Holding Ground : Gangs: Even with stepped-up security, the wisdom of nighttime football is being called into question. Not so at Venice High, where fans insist they’ll hold on to the tradition.

In a certain slant of light on Watson Field, the football game between Venice and Hamilton high schools last Friday was right out of the ‘50s--pigskin rivalry on a crisp fall night, with cheerleaders, marching band and drill teams, and parents and teachers in the bleachers.

But the gang violence that marks Los Angeles in the ‘90s made a few changes necessary: All fans were frisked for weapons and drugs at the gate, no fewer than 20 police officers kept watch, opposing sides were forbidden to cross the playing field to mingle, and the closest parallel street was blocked off by police cars to prevent drive-by shootings.

In the wake of several disturbing incidents at other Los Angeles high school football games last month, some parents and school officials are raising questions about the wisdom of such nighttime events, even with stepped-up security.

Not so at Venice, where, as one gung-ho mother in the school’s blue-and-white colors put it, “night football is a tradition. I’d rather have my daughter here on a Friday night at a football game, than many other places in the city.”

Teacher Gary Bonart, surveying the field from atop the stands, walkie-talkie in hand, was aghast at any suggestion that night games may be doomed.

“You got 1,000 people enjoying themselves, not out doing something hazardous,” he said. “There’s a sense of community here.”

Security was especially tight, police said, after someone brandished a weapon at Hamilton High earlier in the day, and a gang-related shooting in nearby Oakwood was only hours old when the football game got under way.

But the Gondos’ (short for Gondoliers) fight song was about as violent as it got Friday night--except on the field, of course--although some would-be troublemakers were turned away and a few mean-looking members of a local gang slouched around inside the gate--where, coincidentally, police attention was focused.

Officers from the school district police force and the Los Angeles Police Department’s Pacific Division and anti-gang unit said they are more concerned about possible gang activity outside or after the games than at the event itself.

However, two football games at other schools have been interrupted by gunfire this month. During the final minute of an afternoon game between Dorsey and Crenshaw high schools at Jackie Robinson Stadium on Oct. 4, ricocheting bullets from a drive-by shooting injured two teen-agers. Players hit the ground and spectators fled the stands.

Later the same day, at a night game between Lincoln and Franklin high schools held in supposedly neutral territory, Roosevelt High, a shooting near the playing field ended the game late in the fourth quarter. No injuries were reported.

Hal Harkness, athletic director for the Los Angeles Unified School District, said remaining games of the season at Dorsey will be played earlier in the day, and changes have been made in how police officers are deployed in the surrounding area.

“The school administration would be the first to stand up (to abolish night games) if and when the time comes,” Harkness said. “None of us would continue a practice we thought was unsafe.

“But we are not at that point, or anywhere near it. There has been no escalation (in violence at the games) during the past four or five years; the incidents are few and isolated.”

He pointed out that the games are one of the few sources of revenue for student bodies, and that there are few acceptable alternatives for the thousands who turn out for Friday-night games. LAPD Pacific Division Officer Steve Castro, patrolling the Hamilton side at Friday’s game, said that there have been some postgame incidents near Westchester High but that “so far there have been no problems” at the Venice site. He said, however, that he has come to believe that metal detectors should be installed at all playing fields.

The extensive security measures, say parents, students and school officials, are a small price to pay to continue the tradition--which generally draws a crowd of more than 1,500 people at Venice. Across the district, of those schools that have lights on their playing field, Palisades High alone has abolished night games altogether. It did so four years ago after attendance dwindled and neighbors complained about the lights, noise and the postgame fights that frequently broke out on the large, dark campus and its underground tunnel.

Venice Principal Andrea Natker said it costs nearly $3,000 in additional security, custodians, announcer and paramedics to stage a night game, paid for out of $4 ticket sales. The school district also provides four buses to transport students to and from distant neighborhoods.

A ‘60s Venice alum, Linda Neuhaus, was working the food concession at the game Friday with her husband, Bill. Daughter Jennifer, cheering in the stands with 1,646 other fans, is a senior this year, but the couple say their involvement as volunteers at Venice will not end with her graduation: “We love the kids,” she said.

“We can’t protect our children from every danger, but I think we can make wise choices. And I’d rather have my daughter here on a Friday night at a football game than many other places in the city. We’ve worked here three years and have never felt that students were other than safe. . . . High school kids need our support: From here they go into the real world, and for some this is the last place to feel they’re in a safe environment.”

Principal Natker agrees. “The games offer an opportunity for kids to be involved in a wholesome activity on Friday night,” she said, noting that there is supervision, a specific activity, and a start and finish time.

“I believe kids are looking for a way to belong and feel part of something. . . . I can’t think of any better gang deterrent (than such activities). If schools start pulling back, parents are not going to fill the gap.”

In the stands, the young fans’ enthusiasm bespoke an earlier, more innocent era. Many looked horrified when a reporter suggested that Friday night football may have outlived its time.

“There are not too many problems here, it’s pretty much safe,” said senior Jeff Drati, president of the Venice student body. “There are gangsters here, but. . . .”

Asked whether parents are reluctant these days to allow their kids to attend the games, Drati looked amused.

“Actually,” he said, glancing up at bleachers filled with fans of all ages and colors, “the parents are here with their kids.”

There were no incidents. Rival gang members failed to show.

And oh, by the way, Venice won, 28-7.