Playoff Dispute Over Game Site Is Won by Loyola

The burning question at the CIF Southern Section office Monday was where the Loyola High-Canyon Country Canyon Division I semifinal football playoff game would be played Saturday night.

Canyon won the coin flip for the home field, but its on-campus stadium holds only about 4,000 people. Loyola officials, fearing a large crowd, asked that the game be moved to nearby College of the Canyons, which seats about 7,000.

Harry Welch, Canyon football coach, said he favored playing the game at Canyon High. He was supported by the school’s administration.

Canyon (11-1) defeated Bishop Amat in the quarterfinals last Friday at Canyon, 21-20. The game was played before a standing-room-only crowd of 5,000. Loyola (10-2) upset Fontana, 10-7, before 8,000 at Glendale High Friday in another quarterfinal game.

“We can be a better host at our own place,” Welch said yesterday. “Our field is in as good a condition as any in Southern California this time of year.”

But Bill Clark, the Southern Section administrator in charge of football, agreed with Loyola officials and late Monday afternoon ordered that the game be played at College of the Canyons.

“The facilities at Canyon are fine, but it’s not reasonable as far as seating capacity goes,” Clark said. “We want everyone to be able to watch the game.”

Bill White, Canyon principal, made a late pitch to add extra bleachers to accommodate the expected large crowd, but Clark wasn’t satisfied.

Canyon played two games at College of the Canyons this season, defeating both Hart and Saugus.

Said Jon Dawson, Loyola athletic director: “Our fans would have filled up their visiting bleachers hours before the game. They just didn’t have enough seats for us.”

In another site change Monday, Malibu Camp Kilpatrick moved its Division X semifinal game against Mammoth Saturday night from Monroe High in Sepulveda to Newbury Park High. Camp Kilpatrick officials were worried about possible gang violence around Monroe and feel Newbury Park will be safer.

After going nine weeks without a defeat, Fairfax High’s undefeated football team barely survived its first-round City 3-A Division playoff game against Washington on Wednesday.

Fairfax, which finished the regular season as The Times’ fifth-ranked City team, took an early 21-0 lead, but had to hold off Washington, 35-34.

Before this season, Fairfax was not expected to be a dominant team because of its lack of depth. Last season, the Lions had to forfeit their first-round playoff game when several two-way starters were declared academically ineligible under the City’s no-fail rule, which has since been amended.

This year, the Lions have nine two-way starters, but the team did not lose one player to grades this season.

“We were thrilled to go 9-0 during the regular season,” said Fairfax co-Coach Ron Price, who shares duties with Earl Smith. “Before the season, we thought that we were capable of going 7-2 with a little luck.”

Fairfax last won the City 3-A Division in 1985. The team has outscored opponents this season, 234-83. The key for the Lions has been the play of quarterback-defensive back Rahim Muhammad and running back-defensive back Mario Mattison.

Against Washington, Muhammad, a junior, rushed for 219 yards and two touchdowns in 13 carries, sealed the victory with an interception on the last play. For the season, Muhammad has rushed for 745 yards and 10 touchdowns and passed for 1,042 yards and nine touchdowns.

Mattison, a senior, rushed for 156 yards and two touchdowns against Washington. Despite missing three games because of injury or illness, Mattison has rushed for 852 yards and eight touchdowns in seven games.

For Price and Smith, who coached at Crenshaw for nine years before moving to Fairfax three years ago, an undefeated championship season would be a first.

Fairfax, seeded first in 3-A, will play Van Nuys Birmingham (9-2) in the quarterfinals Friday night at Venice High.

At the start of the season, Santa Ana Mater Dei and Van Nuys Montclair Prep gained attention when running back Derek Sparks transferred from Montclair Prep to Mater Dei.

Both teams struggled during the early part of the season but have rallied in the Southern Section playoffs.

Mater Dei, which finished second in the Angelus League, is the surprise team of the Division I playoffs after beating top-seeded Rialto Eisenhower, 34-20, last Friday. Sparks gained 188 yards and scored two touchdowns. Mater Dei (7-5) will play Quartz Hill (10-2) Friday at Orange Coast College.

In the Division X playoffs, Montclair Prep has been impressive, defeating Riverside St. John’s on Friday, 42-0.

Even without Sparks, Montclair Prep’s running game has flourished with Eliel Swinton, who rushed for 1,607 yards during the regular season, and Neimad Durham. Against St. John’s, Swinton was injured in the first half and was replaced by Kimo Atkins, who rushed for 123 yards in nine carries and scored three touchdowns.

Montclair Prep (8-3) will play Village Christian (9-2-1) in the semifinals Friday at Pierce College.

The Carson and Banning football teams, The Times’ No. 1- and No. 2-ranked City teams, respectively, have a common mission as they head toward another possible showdown for the City title: Win it for Bernie Donahue.

Bernard J. Donahue died Nov. 18 at the age of 81. He had been retired since 1970 but is remembered at those schools as the principal who provided the support to build the Colts and Pilots into football powers.

Pete Zamperini, who coached track under Donahue at Banning, said: “If there was a budget, football got most of it, but he took care of all his coaches pretty well. He was very fair. He preferred to hang around with jocks rather than the English-lit types. He was a jock at heart.”

Donahue was captain and center of the Loyola University team in 1929 and later coached football at Torrance and Hamilton high schools before becoming boys’ vice principal at Banning in 1947 and principal in ’57.

When Carson opened in ‘63, he became its first principal and brought football Coach Gene Vollnogle with him. Vollnogle is coaching his last season at the school.

Times Prep Sports Editor Eric Shepard contributed to this story.