NOTEBOOK : Glendale-Muir Game Figures to Decide Title

The game the Glendale High football team has been waiting for all season is here.

The unbeaten Dynamiters (7-0, 2-0 in Pacific League play), ranked eighth in the Southern Section Division II, will play ninth-ranked Muir (5-2, 2-0) Friday night at Glendale in a game that should decide the league championship.

“They probably have five or six people that are Division I prospects,” Glendale Coach Don Shoemaker said of the Mustangs, who were Division II co-champions last season. “We have maybe three at best. Person for person, they’re a better team than us. We’re not fooling anybody.

“Turnovers are going to be the key. If they don’t turn the ball over, we’re going to be in trouble.”

Muir is led by quarterback Sedrick Thomas, who has passed for 1,015 yards and eight touchdowns. Thomas also is the Mustangs’ leading rusher with 416 yards and three touchdowns.

The Mustangs, whose only losses were to powerful Fontana and Bishop Amat, also feature running back Saladin McCullough, who has gained 302 yards in 45 carries and scored eight touchdowns. Receiver Demetrice Martin has 11 receptions for 304 yards and five touchdowns.

Muir linebacker Damon Danecker has a team-high 66 tackles for a defensive unit that also features defensive backs Reggie Reser and Hassan McCullough.

Glendale is led by running back Pathon Rucker, who has rushed for 1,183 yards and scored 23 touchdowns.

Showdown part II: Bobby Webster continues to lead Glendale College toward a Western State Conference Northern Division showdown with Moorpark in two weeks.

Glendale (4-2, 4-1 in WSC play) last week defeated winless Ventura (0-6, 0-5) as Webster rushed for 196 yards and scored three touchdowns.

Glendale will play Compton (0-6, 0-5) this weekend, then at L.A. Harbor (4-2, 3-2) on Nov. 3 before playing host to Moorpark (5-1, 4-1) on Nov. 10.

Glendale Coach John Cicuto hopes to diversify the offense this week in preparation for Moorpark.

“Our run game has been successful but we have to be able to throw the ball,” Cicuto said. “A good team like Moorpark will load up on the run.”

Alive and kicking: The Occidental College women’s soccer team (5-2-2) entered the week atop the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference standings.

The Tigers have been led by senior forward Jos Bergmann, who had four goals in a 7-0 victory over Redlands and four more in a 7-0 win over La Verne in matches played last week.

Bergmann has 25 goals and seven assists for the Tigers, who conclude their SCIAC schedule Saturday at Whittier.

Trophy dash: The Occidental College and Glendale College cross-country teams are both preparing for their respective conference championship meets.

Occidental will race in the SCIAC meet at Bonelli Park in San Dimas on Saturday and Glendale will run in the WSC finals at Moorpark College on Tuesday.

Glendale, the WSC champion two of the past three seasons, won both WSC meets. The team champion will be determined by combining the results of the finals, which count double, and the two conference meets.

Back to the bench: After a two-game run as the Detroit Lions’ starting quarterback, former Hoover High and Glendale College standout Bob Gagliano will return to his accustomed role as a reserve.

Rodney Peete, who missed the Lions’ last two games with a hamstring pull, has reclaimed his starting job from Gagliano, who is in his eighth season.

Gagliano passed for 229 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-27 win over Minnesota on Oct. 7, but completed just eight of 17 passes for 156 yards and a touchdown in a 43-24 loss to Kansas City Oct. 14.

Staff writers Kirby Lee and Steven Herbert contributed to this notebook.