THE HIGH SCHOOLS : Playoffs Come and Go Quickly for Most Ventura County Football Teams

Mistakes are costly at any time during a football game, but they can bankrupt a team come playoff time.

Seven of nine Ventura County teams were testament to that Friday in the Southern Section playoffs. Only Camarillo (Division II) and Oak Park (Division XI) avoided those often-deadly miscues and advanced to the second round.

Ironically, Thousand Oaks, which has the county’s richest tradition of playing mistake-free football, fumbled six times and lost four during a 31-27 loss to Lynwood.

Coach Bob Richards was still shaking his head Saturday.

“I’ve never had a team do that,” he said. “It’s an absolute mystery to me.”

Marmonte League foes Westlake and Royal also were eliminated because, in no small part, of mistakes. Five Warrior interceptions and a fumble were turned into four Muir scores during a 52-13 loss.

“It’s difficult enough to stop a team like Muir without giving them six more opportunities,” Coach Jim Benkert said.

Royal twice drove inside Downey’s 10-yard line without scoring a touchdown and lost, 17-10. On one drive, an illegal-procedure penalty forced the Highlanders to settle for a field goal. On another, a holding call erased a touchdown and the drive ended on downs.

Ventura, the Channel League champion, was not immune to blunders in a 59-30 loss to Capistrano Valley. Ventura’s first three drives resulted in two turnovers and a blocked punt, and, consequently, a 17-0 deficit.

And Rio Mesa quarterback Angel Lopez, who had thrown only three interceptions entering the game, tossed four in a 27-7 loss to Paramount.

“The playoffs are a very strange time,” Ventura Coach Harvey Kochel said.

Parting shots: Carson football Coach Gene Vollnogle, who is retiring at the end of this his 28th season at the school and 34th overall, criticized Reseda’s program in The Daily Breeze, citing Reseda’s longtime reluctance to move from the City Section 3-A Division to the 4-A level.

Reseda enjoyed 11 years of success at the 3-A level until this season, when the Regents were elevated to 4-A. Reseda, which finished 5-4, even had an opportunity to win the North Valley League title until it lost to Kennedy on Friday.

“For years, Reseda cried and cried that they can’t compete in the 4-A, they can’t do this, and they can’t do that,” Vollnogle was quoted as saying in the newspaper’s Thursday edition. “Well, they could end up winning their league Friday.

“It aggravates me that people don’t try to upgrade their program to a higher level.”

Reseda Coach Joel Schaeffer responded Saturday with accusations that Vollnogle has built a successful program at Carson because of illegal recruiting. Schaeffer cited the transfer of quarterback John Walsh from West Torrance to Carson before this season.

An investigation this fall by the City Section office exonerated Carson but did not convince Schaeffer.

“Walsh’s transfer was highway robbery,” Schaeffer said. “At least I don’t have any skeletons in the closet like (Vollnogle) does. I respect him for being in the game as long as he has, but he has no right to throw daggers at anybody. Recruiting is a big part of his program, but it isn’t any part of mine.”

A ticking bomb: Cleveland Coach Steve Landress watched too many Cavaliers hobble toward the sidelines Friday. His frustration peaked when he was ejected with 30 seconds remaining in a a 27-0 loss to San Fernando.

Landress said he was upset because officials were slow in whistling a play dead. Landress said Cleveland running back Derrick Dumas was stopped by three San Fernando players and a fourth player was allowed to take a final blow before a whistle was blown.

A few plays earlier, sophomore tailback Ibn Bilal (knee) had become Cleveland’s fifth player to be forced from the game because of an injury. Quarterback David Erhardt (cracked rib), Palen Sorensen (ankle), Michael Wamsganz (knee) and Keyan Murphy (ankle) were injured.

“I just felt the official should have blown his whistle in that situation,” Landress said. “Why have the kid held up like a sponge when the game’s clearly out of reach? They should be protecting the kids, and they weren’t doing that.”

Landress was penalized twice for unsportsmanlike conduct, which resulted in his first ejection in 15 years of coaching.

Coincidentally, it was Landress’ counterpart Friday, San Fernando Coach Tom Hernandez, who two weeks ago filed a complaint with the City Section office.

“The officiating is extremely poor,” Landress said. “It’s the worst I’ve seen in my 15 years of coaching.”

Signings: Channel Islands center fielder Jacob Cruz, who hit .494 and was an All-Marmonte League selection, has signed an early letter of intent to attend Arizona State. Simi Valley’s Tyler Nelson (Cal State Northridge) and Camarillo’s Mike Muncy (Arizona State) also have signed letters of intent.

Future signing: Rio Mesa’s Dmitri Young, the state freshman, sophomore and junior baseball player of the year, is visiting the University of Miami this weekend. Young, a projected first-round pick in the amateur draft, is also planning visits to Auburn, Oklahoma State, Arizona State and Texas.