THE HIGH SCHOOLS / STEVE ELLING : Chatsworth on Last-to-1st Trek

Hold that elevator.

Last season, Chatsworth High’s football team was buried in the nether reaches of the Northwest Valley Conference. The Chancellors finished 2-8 overall and last in the West Valley League at 1-6.

When the team reported this fall, a motivational sign was hanging in the locker room: “From the Outhouse to the Penthouse.”

Chatsworth Coach Myron Gibford had read the handwriting on the wall and wanted the team to know that 1991 would be a season of higher expectations.

“We believed from last year that we had a chance to go all the way,” Gibford said.

In spite of a disappointing 1990 season, Gibford was confident for two reasons. First, 20 of Chatsworth’s 22 regulars would be seniors, although some would play both ways. Second, the Chancellors were moved from the 4-A to the 3-A division when sweeping changes were made in the City’s alignment during the off-season.

“When we saw how they were going to set things up, we knew we were in good shape,” Gibford said.

The shape of things to come might well be represented by a large, shiny trophy.

Chatsworth won the North Valley League title this season and Friday moved to within one victory of a championship with its 17-14 victory over Roosevelt in the semifinals.

Thanks in large part to the crisp play of its offensive line and a pair of momentum-turning goal-line stands, Chatsworth (9-4) will face top-seeded Crenshaw in the final next weekend. The site has yet to be determined.

“Our five linemen, that’s where our team’s at,” senior quarterback Brian Comer said. “They came through again and again.”

Playing behind an offensive line that includes four returning starters, tailback Montay Hardison bulled his way to 141 yards in a career-high 33 carries. Just as important, the line allowed Chatsworth to keep the ball away from Roosevelt’s dangerous run-and-shoot offense.

Chatsworth scored its two touchdowns on drives of 80 and 95 yards and in the first half the defense twice turned away Roosevelt in goal-to-go situations.

“Our whole team takes pride in our goal-line defense,” said Comer, who also plays cornerback. “It’s come up with all the right plays when we really needed it.”

Comer and his up-and-coming teammates can complete their preseason goal with one more victory. Next stop, the top floor.

“We’ve been dreaming about doing this all year, dreaming we could get there,” Comer said. “We knew we had a good team, we just had to go out and prove it.”

Lights out: Sylmar has made it a practice all season to set aside a few moments before games to allow players to ruminate on the task at hand.

In a darkened locker room, players individually meditate in total silence for several minutes before the team takes the field for warm-up drills. Friday, the Spartans should have asked for divine intervention on behalf of Valley teams in the City 4-A semifinals, because Sylmar and Kennedy were both outmuscled.

Sylmar was spanked by Dorsey, 40-13, and Kennedy was thumped by Banning, 26-6. Once again, a night of high hopes was dashed by a team from over the hill.

Sylmar was making its first appearance in the 4-A playoffs, but for Kennedy, it marked another playoff loss to a team from the South Bay.

Kennedy was bumped from the 4-A playoffs by Carson in 1989 and 1990. Since 1986, the Golden Cougars are 0-4 against Banning. With respect to the latter, Kennedy is hardly in exclusive territory. Since 1977, Banning has defeated Valley teams 38 times in 40 meetings.

Down in the Valley, Valley so low. . . .

“It’s kind of sad when this is our best team in a long time and this still happens,” Kennedy Coach Bob Francola said.

Testing, testing ...: El Camino Real guard Sam Sarpong, who has been prohibited from playing basketball after a preseason physical indicated that he might have a heart murmur, underwent a second round of tests Friday.

The physician who conducted the tests said that Sarpong’s heartbeat seemed normal but passed the results to a colleague for a second opinion, Coach Mike McNulty said.

Sarpong, who averaged 10.9 points and 4.7 assists as a sophomore last season, is expected to be given medical clearance Monday, after the review is completed.

Pitching coach: Chaminade football assistant Fred Grimes, formerly the coach at North Hollywood, dropped by Friday night to watch Kennedy’s semifinal against Banning. Grimes has been credited by Francola with helping install the power pitch in the Golden Cougars’ offensive scheme.

The play was a Kennedy staple all season, although it might have been run a few times too often in Kennedy’s 26-6 loss to Banning. Despite never holding a lead, the Golden Cougars attempted only 11 passes. So, Fred, how does that forward pass thing work again?.

Thirtysomething: Kennedy tailback Elijah Raphael scored the Golden Cougars’ lone touchdown against Banning with no time remaining and reached rarefied heights in the process.

The touchdown was Raphael’s 30th of the season, a plateau reached by four other regional players in the past five seasons: Crespi’s Russell White scored 38 in 1987, Derek Sparks of Montclair Prep had 35 and Howard Blackwell of Hart had 32 in 1989, and Jonathan Campbell of Poly had 31 in 1990. All are running backs.

Star quality: Playing soon at a Santa Clarita Valley school near you is another name right off the Hollywood marquee.

Almost, anyway.

The same region that produced quarterback James Bonds (Hart High) will soon unveil a quarterback named Sean Connelly (a Canyon sophomore). Somewhere out there, perhaps in Saugus, a kid named Roger Mohr is showing off a golden gun in the local peewee league.

I’ll raise you ...: Does Santa Clara boys’ basketball Coach Lou Cvijanovich own Ventura County, or what?

It seems that Cvijanovich and Taft Coach Jim Woodard were shooting the breeze at a Pepperdine clinic recently when the subject of team fund-raisers came up. Woodard volunteered that Taft had raised $1,400 and asked Cvijanovich how his booster club had made out.

Replied Cvijanovich without batting an eye: “We made $86,000.”