Forfeit Could Result in Additional Penalties for Banning

A few hours after forfeiting its game with Dorsey, Banning High’s football team practiced Tuesday afternoon as if nothing had happened.

The players played, the coaches coached and everyone appeared to be focused on the playbook rather than the obvious distractions.

If anything, Banning’s refusal to play its scheduled game Friday at Jackie Robinson Stadium because of the threat of violence has brought the team closer together to a common goal--to win the school’s first L.A. City Section football title since 1985.

“We’ll meet Dorsey in the playoffs,” Banning running back Shayzar Hawkins said. “They’ll find out then that we’re the best team.

“I’m behind the forfeit. It’s too dangerous to go down there and play. We would rather forfeit a game than risk a life.”

The Pilots will officially be 7-1 after this week, but Coach Joe Dominguez does not consider the forfeit a loss.

“Not at all,” he said. “That’s not a loss. It’s a loss in the newspaper, or it’s a loss with some person making a decision. It’s not a loss on the football field. If they want to get technical, that’s fine. We can still go on and win the City championship. (The forfeit) might be a minor setback.”

That remains to be seen. Some have speculated that the Interscholastic Athletic Committee, the City’s governing body of athletics, could decide to take action against Banning for refusing to play Dorsey at its home field. Banning Principal Augustine Herrera said the IAC meets Nov. 12.

“I would expect they would want to take a look at this,” Herrera said. “If the IAC takes action, it will not be in favor of Banning.”

Another intriguing scenario would have Banning meeting Dorsey in the 4-A Division playoffs, perhaps at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

“I can only hope that our district can figure out a solution to that,” Dominguez said.

Said Herrera: “I’m not sure what we could do about that because we don’t control the (playoff) seeding meeting. It’s usually between the athletics office and the 16 coaches involved. That could be a very difficult meeting.

“One of the problems that lies in front of us is that by forfeiting this game, we are forfeiting the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds to somebody else. As far as controlling our own destiny, that’s kind of out of our hands.”

Dominguez said he was disappointed that the school district failed to consider Banning’s request to move the Dorsey game to a neutral site. The starting time of the game was changed from 8 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. and administrators promised increased security outside Jackie Robinson Stadium on Rodeo Road.

But the Banning coaches, players and support people stood firm in their belief that Jackie Robinson Stadium is an unsafe site because of shootings that have occurred at two Dorsey home games in the past two seasons, most recently Oct. 4. Banning’s position was strengthened by the shooting of a Dorsey student Monday near Jackie Robinson Stadium.

“I watched the news (Monday) night and I saw a kid being interviewed from Dorsey saying, ‘That team shouldn’t have to come down here to play,’ ” Dominguez said. “That says something.”

A meeting Monday night at Banning drew about 200 people, including school board President Warren Furutani and Wesley Mitchell, chief of school district police. Most of those in attendance were parents and booster club members who came to show support for Coach Joe Dominguez, who announced after the Oct. 4 shooting at the Dorsey-Crenshaw game that Banning would forfeit its game with Dorsey rather than play at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

Herrera, who has taken the stance that the game should be played, said the meeting was called to air the positions of himself and Dominguez. The agenda changed after Monday’s shooting near Dorsey.

“The timing (of the shooting) could not have been worse,” Herrera said. “Despite all the information that I’ve heard that it was an isolated gang-related shooting of a truant student, the fact that it happened on Rodeo Road simply served to intensify the feeling (at Monday’s meeting).

“What we found was that (Monday) morning’s incident at Dorsey made the atmosphere too charged to get anything done. The parents made their voice perfectly clear, and they understand the consequences.”

The forfeit could cost Banning the Pacific League title, the No. 1 seeding for the playoffs and, if the IAC takes extreme action, a chance to play for the City title.

They are consequences the Banning community is more than willing to live with to insure the safety of its young people.

El Segundo can clinch at least a tie for the San Fernando Valley League football title Friday night by beating visiting Harvard-Westlake, but Coach Steve Newell would rather not jump to any conclusions.

“We’re just trying to lay low and sneak in there,” Newell said. “As a coach, you always think you have a chance. But personally I thought the best talent in the league was at St. Francis and Harvard.”

El Segundo finished third in the league last season behind Harvard and St. Francis. The Eagles defeated St. Francis, 10-7, two weeks ago and can all but wrap up the title by beating Harvard.

