Fear on Friday Night : A look at how violence has affected high school football games in the Southland.

The Scene: San Fernando at Granada Hills Kennedy, Friday, Nov. 1, 7:30 p.m. Estimated attendance: 4,000. Security: 20 administrators and teachers from the schools, 10 L.A. Unified School District police and four Los Angeles police officers.

The Background: The name San Fernando High still unnerves many San Fernando Valley residents, especially those who remember when San Fernando was one of the few Valley schools with a racially mixed student population. With first place in the West Valley League on the line, there was beefed-up security. Coaches met before the game to discuss ensuring that nobody in the stands would interfere with the game.

A Parent’s Perspective: A religious woman, Sandy Bourne is a mother of seven boys--among them Kennedy tight end David Bourne--and the wife of a Los Angeles police detective.

Bourne remembers her days at Granada Hills High in the 1960s, when a Friday night game was the social event of the week. Things are different now. Her children are never left unchaperoned in the stands and rarely wander beyond arm’s reach. She sits as far from the student section as possible, in part from concern for safety, but also because of the X-rated cheers. “Sometimes I hear their chants and I think to myself, ‘I didn’t really hear that, did I?’ ” she said.

But Bourne is most concerned after the game. The walk to the parking lot can be perilous. “The real safety issue is between the stadium and the parking lot,” Ken, her husband, said.

No one lingers after games anymore, Sandy says. Minutes after the final whistle, the stands empty and there is an almost instant threat of confrontation. A week before the Kennedy-San Fernando game, Sandy attended Kennedy’s game at Granada Hills. She sat through it without incident but had some anxious moments as she walked to her car, wearing her Kennedy booster jacket. “I wasn’t upset at the game until I left for the parking lot,” she said. “There were people milling around, and there was a lot of screaming and people seemed out of control. That can be intimidating.”

Still, when her husband works Friday nights, Sandy brings her children to Kennedy’s games and rarely feels threatened when in the stands. “I feel confident at Kennedy because of the personnel,” she says. “The administrators aren’t afraid to go into the stands and handle something. They’re very vigilant.”