Kennedy Perpetually Frustrated

Years ago, the Granada Hills Chamber of Commerce established a perpetual trophy to be awarded annually to the winner of the football game between cross-town rivals Granada Hills and Kennedy highs.

For the past few seasons, it has rested on a file cabinet adjacent to the desk of Granada Hills co-Coach Darryl Stroh. It hasn’t been spotted at Kennedy since 1982, the last year the Golden Cougars beat the Highlanders. The score was 19-17.

“I forgot what it looks like,” said Kennedy Coach Bob Francola, whose team will play at Granada Hills on Friday at 8 p.m.

In fact, it’s been so long since Kennedy possessed the trophy that a second has been purchased. It seems the first trophy ran out of space to list the annual winners, so in actuality, Granada Hills has two trophies.

Perhaps Kennedy fans also would like to forget the trophies’ recent inscriptions of the final score, to wit:

1983--Granada Hills 20, Kennedy 16; 1984--Granada Hills 28, Kennedy 27; 1985--Granada Hills 21, Kennedy 14; 1986--Granada Hills 7, Kennedy 7; 1987--Granada Hills 33, Kennedy 9; 1988--Granada Hills 21, Kennedy 0; 1989--Granada Hills 17, Kennedy 0; 1990--Granada Hills 21, Kennedy 0.

Over the past six games, the Highlanders have outscored Kennedy, 120-30. The Golden Cougars did not score during the three-year tenure of All-City Section running back Ontiwaun Carter, now a freshman at Arizona. . . .

DOUBLE TROUBLE

The performance of San Fernando running backs LaKarlos Townsend and Brian Brison helped hand Granada Hills a 35-14 loss last week. What’s more, the pair’s broken-field running left Stroh with a broken heart.

“The worst plays are when you force ‘em to (ad-lib) and change direction. We had Townsend 10 yards deep on one pitch play and he just turned it up,” Stroh said.

In the third quarter, Townsend was trapped deep in the backfield, but he juked past one defender, spun around and went 60 yards around the right end for a touchdown. Townsend and Brison combined for five touchdowns and 308 of the Tigers’ 337 yards.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

With a record of 5-1, most teams would be satisfied, if not ecstatic. At Kennedy, however, inconsistency has Francola questioning the team.

Francola admitted that Kennedy, which many considered the best team in the Northwest Valley Conference in the preseason, has not carried the mantle of expectations well.

“We’re not responding to the pressure of being one of the best teams in the Valley,” he said. “That’s my biggest disappointment.”

Over its past four games, Kennedy is 3-1 but has narrowly outscored its opponents, 69-50. Only one of the four teams had a winning record. In its last two victories, over El Camino Real and Taft, Kennedy was held to 14 points.

TRIVIA TIME

Southern Section running backs George Keiaho of Buena (1,001 yards), Tarik Smith of Oak Park (984) and Eliel Swinton of Montclair Prep (878) rank 1-2-3 in the region in rushing yardage.

What else do they have in common? (Answer below).

DOUBLE DIP

Quartz Hill Coach John Albee, in his 24th year, calls Canyon nose guard Chuck Osborne “the best lineman I’ve seen since I’ve been coaching.”

Albee took appropriate measures in Friday’s 14-13 win over Canyon, assigning two linemen to block Osborne on every play. Usually Brian Bates and center Randy Allstead squared off and neutralized Osborne, who finished with three tackles.

I GOT YOU, BABE

The name has become legendary in professional circles, based more on his survival instincts than talent.

Quarterback Babe Laufenberg played with many NFL teams. Every time it seemed as if a team needed a third-string quarterback, the call went out to Babe. Laufenberg was a member of the Washington Redskins, Dallas Cowboys, New Orleans Saints, Kansas City Chiefs and San Diego Chargers in his eight-year career.

Laufenberg’s NFL career ended in 1990, and this season, his name was erased from the Crespi record book. Laufenberg, who played at Crespi from 1976-77, surrendered his career passing yardage mark (2,678 yards) to senior Cody Smith.

Smith, a starter since the midpoint of his sophomore season, has passed for 3,350 yards.

Smith also has claimed career marks for passes completed (265) and touchdowns (30), and holds single-game records for passing yardage (373) and passes completed (27). Smith set a single-season mark for passing touchdowns (18) as a junior.

DYNAMIC DUO

At this time last year, Poly running backs Jonathan Campbell and Jermaine Pledger were grinding out big yardage on the ground to propel the Parrots’ powerful ground-oriented offense that eventually led to a City Section 3-A Division championship.

Campbell has moved on to Cal State Northridge, but Pledger has found a new running mate: junior Ronald Botley. The Campbell-Pledger tandem amassed 1,120 rushing yards at this time a year ago. Pledger and Botley already have surpassed that mark with 1,165 yards after six games.

