PREP FOOTBALL SPOTLIGHT : FACTS, FIGURES AND COMMENTS FROM LAST WEEK’S GAMES

COMING TO LIFE

Hawthorne Coach Goy Casillas said it was only a matter of getting mad.

Whatever, the Cougars dominated the last 15 minutes Friday night to pull out a crucial 14-10 Bay League victory over host Leuzinger that pushed them into sole possession of first place.

Casillas said Hawthorne finally had enough after watching the underdog Olympians control the game for most of the first three quarters and build a 10-0 lead.

“We were getting frustrated,” he said. “The players decided they were going to do something about it, and they did.”

Tailback Ira Moreland scored on a 40-yard run with 1:19 left in the third quarter to pull the Cougars within 10-7, and Hawthorne put together an 11-play drive on its next possession to score on a one-yard dive by fullback Armando Fernandez with 6:18 remaining.

“Everyone got hyped,” said Hawthorne tailback Morell Ollis, who rushed five times for 27 yards on the game-winning march. “In the first couple of quarters, the offensive line wasn’t concentrating. Then Coach Casillas told us a few words, and everybody did their job.”

A turning point occurred midway through the third quarter when Leuzinger, holding a 10-0 lead, had a fourth-down pass intercepted by Cougar linebacker Oswaldo Maldonado after the Olympians had driven to the Hawthorne 33.

“Yeah, it changed the momentum,” Leuzinger Coach Steve Carnes said. “I’m not disappointed with the call. Maybe we should have been a little more conservative, but we thought we had an opportunity to put them away. The play was there; the man was open. We just threw it into the linebacker.”

MURDERERS’ ROW

Leuzinger’s three losses this season have come against teams with a combined record of 19-2. Canyon of Canyon Country (6-1) is ranked No. 8 in the CIF-Southern Section Division I poll, Paramount (7-0) is No. 2 in Division II and Hawthorne (6-1) is No. 2 in Division III.

RECORD PACE

Carson quarterback John Walsh continued his assault on the record books Friday night by passing for 311 yards and six touchdowns in a 48-7 Southern Pacific Conference victory over Narbonne at Gardena High.

The six TD passes represent a school single-game record. Walsh also set Carson marks with his sixth consecutive game of 200 yards or more passing and 93 consecutive attempts without an interception. The last time he had a pass picked off was Sept. 28 against Eisenhower.

For the season, Walsh has completed 104 of 170 passes for 1,995 yards and 22 touchdowns in six games. The school records are 2,404 yards and 30 TDs set last season by Armin Youngblood in 12 games.

Walsh, if he continues at his present pace, will pass for 4,300 yards if Carson plays 13 games by reaching the L.A. City Section 4-A final. No South Bay quarterback has ever passed for 3,000 yards in a season.

Unfortunately, there is no City record book to measure how Walsh compares to the section’s passing greats. Mike Smith of Los Altos (a forward with the Boston Celtics) holds the Southern Section record with 3,437 yards in 1982.

AFTERNOON HAZE

Redondo Coach Chris Hyduke had a difficult time recognizing his own team Friday at Rolling Hills, where the Sea Hawks played miserably and lost their Ocean League opener, 34-6.

Redondo entered the game with a plus-13 turnover ratio, but gave the ball away five times (four interceptions, one fumble) compared to one turnover for Rolling Hills. The Sea Hawk defense ranked second in the South Bay, allowing an average of 149.2 yards, but gave up 294 to Rolling Hills. And the offense, averaging 306.2 yards, managed just 115.

Hyduke blamed the poor effort on three factors: 1. Rolling Hills was ready to play after a 32-6 loss to Morningside; 2. Redondo had no school Friday; 3. It was Redondo’s first day game in two years.

“I’ll be honest with you, I don’t like coming up here,” Hyduke said. “This is in the afternoon and it changes the kids’ rhythms. I’m not trying to make excuses, but the kids weren’t focused.

“Maybe this was good for us. I’m looking at it as a positive thing. Maybe now (the players) can get focused and know what it means to be able to play every week.”

