Hill Follows in Footsteps of Collier

Cornell who?

Taft High’s Cornell Hill might be better known as one of the school’s best basketball players, but he also has distinguished himself as an inside linebacker.

In fact, Hill played like former Taft standout Cornell Collier in last week’s 18-16 victory over Reseda. Collier now starts at linebacker for Cal.

Hill, a 6-foot-1, 170-pound senior, had five quarterback sacks and 12 solo tackles.

“He was everywhere,” Taft Coach Tom Stevenson said.

No kidding. Hill caught a 76-yard scoring pass to give Taft an 18-7 lead and had three kickoff returns totaling 100 yards.

Records: A state record shared by two area players has been tied. Running back John Harris of Corona Centennial carried the ball 54 times (for 279 yards) two weeks ago to tie a mark held by Newbury Park’s Scott Zander and Monroe’s Curtis Scott. Zander had 54 carries in a 1983 playoff game against Muir and Scott carried 54 times--including a state-record 22 times in a row--in a 1988 playoff game against Roosevelt.

Additionally, Hilmar High, a few miles south of Modesto, lost two weeks ago to end its winning streak at 46 games. The record is 47, held by Santa Rosa Cardinal Newman. Canyon had a 46-game streak from 1983-86.

Defense: Linebacker Curt Hulshizer recorded a team-high 13 tackles to lead Granada Hills to a 20-0 win over Kennedy last week.

Rushing: Quartz Hill’s vaunted three-pronged rushing attack of junior Erik Thomas (542 yards) and seniors David Nelson (423 yards) and Selves Smith (160 yards) might turn into a vaunted four -pronged rushing attack.

Junior quarterback Jake Haro, running out of the option in last week’s 23-20 loss to Hart, gained 60 yards. As a result, he shoved the big names aside and led the team in rushing for the first time.

Receiving: Granada Hills tailback Derrick Stewart might be more dangerous as a receiver than as a ballcarrier. Stewart has rushed for 142 yards in 25 carries (5.7-yard average) and scored three touchdowns. Yet his five receptions have resulted in 192 yards (38.4 average) and two touchdowns.

Scoring: The scoring prowess of Fillmore’s Tory Cabral recalls the days of old-time football, when kicker, quarterback and running back were the same person.

Cabral, a tailback who also handles kicking duties, scored all of the points in last week’s 21-0 win over St. Bonaventure with three touchdowns and three extra points. Earlier this season he scored all of his team’s points in a 17-0 win over Oak Park on two touchdowns, two extra points and a field goal.

Cabral, with 64 points, is the area’s second-leading scorer, trailing only Glendale’s Pathon Rucker (94 points).

REGIONAL FOOTBALL TOP 10

Selected by sportswriters of The Times

Last Rk Wk Team League Record 1 1 Canyon Golden 5-0 2 2 Westlake Marmonte 5-0 3 3 Granada Hills West Valley 3-1 4 5 Thousand Oaks Marmonte 4-1 5 6 Crespi Mission 5-1 6 8 Hart Foothill 3-2 7 4 Quartz Hill Golden 3-2 8 9 Glendale Pacific 5-0 9 10 Royal Marmonte 5-0 10 7 Kennedy North Valley 3-1

NR--Not ranked.