NO DECISION

It took a come-from-behind effort and a gutsy two-point conversion in the game’s waning seconds, but Verdugo Hills earned its first victory of 1991 with a 15-14 win over Hollywood last week.

The Dons (1-5, 1-2) trailed, 14-7, in the fourth quarter before quarterback Tom McGraw connected with Pat Eubanks on a 31-yard touchdown with 42 seconds to play.

There was no question in Verdugo Hills Coach Charlie Mack’s mind about going for the win.

“There’s no decision about going for a two-point conversion,” Mack said.

McGraw connected with Justin Jamison to give the Dons their first victory and keep their playoff hopes alive.

McGraw, a 5-foot-9 junior, joined the team last week after transferring from South Hills High in West Covina. McGraw had played junior varsity football at Verdugo Hills last season before stepping in at quarterback last week. “I just did what I was told to do and hoped for the best,” McGraw said, “I don’t want to be a showoff or anything.”

PRESSED TO PLAY

After a turbulent nonleague season under the tutelage of three head coaches, Burroughs made an impressive Foothill League debut last week with a 27-6 win over San Gabriel.

For openers, Butch McElwee resigned as coach two weeks into the season. Then Bob Dunivant, named to replace McElwee, was prohibited by the Burbank Unified School District from serving as head coach because of his role as a district board member.

Finally, Marty Garrison, the school’s athletic director and a longtime Burroughs assistant, was named coach.

After an 0-5 start and plenty of negative publicity about the coaching shake-up, the Indians finally can concentrate on football.

LEND AN EAR

A stroll along the Harvard-Westlake sideline might surprise listeners expecting the usual barrage of blue banter from the bench that takes place during most games.

As one might expect from the players at Harvard--an elite private school in the foothills of Coldwater Canyon--vocalized encouragement tends to be more eloquent.

Overheard during the Wolverines’ intense 28-24 loss to visiting Oak Park this season:

“Come on, we know we want it more than them. All we have to do is prove it.”

“The last thing we can afford now is a letdown.”

One player even uttered the phrase “confidence factor.”

QUOTEBOOK

Hoover Coach Dennis Hughes on the Tornadoes’ 63-7 Pacific League loss to Muir on Friday night: “It’s good to get Muir out of the way.”

TRIVIA ANSWER

None of the three is a senior. Keiaho is a sophomore and Smith and Swinton are juniors.

WHAT A WEEK

Highland (6-0) is rolling over opponents, having outscored six teams, 267-39, but the Bulldogs are not without problems. On the first day of practice last week, kicker Russell Gordon left school for personal reasons and did not return until Friday.

Tim Pennell, the second-string kicker, sustained a broken ankle on the same day. Third-string kicker Tony Polinda missed a practice and was late to another and was benched for Friday’s game. In addition, running back Mike Borja sustained a double-compound dislocation of two fingers on his left hand at practice and will be out for two weeks.

Alex Sanchez, a defensive end, was in a car accident last week. He is suffering from memory loss and has trouble remembering the plays.

And Mike Calahan is suffering from hip trauma.

On a positive note, Gordon made seven of seven conversion kicks Saturday in a 49-0 win over Salesian.

“We haven’t lost anyone for the season, but some strange things have certainly hit us in midstream here,” Coach Lin Parker said.

INJURIES

Hart tailback Deriek Charles, who suffered a sprained shoulder last week, is questionable for Friday’s game against Burbank. Charles was hit by a defender in the back while catching a touchdown pass in the third quarter and did not return to the game. . . .

Canyon tight end Billy Sivley was hurt on the opening kickoff against Quartz Hill, sustaining sprained ligaments in his right knee. Sivley is questionable for Friday’s game against Antelope Valley. . . .

Burroughs tailback Sean McDermott has returned to the lineup after a three-week absence because of a broken collarbone. . . . Oak Park quarterback Damian Delfino is out for the season after suffering a broken collarbone Friday against St. Bonaventure. Alex Eckert is the team’s new quarterback. . . .

Santa Clara running back Scottie Tripp, one of the Frontier League’s top backs, is questionable for Friday’s game against Calabasas because of a mildly separated shoulder. Tripp missed the Saints’ league-opening 5-0 win over Fillmore. . . .

Antelope Valley tailback/safety Freddie Edwards missed the second half of last Friday’s win over Palmdale because of a hip pointer, but Coach Brent Newcomb said Edwards will play at Canyon on Friday. . . .

Chaminade offensive lineman Steve Swaney suffered broken bones in his left forearm in practice last week and is expected to be lost for the season. Swaney played center and guard. Chaminade played last week with three starting linemen out because of injuries in a 13-3 loss to Alemany.

Vince Kowalick and staff writers Steve Elling, Paige A. Leech, Brian Murphy and Jeff Riley contributed to this notebook.