PREP NOTES : El Segundo High Suspends Six Players : Football: Players will sit out one game for their involvement in brawl Friday night with Mary Star.

And the beat(ing) goes on . .

El Segundo High has suspended six football players, including three starters, for one game because of their involvement in a brawl Friday night with Mary Star, El Segundo Coach Steve Newell said.

A fight erupted at El Segundo after Eagle defensive back T.D. Mayer intercepted a Mary Star pass on the last play of the game to secure a 7-6 victory. The suspended players will sit out El Segundo’s nonleague game Saturday night against St. Monica at Culver City High.

“We’re making sure the message gets through loud and clear that we’re not going to let that happen,” said Newell, who would not identify the players.

The disciplinary action comes one week after Hawthorne suspended two players for the season in the aftermath of a brawl with Eisenhower High of Rialto on Sept. 21 at Hawthorne.

“These high school fights are getting a little out of hand,” Mary Star Athletic Director Pete Ornelas said. “We need to do something to remedy the problem. If we have to hand out suspensions, then suspensions it will be.”

However, as of Wednesday, Mary Star had taken no action against any of its players. Ornelas said the school was reviewing game films to determine if any players should be disciplined.

Mary Star Coach Mike Marinkovich does not believe the fight was serious and said he is against handing out suspensions.

“I’m sure (El Segundo) wants us to suspend players,” he said. “But six players seem to be a lot for the type of fight it was. It was over before it started. It wasn’t a vicious, ugly thing.”

A Times reporter covering the game said both teams appeared to be equally at fault for the fight.

Fortunately for El Segundo, Brett Newell is not among the players who will miss Saturday’s game. If there’s one player the Eagles cannot afford to lose, it’s Newell.

The 6-foot, 170-pound senior plays quarterback, handles the kicking and punting and can fill in at safety in a pinch.

“You hear his name quite a bit over the P.A. (public address) system,” said Coach Newell, his father.

It wasn’t always that way. Brett Newell opened last season as the Eagles’ quarterback, but was benched after they started 0-3. Needless to say, the father benching his own son created some tension in the Newell household.

“Basically, I took him out because we weren’t winning,” Newell said. “I think he would have really blossomed as a quarterback last year, but I felt I owed it to the next guy (Tom Cover), who was a senior.”

El Segundo won five of its last seven games to finish second in the Santa Fe League and reach the playoffs.

This season, though, there is no denying Brett Newell’s importance to the team. He has completed 58% of his passes for 241 yards and a touchdown, and his running was instrumental in Friday’s victory over Mary Star. As a kicker, he has three field goals, including a school-record 52-yarder two weeks ago in a 24-17 loss to Garey of Pomona. He is right-handed, but kicks left-footed.

“He kicks 64-yarders in practice,” Coach Newell said. “He’s pretty darn consistent. When the right moment happens, we’re going to unleash him.”

Brett Newell, who was named after El Segundo’s first family--the Bretts--is more well-known as a baseball player. He played third base for the Eagles’ CIF 2-A runner-up team last season and started at first base when they won the 2-A title in 1989.

“Baseball is first, but he’s been getting a lot of interest in football,” Coach Newell said. “Most of it has been as an athlete. He certainly could be a receiver. And he’s a strong kicker.”

This marks the second consecutive season that El Segundo enters a game against St. Monica with a team weakened by suspensions.

Last year, the Eagles lost a 39-20 Santa Fe League contest to St. Monica after three of its top players--All-CIF defensive lineman Kenny Talanoa and twins Eric and Eran Taulua, talented sophomores who played running back and linebacker, were suspended for fighting on campus.

“If we had the other people there, it would have been a different game,” Coach Newell said. “Now here we go again. (The suspensions are) going to weaken us as a team, no doubt about it.”

Newell said last week’s fight was the result of emotions getting out of hand at the end of a physical game.

“In our case, I think the personalities of the kids involved happens to be such that this happens,” he said. “I think the potential can come up at any time. I don’t think it’s anything more than that. It’s an emotional thing.”

El Segundo is off to a 2-1-1 start despite the loss of the Taulua twins, who transferred to Carson but are ineligible this season. The Eagles also lost a promising player when junior Jeff Poor decided not to come out for football and concentrate on baseball.