1,000-YARD CLUB

Rolling Hills tailback Robert Coulter became the first South Bay rusher to reach 1,000 yards by running for 187 yards, including touchdowns of 60 and 12 yards, against Redondo. In seven games, Coulter unofficially has 1,114 yards and eight touchdowns on 148 carries.

SITTING PRETTY

Morningside Coach Ron Tatum was understandably worried two weeks ago about opening Ocean League play with back-to-back afternoon games at Rolling Hills and Palos Verdes. But after Friday’s 14-0 victory over Palos Verdes, the Monarchs are 2-0 and alone in first place.

Now Tatum is uncomfortable about being in the favorite’s role.

“It makes me a little nervous,” he said. “Teams are going to be coming after us. I’m not saying that people had taken us for granted, but now we know people are going to come after us a little tougher.”

Even so, the Monarchs are in great shape. Their last two league games are at home against Redondo and Mira Costa.

MONARCHS VS. KINGS

The closing moments of the Morningside-Palos Verdes game were marred when a fight between Palos Verdes quarterback Tim King and Morningside linebacker Roosevelt Long touched off a moderate bench-clearing brawl. Three Palos Verdes players and Coach Bill Judy were ejected, as were two Morningside players. The usually mild-mannered Judy was thrown out for arguing with an official.

Long accused the Sea Kings of rough tactics.

“They’d been punching me and giving me forearms all day,” he said. “The refs wouldn’t do anything about it. I got tired of it.”

TURNAROUND

San Pedro, which opened the season with three consecutive victories, has now lost three in a row following Friday’s 13-12 setback to Crenshaw. Junior quarterback Rino Marconi has also slipped. He completed only four of 18 passes for 39 yards against Crenshaw.

STREAKS

* Serra defeated St. Monica, 38-14, to extend its winning streak to 19 games.

* Carson defeated Narbonne, 48-7, for the 17th consecutive time. Narbonne last beat the Colts in 1965.

* Hawthorne beat Leuzinger, 14-10, for the first time since 1984, ending a five-game winless streak against the Olympians.

* Narbonne’s loss to Carson extended its losing streak to 13 games.

* Inglewood fell to Culver City, 20-15, for its 16th consecutive Bay League defeat.

IN QUOTES

Morningside receiver-quarterback John Cotton, on his 76-yard scoring catch from Stais Boseman in fourth quarter that sealed a 14-0 victory over Palos Verdes: “I knew we would score on that play. I told one of our players, ‘If he throws the ball, it’s a touchdown.’ I even told the cornerback that I burned. I told him when I came up to the line, ‘It’s over.’ He just looked at me and smiled. They actually had two-deep (coverage) on me. Either I’m fast or they’re slow.”

Redondo Coach Chris Hyduke, on the possibility that junior Ted Silva will replace senior Dan Sanchez as starting quarterback after Sanchez threw three interceptions in a 34-6 loss to Rolling Hills: “We’re going to work with ( Silva ) and get him some game experience. He might start next game.”

Leuzinger Coach Steve Carnes, on Hawthorne being in the driver’s seat for the Bay League title after beating the Olympians, 14-10: “I don’t see anybody else beating them. I don’t really think anybody else can beat them. They have too many athletes. To stay this close to them, it was tough.”

Gardena Coach Mike Sakurai, on his team’s 27-7 loss to unbeaten Dorsey: “It was one of those games where we lost and the score wasn’t all that close, but we felt good about it afterwards. We played extremely well and were leading, 7-3, after the first quarter.”

Bishop Montgomery Coach Steve Carroll, on his team’s 15-7 loss to Alemany in which the Knights committed three turnovers to bring their season total to 30: “I said we were going to be a different team this week and we were. We moved the ball consistently. The only thing that stopped us were the turnovers.”

INJURIES

David Rosato, South Torrance’s leading receiver and defensive back, was hobbled by shoulder and elbow injuries in the Spartans’ 24-7 loss to Mira Costa. He did not play on defense and figured in only three plays on offense. He is expected to play a bigger role next week against Torrance.