Another Velasco Makes Burbank Sit Upright and Pay Attention

Alfonso Velasco is following in the kicking shoes of some pretty impressive folks as he begins his high school career at Burbank.

Brother Alfredo Velasco, 23, was the first in the family to play football at Burbank. He went on to kick at UCLA from 1986-89 and ranks second on the all-time Bruin list for field goals (51) and scoring (267 points). In 1988, he made 17 of 19 field goals to set the UCLA single-season record for percentage (.895).

Salvador, 22, a two-time Western State Conference selection at Glendale College and now a senior kicker at the University of Hawaii, was next.

Abelardo, 21, was the third. The Cal State Northridge senior has made 46 consecutive points after touchdown for the Matadors.

Abelardo has not missed a PAT since Sept. 10, 1988 and holds the Northridge record for extra points with 85. He is only five shy of the Matador record for field goals in a career with 25.

But Alfonso, 14, who has been getting some help from Abelardo on the weekends, might be the most versatile of the four.

Alfonso is the quarterback, as well as the punter and kicker, for the Burbank freshman team.

“He kicks real nice,” Burbank Coach Randy Stage said of Alfonso, who has a 65-yard punt this season.

He is accurate, too.

Alfonso has converted all eight extra-point attempts this season and all three field-goal attempts, including a 40-yard kick.

Take a number, please: Alfredo, Salvador and Abelardo wore jersey No. 10 while at Burbank, but the number was retired by the school after Abelardo graduated. Alfonso wears No. 11.

Next of kin: Eugene Saldana was Burbank’s kicker two seasons ago and his brother Adam handled the chores last season. The Saldanas, who were All-Southern Section 3-A Division soccer players at Burbank, are the Velascos’ cousins.

Wild thing: Sometimes, Cleveland High quarterback Dave Erhardt seems a tad self-destructive.

Cleveland Coach Steve Landress said Erhardt needs to start acting like a quarterback and “not like a linebacker.”

In Thursday’s 14-14 tie with Monroe, Erhardt was knocked out of the game with a bruised hip after taking on a Monroe defender. Landress said that Erhardt might not play this week.

Erhardt apparently likes to dish out punishment too. After a Cleveland drive stalled earlier in the game, Erhardt punted the ball and was among the first players downfield. Landress said Erhardt hit the Monroe return man so hard the player was knocked out.

Mr. Eclectic: Spotted on a shelf in Notre Dame Coach Kevin Rooney’s campus office were several cassettes.

Alongside tapes by heavy metal rockers Van Halen, the Scorpions, Guns ‘N Roses, Def Leppard and Iron Maiden was one labeled “Joe Paterno.”

Everyone knows it’s windy: The notorious Quartz Hill wind could play a role in Friday’s game between Quartz Hill and Hart in Lancaster. Known for whipping into the Antelope Valley with a vengeance, the “Hawk of the Hill” is something that has turned Quartz Hill into a team that loves to run the ball.

Hart, however, likes to air it out. And if that autumn wind is kicking up Friday night, the Indians may be in trouble. Then again, if Hart quarterback Ryan Connors really is the next coming of Jimmy Bonds, the wind may not be a factor.

Rebel Coach John Albee likes to tell the story of the time in the mid-’80s that a Bonds-led Hart team came to Quartz Hill on a night when the wind was whipping fiercely.

“I swear it was coming in at 30 m.p.h,” Albee marveled. “And it didn’t faze Bonds one bit. He was still hitting his out patterns. Unbelievable.”

Hart won that game, and has beaten Quartz Hill six years in a row.

Full strength: Antelope Valley Coach Brent Newcomb will be the first to say that the school’s current talent pipeline is not up to the standard of years past. But he’ll also be the first to say that one can’t judge the 1990 Antelopes until the team is going at full throttle. This week’s clash with powerful El Toro may be the first glimpse of fully healthy Antelopes.

The key is at quarterback, where junior Mike Fossati, tabbed as the starter throughout the preseason, will make his first start.

Fossati separated his shoulder in practice Sept. 1 and didn’t return to action until two weeks ago. Even then, he was relegated to duty at wide receiver while he regained strength in his shoulder.

In the meantime, the Antelopes have remained ground creatures, passing just 21 times in a 1-3 start against some of the Southland’s toughest teams. Fossati’s return, however, may give the team a new dimension.

“His shoulder’s still tender, so we’re taking it as we can,” Newcomb said. “When he’s healthy, we expect to throw more. It should be a real shot in the arm for us.”

So to speak.