“If we have those three, we’re in the running for the CIF championship,” Newell said. “Losing the Tauluas was the hardest thing I’ve ever dealt with as a coach. They were just awesome.”

Newell said the Tauluas live in Carson and attended El Segundo on permit. Carson Coach Gene Vollnogle said the twins are ineligible because of a rule that forces athletes to sit out a season if they leave the district and then return. The Tauluas will be eligible next year as seniors.

After viewing films of Carson’s 29-20 loss Friday night to Eisenhower, Vollnogle said the Colts will scale back their double-wing passing offense when they move the ball to the opponents’ 20-yard line.

“We’ll do more runs in that area,” he said.

The change comes after Carson quarterback John Walsh was sacked eight times, intercepted three times and lost three fumbles against Eisenhower.

“We broke down on a very simple stunt,” Vollnogle said. “I’m not really sure why we did, but we did. We should have been prepared.

“In viewing the films, there really isn’t a need for changing too much. We passed for 390 yards. That’s not too bad.”

Carson (2-1) will take out its frustration Friday night at Gardena in a Southern Pacific Conference opener. The Mohicans (0-3) have been outscored 87-26, and were beaten last week by Hawthorne, 46-7.

Redondo’s football team racked up 401 yards in total offense last week in a 42-0 romp over Centennial, but Sea Hawk coaches reserved some of their highest praise for the defense and, in particular, strong safety John Ball.

The senior, son of Redondo teacher Jim Ball, had seven tackles, recovered two fumbles, caused a fumble, intercepted a pass and had a sack. Centennial finished with only 70 yards in total offense.

Redondo (3-1) ranks second in the South Bay in team offense and defense, averaging 323 yards and allowing 154.3 yards per game.

Those averages will be tested Friday night, when the Sea Hawks meet West Torrance (3-1) in a nonleague game at Redondo.

PREP NOTES

Torrance running back Carlos Hilliard, the team’s leading rusher with 365 yards, has been lost for the regular season after suffering a broken tibia (shin bone) in a 17-0 victory over Palos Verdes last week. The Tartars must reach the playoffs if Hilliard, a senior, is to play again. . . . Mira Costa dropped from first to fourth in the Southern Section 5-A Division girls’ volleyball poll after finishing fifth Saturday in the Costa/Redondo Power Classic. Corona del Mar, which captured the title of the 12-team tournament, moved into the No. 1 spot. . . . San Pedro kicker Patrick Barnard, who had a 44-yard field goal last week in the Pirates’ 17-16 victory over Venice, carries a 3.98 grade point average and is being courted by Ivy League colleges, according to Coach Henry Pacheco.

Narbonne quarterback Craig Valenzuela hit Robert Sanchez with a 17-yard scoring pass in the fourth quarter last week in a 26-7 loss to Fairfax to give the 0-3 Gauchos their first touchdown of the season. Narbonne has been outscored 80-12, and brings a 10-game losing streak into a Southern Pacific Conference opener at 3 p.m. Friday against visiting Crenshaw. . . . Mira Costa receiver Craig Weems, son of Harbor College football Coach Don Weems, caught two passes for 45 yards and a touchdown last week in a 35-0 victory over North Torrance. . . . Mary Star quarterback Nick Mariani, who played sparingly last week against El Segundo because of sore ribs and the flu, will return to the lineup Friday night when the Stars (2-2) meet Whittier Christian (4-0) at Whittier College. Whittier Christian is ranked No. 1 in the Southern Section Division IX poll.

South Bay’s Football Top 10

Selected by Times Sportswriters Rank, School, League Record

1 Serra (Camino Real) 2-0

2 Carson (Pacific) 2-1

3 Hawthorne (Bay) 3-1

4 Leuzinger (Bay) 3-1

5 Banning (Pacific) 1-2

6 San Pedro (Southern) 3-0

7 Torrance (Pioneer) 3-1

8 Rolling Hills (Ocean) 3-1

9 West Torrance (Pioneer) 3-1

10 Palos Verdes (Ocean) 3-1