Defense has played a big part in El Segundo’s resurgence since losing to Mira Costa, 39-7, in a season opener. The Eagles (5-2 overall, 2-0 in league play) have allowed only 13 points in winning their past four games.

“We sort of anticipated that we were going to get off to a slow start,” Newell said. “We’re a small school and we have kids that move from sport to sport. Another thing is that we had a new (assistant) coaching staff. It was tough getting off to a start like that. Mira Costa just annihilated us, and I know we lost a lot of credibility because of that game. But each week we’ve taken a step toward becoming a pretty decent team.”

El Segundo’s split-six defense was modified this season by former Hawthorne Coach Larry Reed, who helps as an administrative adviser. The Eagles now run a more aggressive scheme that puts considerable pressure on the backfield. It is the same defense that originated at Lawndale in the 1960s and has been used to great success at Hawthorne and Leuzinger for many years.

“Larry Reed showed us the way on that,” Newell said. “We attack from the outside all the time. Before, we taught our defensive ends to step across the line and read (the play). Normally we used tall guys who were good athletes like (6-foot-4) Sean Foster and (6-5) Heath Jones. But we’ve changed that and gone in the other direction.”

El Segundo’s defensive ends this season are Frank Taormina and Scott Sutherland, two 5-8, 165-pound seniors who have caused a great deal of havoc for opponents’ offenses. Newell said Taormina leads the team in nearly every defensive category, and Sutherland has forced several fumbles with his pressure on quarterbacks.

Other standouts include inside linebackers Hauss Hancock (6-3, 215) and Jake Howard (5-11, 210). Hancock, a junior, is getting attention from major colleges, Newell said.

Offensively, the Eagles rely on a stable of running backs. Chris Feeny, an All-CIF outfielder in baseball, rushed for four touchdowns Saturday in a 28-6 victory over St. Genevieve and leads the team with seven TDs. Another standout running back is junior Dave Scanlan.

Without a doubt, the South Bay’s top pass-catch connection this season is at Torrance. Quarterback Jason Kendall leads the area with 1,711 yards passing and Ralph Martinez leads all receivers with 48 catches for 844 yards. Six of Kendall’s 13 touchdown passes have gone to his favorite target.

Martinez caught four passes for 93 yards last week in a 28-14 victory over South Torrance in Torrance’s Pioneer League opener. The win ended a five-game losing streak for the Tartars (2-5).

“I’m not surprised at all by his success,” Coach Bill Bynum said of the 5-foot-11, 165-pound Martinez. “He’s just an outstanding football player. He’s quick. He gets off the ball and finds the opening. He’s learned how to adjust to the defense. He’s made catches that raise the hair on the back of your neck.”

Bynum pointed out that Martinez has also become the consummate team player.

“After last week’s game, he said, ‘A win means more to me than catching one pass,’ ” Bynum said. “He’s beginning to mature. One kid can have a great, great year and ask, ‘What the heck is going on?’ Now they’re saying, ‘Just because we’re heroes doesn’t mean much if you don’t win.’ ”

Do we detect a trend here?

Two weeks ago, Washington scored its first-ever victory over Carson, 30-27, to end a seven-game losing streak against the Colts dating back to 1979.

Crenshaw followed that Friday with its first victory over Carson, 12-6, to end a 16-game skid dating back to 1972.

Carson’s opponent Friday is Gardena, which has lost 19 consecutive games to the Colts. The Mohicans last beat Carson in 1974 by a 7-6 score.

Obviously this is shaping up as a down year for Carson, but Gardena Coach Mike Sakurai doesn’t believe the Colts are ripe for another upset. That might have something to do with the fact that Carson has outscored Gardena, 185-12, in their past four meetings.

“Carson is going to be ready after their setback,” Sakurai said. “They still have a lot of weapons and a lot of people they can throw at you. They’re still scary.”

In other words, don’t count out the 3-4 Colts just yet.

South Bay’s Football Top 10 Selected by Times Sportswriters

Rank, School, League Record 1 Banning (Pacific) 7-0 2 Morningside (Ocean) 6-0 3 Peninsula (Bay) 6-1 4 Hawthorne (Bay) 5-2 5 Serra (Camino Real) 4-2 6 Carson (Pacific) 3-4 7 North Torrance (Pioneer) 4-3 8 Redondo (Ocean) 4-3 9 Inglewood (Bay) 4-3 10 South Torrance (Pioneer) 4-3