Banning Coach Seeks New Site for Dorsey Game

Concerned about the safety of his team, Banning High football Coach Joe Dominguez said the Pilots will forfeit their Nov. 1 game against Dorsey at Jackie Robinson Stadium unless it is moved to another site.

Dominguez made his remarks in response to Friday’s shooting outside Jackie Robinson Stadium, which is located next to Dorsey on Rodeo Road. Two students attending the Dorsey-Crenshaw game were hit by ricocheting bullets during the final minute of the contest, marking the second time in two years gunfire has prematurely ended a Dorsey-Crenshaw game at the field.

Dominguez is also worried about possible retaliation for an incident that occurred at the end of Banning’s 21-20 playoff victory over Dorsey last year.

“They better get a new coaching staff, because nobody on our staff will go,” Dominguez said. “I don’t want a parent coming to me and asking me why her son was shot or why her son was brutally beaten.

“To the player and coach, high school football is a big deal. But is it that big a deal to risk a kid’s life or his health?”

Coaches and administrators across the South Bay have asked that question this week in response to gunfire that has plagued several football games in recent years, mostly in inner-city areas where gangs are a menace.

Narbonne, which was scheduled to play Dorsey at Jackie Robinson Stadium at 8 p.m. Friday, requested to have the site changed but settled for an afternoon starting time (4 p.m.) and the promise of improved security that will put more officers outside the stadium on Rodeo Road.

“If my son were playing on the team, I wouldn’t let him go,” Narbonne Athletic Director Gene Yamamoto said. “It’s terrible to say that because I’m the athletic director, but safety is No. 1.”

Yamamoto said Narbonne might forfeit its B game with Dorsey because many of the team’s players are frightened to play at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

The problem is not confined to Dorsey’s home field.

Gardena football Coach Mike Sakurai is concerned about bringing his team to Washington High for a game Friday afternoon. Two years ago, gunshots outside Washington during a game with Gardena forced players and coaches to hit the ground and brought an early end to the contest.

“What happened two years ago is in the back of my mind,” Sakurai said. “I just hope it was an isolated incident and had nothing to do with football. It’s a shame. You not only have to worry about who you’re going to play, you have to prepare the kids for something like this.”

Sakurai said he put his players through a drop drill this week in case of another occurrence of gunfire.

Although Banning is 4-0 and ranked No. 1 in the City Section, Dominguez said he is prepared to take a loss rather than put his players in danger at Jackie Robinson Stadium. He said Banning athletes and coaches have been subjected to threats from Dorsey followers since last year, when an angry group of Dorsey players and fans rushed across the field and confronted the Pilots at the conclusion of a 4-A Division playoff game at Gardena High.

“It wasn’t a gang thing, it was their players, their coaches and their fans coming on the field and starting a fight,” Dominguez said. “But it will become a gang thing.”

Last week’s shooting at Jackie Robinson Stadium has been blamed on feuding elements of the Crips, whose turf includes Crenshaw High, and the Bloods, who are prevalent in the neighborhood surrounding Dorsey.

Because the shooting was gang-related and confined to rivalries involving Crenshaw and Dorsey, administrators believe there is little chance of similar outbreaks of violence at Dorsey’s home games with Narbonne and Banning.

“These episodes are between the Bloods and the Crips,” said Hal Harkness, director of athletics for the City Section. “People waiting for something to happen (at future Dorsey home games) will be disappointed.”

Banning Principal Augustine Herrera said a meeting between Banning and Dorsey administrators has been scheduled for later this month to address what measures should be taken to assure the safety of participants and spectators for the Nov. 1 football game.

“The game can be changed at the very last moment if that’s what’s decided to be in the best interests of everybody,” Herrera said. “I think it’s important to separate the two issues. The violence that occurred at Dorsey last week was a gang issue. Then there is the intense rivalry between Banning and Dorsey.

“I don’t believe there will be a gang problem wherever we play Dorsey. But I do believe there will be tension throughout the game on the field no matter where we play Dorsey.”

Dominguez, though, believes moving the game to a neutral site will greatly reduce the chance of violence by eliminating groups that walk to the stadium intending to cause trouble.

“If they start trouble, they know where to hide in their neighborhood,” Dominguez said. “By moving the game to a neutral site, you get those people out of their element.

“This thing is all about Banning people violating Dorsey’s people’s turf. Turf and colors, that’s what a lot of it’s about.”

Despite promises of improved security from Dorsey and City administrators, Dominguez is not convinced they can provide a safe environment at a site that has been plagued by incidents of gunfire and violence over the years.

“Do we need to take shovels and dig foxholes on the sidelines?” he asked. “The players wear helmets and pads to protect themselves during the game, but we can’t protect them from bullets.

“This is not an attempt on our part to throw our weight around and get the site of the game changed. . . . We’re not trying to dodge competition. We try to play the toughest schedule we can get.

“It’s not about dodging competition, it’s about dodging bullets.”

Former Carson football Coach Gene Vollnogle rates Jackie Robinson Stadium the most dangerous place to play in the City Section.

“I wouldn’t let my wife or my father go to games there,” he said. “It’s not a very safe environment.”

Vollnogle, who retired after last season and is coaching as a part-time assistant at Los Alamitos High, said Dorsey’s home field has been plagued by violence because it is not located on school grounds and lies adjacent to an area known as “The Jungle.”

“That’s what they call the housing unit right across from Jackie Robinson Stadium,” Vollnogle said. “From what I’ve heard, the police don’t even want to go over there.

“If L.A. City schools had any guts--I’m talking about the athletic department--they’d say, ‘We’re not going to play there.’ And they shouldn’t be playing at Crenshaw either.”

Relating a story that has passed into Carson football lore, Vollnogle recalled the time the Colts had to pass a dead body on their way to the field before a game at Crenshaw in the early 1980s.

“Some kid got attacked with a claw hammer,” he said. “They had the body covered up, but you could see the blood. We had to almost step over him to get to the field.”

During that game, Vollnogle started the practice of staying on the field at halftime whenever Carson played at Crenshaw.

Notes

Hawthorne tailback Morell Ollis has been named the state athlete of the week by Cal-Hi Sports after rushing for 260 yards and two touchdowns in 18 carries Friday in a 34-0 victory over Centennial. . . Taft High’s football team has officially forfeited its 34-20 victory over Gardena on Sept. 20 because an ineligible player participated in the game. The forfeit improves the Mohicans’ record to 2-2 . . . The Peninsula girls’ cross-country team won the Division I race last weekend at a statewide meet held at Stanford University. The Panthers defeated Hart of Newhall, 74-106, for the top spot.

The Peninsula boys’ cross-country team was overall sweepstakes winner at the Kenny Staub Invitational at Crescenta Valley Park . . . Mira Costa, which began the season ranked No. 1 in the Southern Section 5-A Division girls’ volleyball poll, has slipped to No. 8 after several early season losses . . . The top-ranked Peninsula girls’ tennis team is not the only powerhouse in that area this year. Chadwick is ranked No. 2 in the 1-A Division poll.

South Bay’s Football Top 10

Selected by Times Sportswriters

Rank School, League Record 1 Banning (Pacific) 4-0 2 Hawthorne (Bay) 4-0 3 Morningside (Ocean) 3-0 4 Carson (Pacific) 2-2 5 Serra (Camino Real) 2-1 6 Peninsula (Bay) 3-1 7 San Pedro (Southern) 4-0 8 B. Montgomery (Mission) 3-1 9 South Torrance (Pioneer) 3-1 10 Inglewood (Bay) 2-2