THE COLLEGES / MIKE HISERMAN : Arrests Place Carder in Damnable Position

Brent Carder is walking a tightrope, which seems an odd place for a coach whose football team is probably going to win the Foothill Conference championship tonight.

He didn’t put himself there, nor did his team. Attention brought by the alleged misconduct of a handful of his players did.

David Brown, Bradley Cole Jr. and Gene Washington were arraigned at Antelope Municipal Court on Tuesday, each facing one count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.

Two other Antelope Valley College players also were named in the alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl at a party in Lancaster on Oct. 5, but charges were not filed. Prosecutors say the two might testify against the others.

Brown, Cole and Washington all are free on their own recognizance, but they will not play in the Marauders’ championship-deciding game at home against Citrus. Neither will the other two. Carder says they broke a team rule.

They missed a practice.

But Carder’s decision will not be so cut-and-dried next time.

Even if the Marauders lose to Citrus, chances are they will be invited to play in one of the state’s junior college bowl games Dec. 7. The next hearing for the accused players is Dec. 10, at which time the preliminary hearing will be set.

Which means they won’t have an excuse to miss a practice.

Which puts Carder balancing ever so delicately on the high wire.

If they play, he might well be criticized. If they don’t, he is still open to second-guessing. Like anyone else, the accused are innocent until proven guilty.

Earlier this week, Carder side-stepped questions about whether he would allow Brown--a wide receiver who is the only starter involved--Cole and Washington to play in a postseason game. “I’m not even thinking about bowl games right now,” he said. “We’ve got to win on Saturday.”

But Friday he changed his tune. As long as the players attend practice and class, they will suit up.

Carder said he came to that conclusion by operating the same way a math or English teacher would in considering the removal of a student from a class. “There’s no difference,” he said, “other than, in this case, the subject matter.

“No one has said they are guilty . . . so at this point they haven’t done anything that would cause their dismissal from the team.”

For now, the case is closed, the decision made and all but the wailing done.

Carder knows his decision might not be popular in some circles but, he said, “When you’re a coach, every time you call a play, that’s how it goes.”

Word association: In the press release sent out by Moorpark this week, football Coach Jim Bittner sounds words of warning about what appears to be a mismatch in today’s game between the Raiders (7-2) and county-rival Ventura (3-6).

“They always seem to play well against us,” Bittner said. “We’re not going to take them for granite. “

Obviously, Bittner’s words became someone else’s typo because to compare Ventura’s defense with granite simply would not be plausible.

A sieve, maybe. The Pirates’ defense ranks 10th in the 12-team Western State Conference, allowing an average of 364.9 yards a game.

Foggy-eyed: Pierce can win the championship of the WSC South Division by defeating Bakersfield today at Memorial Stadium in Bakersfield.

Although Bakersfield plays the vast majority of its home games at night, this one is scheduled for 1 p.m. because fog periodically rolls into the stadium at night this time of year.

As a result, buses carrying the Pierce team are due to leave the school’s Woodland Hills campus at 7:30 a.m.

Return to sender: Paul Peters and Cornell Ward of Cal State Northridge twice had heated exchanges near the goal line on kickoff returns last week during a season-ending 55-12 loss against Cal State Sacramento.

On both occasions, Peters tried to run the ball out of the end zone. Ward stopped him and, in doing so, won the praise of Matador Coach Bob Burt.

“Paul is a competitor, but he has to temper that with common sense,” Burt said. “Cornell made good decisions to keep him in the end zone. We told Cornell--it was a direct order from the sideline--that if Paul tries to run it out and you don’t want him to run it out, you tackle him.”

Ward almost had to, but who could blame Peters for wanting to take a crack at going coast to coast? He already had a 96-yard punt return and a 95-yard kickoff return to his credit this season.

Cost of experience: P. C. Shaw had his picture taken along with the other Northridge baseball coaches during a photo session set up by the school Tuesday, but whether he is actually a member of the staff has not been determined.

Shaw, 22, who runs an Angels’ rookie scout team during the fall, has talked to Coach Bill Kernen about becoming a volunteer assistant for the Matadors.

However, he also is considering an offer from Montclair Prep to help coach basketball. Last summer, an American Legion baseball team coached by Shaw won the District 20 title.

Staff writer Theresa Munoz contributed to this notebook.