “How well you play with the mind and the heart is the kind of athlete we look for here.”

The top two winningest active community college football coaches are from California and both coach in the Mission Conference. Fullerton’s Hal Sherbeck, in his 30th season at a community college, leads the list with a 228-65-8 mark. His Fullerton team is 2-0 going into this week’s game against Pasadena.

Saddleback’s Ken Swearingen, who coached at El Camino from 1962-1975, is the second winningest coach with a 214-65-6 mark in his 29th season. His team is 0-2 after falling to El Camino in last week’s Mission Conference opener.

Two other California coaches, in their 25th seasons, are among the nation’s top 10. Golden West’s Ray Shackleford is 138-92-9 and Santa Rosa’s Marv Mays is 181-77-3.

Talk about a positive change. West L.A. got a new football coach, Rod Hager, and the Oilers are undefeated. They kicked off the season by breaking a 21-game losing streak and are 2-0 after last week’s 34-17 upset of Ventura.

Hager was the football coach at West Hills College in Coalinga before replacing Dick Jones this season. He left because football was discontinued at West Hills.

West L.A.’s new success means Southwest and Harbor can no longer take their WSC cellar opponent for granted. Southwest plays host to West L.A. on Nov. 17 and Harbor plays at West L.A. on Oct. 13.

“When the program folded at West Hills, he brought a lot of good players with him,” Weems said. “I know they’re better than last year.”