Injuries: Village Christian will be without a large portion of its ground game Saturday against Southern California Christian. Main cogs Chad Everett (272 yards, three touchdowns) and Rick Nickels (112 yards, five touchdowns) were injured in Village Christian’s 14-14 tie with Camp Kilpatrick.

Nickels, who sustained a knee injury, is expected to be out for about two weeks, but should be ready for the Crusaders’ Alpha League opener against L.A. Baptist on Oct. 13. Everett has a hip bruise and will sit out this week.

Wrangler: The Fillmore defense is sure to garner its share of attention from Frontier League teams this season, and not just because the coach is named Curtis Garner.

The Flashes are the stingiest of defenders, yielding just 115 yards a game. Standing tall in that crew is senior linebacker Jason Rangel.

Garner says that Rangel is a potential All-Southern Section selection who leads the team in tackles.

The coach said that whatever the opposing offense is running, Fillmore sets up a Rangel station. As a result, he has been chosen the team’s defensive player of the game three times in Fillmore’s 4-0 start.

“He’s the kid who has been holding us together,” Garner said.

Add Fillmore: But don’t get too excited about Fillmore’s 4-0 start, says the coach. Fillmore has notched wins over Pater Noster (26-0), Oak Park (17-0), Western Christian (37-6) and Paraclete (21-7). Traditional Frontier League favorite Santa Clara, meanwhile, has stumbled to a 1-3 start with losses to Rio Mesa (34-21), Agoura (3-0) and Santa Ynez (29-11).

None of this is lost on Garner.

“You always have to take into consideration who they’re playing,” Garner said. “I mean Marmonte League (Agoura) and Channel League (Rio Mesa) teams are heavy hitters. They’re playing some big teams, not a Pater Noster or a Western Christian.”

Getting his kicks: William Rivera had dreamed of kicking the winning field goal at the end of a game, but he never thought the opportunity would come so soon.

With two seconds remaining and Burbank trailing Beverly Hills, 25-24, last week, Rivera, a soccer player participating in his first football game, nailed an apparent game-winning 36-yard field goal.

“I wasn’t ready for it,” Rivera said. “I thought that I would have to wait at least a couple of games.”

It looks as if Rivera will have to wait. Officials ruled that time had expired and nullified Rivera’s kick.

“I was positive that I saw two seconds on the clock when I kicked it,” said Rivera, who made a 40-yard field goal earlier in the game and was perfect in three extra-point attempts. “I thought we had won and I raised my hands and started running around, but then I saw Beverly Hills run onto the field and heard the officials blow the whistle and knew something was wrong.”

Nevertheless, the whole experience was unforgettable for Rivera, who was persuaded by friends to try out for the football team two weeks ago.

“I was so nervous that I upchucked on the way there,” said Rivera, who brought the field-goal tee out for the opening kickoff. “I didn’t know what to do. There are so many rules I still don’t understand.”

Words of wisdom: Some advice for Paraclete Coach Jim Nottoli as the Spirits prepare for Friday’s game with Cantwell: Don’t ask Maranatha Coach Dave Hogan for help.

Mark Lovett, the St. Genevieve coach did, and he regretted it.

“He told us what to expect and we prepared for it all week,” Lovett said. But when Lovett got a look at the Cantwell junior varsity, whose game preceded the varsity contest, he began to wonder if he had come to the right school.

“They were doing something completely different,” Lovett said. “We tried to come up with a strategy real quick and I was writing formations on the locker-room door, but we were down 20-0 before we could figure out how to stop it.”

St. Genevieve lost, 27-12.

Sign language: Harvard Coach Gary Thran likes to keep his players involved.

In Harvard’s 34-28 victory over La Canada, Greg Peters used hand gestures from the sidelines to signal the plays to quarterback Steve Kezirian.

Kezirian threw for 109 yards--including a 50-yard touchdown pass--in the first half.

In the second half, Kezirian was on the sidelines gesturing to Peters, who was playing quarterback.

“They’re both very close in ability,” Thran said. “We want to give them both equal playing time and this was a way to help them keep their heads in the game. They have a lot of fun and came up with the signals themselves.

“I can’t even figure them out.”

Baseball note: Simi Valley pitcher Bill Treadway, 15, who last season became the first freshman to pitch on the Pioneer varsity, will rest his pitching arm for six weeks because of pain in his shoulder.

An exam has disclosed that Treadway, whose fastball was clocked in the low-80 m.p.h. range last summer, will not need surgery.

Staff writers Steve Elling, Kirby Lee, Brian Murphy and Jeff Riley contributed to this notebook.