THE HIGH SCHOOLS / STEVE HENSON : Royal Rallies Around Grief-Stricken Teammate

Matt Tomaszewski’s mother was dying of cancer and he desperately needed to talk about it. He had four brothers and two sisters with whom to share the grief, but he needed the support of those his own age, those who could best relate to his choice of words and expressions.

He turned to the Royal High football team and found peers willing to take time out from their most successful season and share the intensely personal pain of one of the team’s key members.

Tomaszewski, a senior co-captain and Royal’s leading tackler, stood before his teammates the day of the Highlanders’ Marmonte League opener against Channel Islands a week ago and explained that his mother had only a few days to live.

“My teammates are as much a family to me as my immediate family,” Tomaszewski said Saturday. “I knew they’d give me support. I had to let them know what was going on.”

None of these players told him to keep his chin up, to hang tough, to suck it up.

Instead, they hurt along with him.

“There were tears going down his face, it was really emotional. We all cried with him,” said Tim Ross, a Royal senior.

Added senior receiver Jeff Creed: “He had someone to talk with to get it off his chest. Everybody just felt for him.”

Mary Jane Tomaszewski listened to the game on radio as Royal defeated Channel Islands, 28-8. As he had done all season, Matt brought his mother a videotape of the game the next day.

On Tuesday, Mary Jane, 61, died of lung and liver cancer. Matt missed two days of practice and returned to find a black stripe across the uniform shoulder of every player: The team had decided to dedicate its season to Matt’s mom.

The entire team attended Mary Jane’s funeral Friday morning. Then Royal played a football game, which for Matt was the best therapy.

“She wanted me to play, I wanted to play, the team needed me and I needed them,” said Tomaszewski, an outside linebacker. “It makes me happier when I’m with them.

“I know she’s watching me. She’s watching all of us.”

If so, this is what she saw.

Royal defeated Newbury Park, 10-0, to become the first Highlander team to begin a season 5-0. The shutout was preserved in the fourth quarter when Ross caught Leodes Van Buren from behind at the Royal eight-yard line after the Newbury Park receiver had raced 73 yards with a reception.

Ross jarred the ball loose on the tackle and it was recovered at the one-yard line by Tomaszewski, who had followed the play three-fourths of the length of the field.

“I knew Tim was going to catch him and I had a feeling something was going to happen,” Tomaszewski said. “I wasn’t going to quit. I wanted to keep going because there was a possibility of a fumble. I told myself, ‘Keep going, keep going.’ ”

Said Ross: “That was really special, I can’t describe the feeling. To know that his hustle paid off. His being there for us was great.”

For Tomaszewski, the feeling was mutual.

Rodgers revisited: Bobby Rodgers, the Kennedy outside linebacker who gained notoriety three weeks ago by running 82 yards the wrong way with an interception, is at it again.

But this time he’s sending opponents the wrong way. Rodgers sacked Granada Hills quarterback Bryan Martin four times for minus-29 yards Friday night and leads the Golden Cougars with 10 sacks.

Conversion aversion: One snap of the ball for two points or none. Pressure evenly distributed on the defense, offense and coaches who must call the play.

Yes, the two-point conversion attempt is one of football’s most interesting plays, especially when the game hinges on its outcome. Failure to convert two-point conversions cost three teams chances to tie Friday night.

* Reseda pulled within two points of Taft with 4 minutes 20 seconds to play. On the two-point conversion, the Regents ran off tackle--simple power offense. The Taft inside linebackers blitzed between the center and guards--simple power defense.

Linebacker Darnell Hendricks knifed into the backfield and hit quarterback Deon Edwards as he attempted a handoff to fullback Maurice Stepter. The ball fell to the ground, Taft ran out the clock and won, 18-16.

* Buena drew within two points of Oxnard with three minutes left in the third quarter. On the conversion, Bulldog quarterback Jim Seguine rolled right and three receivers flooded the right corner of the end zone.

Oxnard linebacker Kenyon Lewis forced Seguine to hurry his throw. Cornerback Greg Wells batted down the pass, the rest of the game was scoreless and Oxnard won, 14-12.

* Saugus pulled within two points of St. Francis with three minutes to play. On the conversion, Rich Gutierrez rolled right, but his receivers ran patterns to the left. With no one to throw to, Gutierrez was tackled on the two-yard line by outside linebacker Marty Conrad. St. Francis won, 14-12.

Add defense: Westlake’s much-maligned defense came through when it counted against Camarillo on Friday night, stopping Corey Tucker on third- and fourth-down quarterback sneaks from the one with seven minutes left to preserve the Warriors’ 21-14 victory.

Interior linemen Eric Pacheco and Gregg Crisp and inside linebackers Jim McCrossan and Vince Bruno combined to make the stops.

“We absolutely drove the offensive linemen into the quarterback,” Westlake Coach Jim Benkert said. “The whole pile moved backwards a yard. A wave engulfed him.”