Pierce Bowl Win Might Lead to Recovery of Recruiting Turf : College football: Opponent is Moorpark, a team players have flocked to since Brahmas dropped program for 1986-87.

Moorpark College might want to warmly thank Pierce before their football teams begin the Western State Bowl game tonight at 7 at Moorpark.

The Brahmas (7-2-1 and tied for second in the Western State Conference South Division) are making their first postseason appearance in six years against a team that benefited greatly when Pierce dropped its football program for two years after the 1985 season because of budgetary cuts.

Pierce defeated Moorpark, 27-14, in the 1985 Brahma Bowl, its last game before the program was dropped. But Moorpark proved the winner off the field soon thereafter.

The flow of players from the western end of the San Fernando Valley to Moorpark was a trickle at first, but it has developed into a steady stream. Fourteen Moorpark players--including seven starters--hail from Valley high schools located west of Balboa Boulevard.

Six of them earned first- or second-team All-WSC North Division recognition, including tailback Jamal Anderson, who has gained 1,063 yards and scored 11 touchdowns, and lineman Robert Moose, who was named the division’s defensive player of the year.

“We owe Pierce a debt of gratitude. There is no question about it,” Moorpark Coach Jim Bittner said. “(Tailback) Rob Davis was one of the first Pierce players to come over to us when their program folded after the 1985 season, and that trend has continued.”

Bill Norton, Pierce’s first-year coach, is fully aware of the westward migration of football players that occurs each fall.

“Moorpark was just starting to make some headway when Pierce dropped football,” Norton said. “The fact that Pierce didn’t have a program for a couple of years helped (Moorpark) tremendously.”

Moorpark posted an 8-3 mark in 1985 after finishing 4-5-1 in ’84 and 2-8 in ’83. The Raiders (8-2 and second in the WSC North Division) have finished no worse than 6-3 since and won North Division titles in 1988 and ’89.

Although Pierce, which compiled a 28-5 record from 1983-85, resurrected its program in 1988, Moorpark has continued to draw players from the west Valley because of its winning tradition and--until this season--because of Pierce’s lackluster program.

Anderson, an All-West Valley League selection at El Camino Real High in 1989, said that he probably would have gone to Pierce had the Brahmas not been coming off 1-9 and 4-6 campaigns.

“Pierce had had a lot of success over the years,” said Anderson, who rushed for 1,153 yards his senior season. “But they were just starting back up. I wanted to go to a program that was playing my kind of football and winning. Pierce wasn’t.”

Moose, who suffered through consecutive 1-8 seasons at Canoga Park High his junior and senior years in 1988-89, said that he primarily chose Moorpark over Pierce because of the former’s winning tradition.

“I was tired of losing,” Moose said. “I was on a couple of pretty bad teams at Canoga, and I wanted to get that winning feeling back again. Otherwise, I probably would have gone to Pierce. It’s kind of a pain driving out to Moorpark, when Pierce is only 10 minutes away, but it’s been worth it.”

Jeff Long, a second-team All-North Division offensive lineman, graduated from Granada Hills High in 1989, yet he chose Moorpark over Pierce because, ironically enough, he felt more at home.

“I visited both schools and Bittner and the coaches (at Moorpark) just made a better impression on me,” Long said. “I had a better feeling with them. I was on a (10-1) team at Granada as a senior and the attitude at Moorpark was a lot like the attitude at Granada. Everyone was very organized and driven.”

Norton, an assistant at Pierce the past two seasons before becoming head coach this year, acknowledges that there were questions about Pierce’s coaching staff before this season, but he figures that the Brahmas’ performance has put any doubts to rest.

“We had to prove that we could win like anyone else,” Norton said. “And I think we did that this season. The team has proved that Pierce football is back.”

Just how far back the Brahmas have come could be determined tonight; underdog Pierce will take on a Moorpark team that is ranked 11th in the J.C. Athletic Bureau state poll. The Raiders are ranked eighth in the state in total offense (average of 433 yards a game), fourth in defense (235.1), and they are playing in their fourth consecutive postseason bowl game.

“I think the outcome of this game could determine whether or not players from the Valley keep coming to Moorpark,” said Raider linebacker Jerry Thompson, an All-Del Rey League selection at Crespi in 1989. “I think if Pierce wins, they’ll be able to say, ‘Why do you want to go all the way out to Moorpark when you can stay close to home and play for a team that beat them.’ But if we win, Moorpark will continue to get players from the Valley.”

Bittner and Norton do not view the outcome as quite that crucial. Both said that a team’s record during the regular season influences a program’s reputation much more than the score of a single bowl game.

Norton did allow, however, that Pierce’s participation in a bowl game will give him extra ammunition in the recruiting battles ahead.

“If we win, 3-2, in a snowstorm, or lose, 60-6, in a blowout, it’s really not going to make or break our season,” Norton said. “We’ve had a good season, regardless of what happens Saturday. But when kids come to me next year, I can say, ‘Hey, we played in a bowl game last year.’ Before, I couldn’t do that.”