HIGH SCHOOL NOTEBOOK : Turnovers: El Camino Real Turning Points

El Camino Real High’s offense apparently prefers the easy route to the end zone.

Long drives? The Conquistadores get enough of those on the bus ride to the game.

In their four Northwest Valley Conference victories, the Conquistadores (5-1, 4-0 in league play) have converted one or more defensive or special-teams takeaways into decisive points.

Sometimes it has happened with blinding quickness. Just ask Cleveland, San Fernando and Reseda, because when opportunity knocks, the Conquistadores kick down the door.

* In its 10-0 victory over Cleveland in a conference opener, El Camino Real turned a fumbled punt return and a muffed kickoff return into 10 second-quarter points--all in a span of less than 10 seconds.

* In El Camino Real’s 14-13 upset of San Fernando, linebacker Adam Guzzo returned a third-quarter fumble 76 yards to set up the go-ahead touchdown.

Said San Fernando Coach Tom Hernandez: “We were driving, going in to put the game away and all of a sudden, it’s, ‘Hey, wait a minute.’ ” El Camino Real then recovered a fourth-quarter Tiger fumble and embarked on a 13-play drive to run out the clock.

* In its 20-0 upset of Kennedy, El Camino Real converted a first-quarter fumble into a touchdown.

* In last week’s 14-7 victory over Reseda, the Conquistadores converted a pair of fourth-quarter Regent fumbles into touchdowns. Trailing, 7-0, El Camino Real tied the score three plays after nose guard Herbert Cosey recovered a fumble at the Reseda 19-yard line.

When Reseda fumbled the ensuing kickoff, Justin Marine recovered to set up the go-ahead touchdown.

“Over the last few games, they’ve done a great job of converting turnovers into points,” Reseda Coach Joel Schaeffer said. “That’s what it takes to win close games.”

Changes: Speedy Rodney Williams should see more time at quarterback for Palmdale when the Falcons play host to Quartz Hill tonight. Williams earned the starting job in August but was shifted to wide receiver in favor of Jay Mapson early in the season.

Williams broke runs of 16 and 18 yards after he took over at quarterback for Mapson in the second half of last week’s game against Canyon. Mapson completed six of 17 passes for 45 yards and threw three interceptions. Williams caught four passes for 33 yards.

If Palmdale (3-5, 2-1) defeats Quartz Hill (6-2, 3-0), the Falcons will keep alive hopes for a co-championship.

Hard-nosed: Fillmore’s Tory Cabral figures to be a key cog for the Flashes when they take on Santa Paula next week in a game between Ventura County rivals that will decide the Frontier League championship.

Cognizant of Cabral’s importance to Fillmore--he has rushed for 978 yards and has scored 104 points in double duty as a kicker--Fillmore Coach Curtis Garner said that Cabral, who sat out last week’s win over Nordhoff because of a sprained ankle, will play against Calabasas after receiving clearance from his doctor Wednesday.

“I don’t want him rusty for that Santa Paula game,” Garner said. “That would mean a two-week layoff and I don’t want that. A layoff is not gonna do him any good. It’s all right for one week, but two weeks is gonna hurt (him).”

The 77-year rivalry is the oldest in Ventura County.

Seven is enough: After losing its first seven games and committing four turnovers in its first five possessions Saturday, Bell-Jeff defeated St. Genevieve, 14-13, for its first victory. The teams combined for 10 turnovers.

Bell-Jeff’s Richard Samkow returned a shanked opening kickoff 45 yards for a touchdown and the Guards recovered the ensuing onside kickoff before the onslaught of miscues.

Bell-Jeff is 1-1 in San Fernando Valley League play with two games remaining and still has a shot at a playoff berth.

“I think we got a few breaks,” said Bell-Jeff Coach Doug Woodlief, whose team has only 23 players and was outscored, 195-48, in its first seven outings. “I’m just glad we scored. It’s been a weird season. We play pretty well and then we start to make mistakes and give up the big play.”

Water boy: Harvard water polo Coach Rich Corso does not like to use his ace goalkeeper Antonio Gomez when the Saracens play in a shallow-end pool because he feels it affects Gomez’s timing and fosters bad habits.

In a match against Crespi at Woodcrest Park earlier this season, Corso recruited Andre Carlo, a 6-foot-4 volleyball and basketball player.

“I just asked around school for a big guy and found him in the weight room,” Corso said. “To play shallow-end goalie, you don’t need to know how to swim; all you need to know is how to catch the ball and throw it.”

When Harvard played at La Salle last week, Carlo was practicing with the basketball team and could not make the match. Corso asked Marc Broidy, the team manager, to play shallow-end goalie instead.

“It’s the first time I ever saw him in the water with the ball,” Corso said. “He wasn’t too enthusiastic at first, but the whole team started shouting his name on the bus and he decided to try it.”

Broidy played the first quarter in Harvard’s 29-4 win. The senior recorded two saves and two assists and allowed only one goal.

“I’ve been coming to practice for so long that I felt like I knew what to do,” said Broidy, in his fourth season as manager.

Said Corso: “He had a couple of nice saves and did a real nice job. He had a good time and our defense did a good job of not letting them get a shot at him too often.”

Lampkin still out: Birmingham first-string quarterback Vince Lampkin, who suffered a sprained left ankle in a game two weeks ago, has not returned to practice. Lampkin sat out the Braves’ 48-0 loss to Sylmar last week. He has been going through whirlpool treatments and other therapy.

On-target quarterback: Crespi quarterback Cody Smith completed 15 of 22 passes for 194 yards and two touchdowns to pace the Celts’ 21-10 victory over Alemany on Friday. Smith, who has thrown just one interception, has not had a pass picked off since the second quarter of the Celts’ third game against Hart. Smith has gone 22 quarters without an interception.

Prolific author: Deena Drossin of Agoura is rewriting most of the cross-country record books in the area. She has broken two course records set by former Newbury Park standout Melissa Sutton and was on pace to eclipse another Sutton mark until she ran off course.

Drossin (17 minutes 4 seconds) nipped Sutton’s record (17:05) in the Woodbridge Invitational in September and knocked two seconds off Sutton’s standard (17:26) at Moorpark College during the Ventura County championships Friday.

On Oct. 6, she took a wrong turn at the Crescenta Valley Park course during the Kenny Staub Invitational and finished 11 seconds behind Sutton’s record of 17:31.

All times are for three miles.

Not measuring up: The North Valley League (Kennedy, San Fernando, Cleveland and Reseda) was expected to emerge as the stronger of the two leagues in the Northwest Valley Conference but its members won only four times in intra-conference play.

Teams from the West Valley (Granada Hills, Taft, El Camino Real and Chatsworth) posted 12 league wins.

Mike Glaze and staff writers Steve Elling, Paige A. Leech and Brian Murphy contributed to this notebook.