PREPS / ROB FERNAS : Monarchs Suffer a Series of Setbacks

The way things have gone at Morningside High lately, one might suspect the school is gripped by a curse.

“It’s not a curse, but . . .,” Ron Tatum said.

Tatum, who coaches Morningside’s football and track teams, has managed to maintain his composure despite several recent events:

* The football team was stripped of its 1991 Southern Section Division VIII title because it inadvertently used a 19-year-old player.

* The school’s field house burned, causing an estimated $40,000 damage in lost football and track equipment.

* Quarterback Stais Boseman sprained his ankle on the third play of the game Saturday in a 20-19 season-opening loss to Inglewood.

Now, Morningside can survive the loss of a trophy. And the school can build another field house and replace equipment. But losing Boseman, perhaps the finest all-around athlete in the state, would truly be a tragedy.

Fortunately for the Monarchs, Boseman’s injury is not considered serious. Nonetheless, Tatum said he won’t know until today to what extent Boseman will be able to play in Friday’s 3 p.m. nonleague game against Hawthorne at Coleman Stadium in Inglewood.

“It’s still tender,” Tatum said of Boseman’s ankle. “The doctor had a look at it and supposedly there’s no damage.”

Boseman’s duties were restricted to handing off at practice Monday.

Tatum said Boseman played at “about 50%” of his potential against Inglewood. The injury prevented him from playing defense and cut down on his effectiveness at quarterback.

“He couldn’t push off (the ankle) and he couldn’t drop back to pass,” Tatum said. “I think it kind of messed with the other players a little, but not a whole lot.”

Although Tatum was encouraged by Morningside’s practice Monday, he said the team has gotten off to a slower start than usual because of the school’s new eligibility-checking procedures, which delayed when players were issued football gear.

“Going into our first game, I really felt that we weren’t prepared to play,” Tatum said. “We didn’t suit up until the second week of practice. In terms of practicing, we haven’t had time to get down to work.

“I think we’ll look like a first-game team this week. To be honest, the advent of the (eligibility-checking procedures) was somewhat discouraging. I came into camp with a little bit different attitude knowing what we had to overcome.

“But after seeing our team play against Inglewood, I saw that we have a lot of pride. I think everybody feels a little better now. Going through adversity over here is nothing new. It just seems like we have a tremendous amount of it this year.

“It’s another mountain we have to climb.”

*

It isn’t often when a team, particularly a successful one, replaces a returning quarterback. But that’s the situation at Hawthorne, where junior Kenji Tatum has taken over for Ronnie Morrissette, who quarterbacked the Cougars to a 9-3 record and the Bay League title in 1991.

So far, the move appears to be working.

Morrissette, a versatile athlete, excelled at tight end and strong safety and had a 92-yard kickoff return nullified by penalty Friday in Hawthorne’s 36-25 loss to highly regarded Loyola. Tatum, meanwhile, showed he belongs at quarterback. He completed nine of 13 passes for 156 yards and two touchdowns, and did an efficient job running the option.

“I was real pleased with (Tatum’s) play,” Hawthorne Coach Dan Robbins said. “He made some errors--little things. But even on plays where he should have pitched it, he had the maturity to go forward for two or three yards.

“You’re going to see fun things out of Kenji Tatum.”

Despite losing the starting quarterback job, Morrissette remains a team leader. He addressed his teammates after the loss to Loyola.

“It’s asking a lot to have a 17-year-old kid give up all this fame and glory,” Robbins said. “(Morrissette) had tons of it last year and he’s not going to get it this year. He may feel bad when he doesn’t get a lot of ink, but it’s going to make him such a strong person.

“You’re in pretty good shape when Robbie Morrissette is your backup quarterback.”

*

Friday’s game was the first time Hawthorne and Loyola had met in football since 1974.

In the 1974 game, Hawthorne upset top-ranked and previously unbeaten Loyola, 10-7, in the second round of the Southern Section major division playoffs. Some still consider it the greatest victory in school history.

“That was a big-time game,” said Hawthorne assistant Otto Plum, who was head coach in 1974. “We finished second in our league but we came on late in the season. We had a big line and some good backs and good athletes.

“That was probably the biggest (victory) for Hawthorne. We’ve had some since then, but we haven’t had a big one in the playoffs since then where we played the No. 1 team and beat them.”

Hawthorne’s Cinderella season ended the next week when the Cougars lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champion South Hills of Covina, 28-6.

*

Whatever Carson football Coach Marty Blankenship is telling his team at halftime, it isn’t working.

After two games, the Colts have yet to score a point in the second half. Mt. Carmel outscored Carson, 7-0, in the second half of a 7-7 tie, and last week Bishop Amat rallied for two touchdowns in the third quarter to erase a 10-0 halftime deficit and pull out a 14-10 victory.

Not exactly the sign of a great team, is it?

The problem is Carson’s offense. The Colts are averaging only 3.35 yards per rushing play and quarterback Jamie Sander has completed only 36% of his passes (17 for 44).

*

With three football teams ranked in the Division IX top 10, the Pioneer League figures to be among the area’s most competitive races.

That fact became more evident last week after El Segundo, a newcomer to the Pioneer League after several years in Catholic leagues, opened the season with an impressive 37-21 victory over Mira Costa.

“We’re looking for a good, hard, third-place finish in league,” El Segundo Coach Craig Cousins said. “If we can get higher than that, I think we’ve done a heck of a job. I want to make the playoffs.”

Cousins said beating Mira Costa raised his expectations.

“I was looking for (a) 5-5 (record),” he said. “This was a swing game. Now I’m looking at 6-4 if we can get hot.”

El Segundo broke into the Division IX top 10 this week at No. 9. South Torrance and North Torrance, the Pioneer favorites, are ranked second and third, respectively.

*

Narbonne’s football team moves from the elite Southern Pacific Conference to the less competitive Southeastern Conference this season, and not a moment too soon judging by the Gauchos’ opener last week.

Narbonne suffered a 20-8 loss to North Hollywood, which was 0-10 and scored only one touchdown last season. North Hollywood doubled its 1991 total with two touchdowns against the Gauchos. More embarrassing for Narbonne was that North Hollywood scored six points on three safeties.

Narbonne (1-9 in 1991) hopes for a better showing Friday at 3 p.m. when it plays host to Huntington Park in a Southeastern Conference opener.

*

The Peninsula girls’ cross-country team opened the season ranked No. 1 in the Southern Section Division I coaches’ poll, but the Panthers probably won’t stay there long.

Agoura, considered among the best teams nationally and the defending CIF/Reebok State Division I champion, has opted to move up to Division I classification for the 1992 postseason competition. The Chargers were in Division II based on enrollment.

Under Coach Bill Dudley, Agoura has won six consecutive Southern Section divisional titles.

Notes

Five South Bay girls are listed among California’s top 52 volleyball players as selected by the state’s coaches: Kim Blankinship and Suzanne Radcliffe of fourth-ranked Torrance, Ann Windes and Tate Medley of Mira Costa, and Lara Buss of Peninsula. . . . Peninsula is ranked No. 1 in girls’ tennis in the Southern Section Division I coaches’ poll.

Serra’s football team will play at home Friday night against Rialto, a first-year school with an enrollment of 1,700. Rialto played its first game last week, tying West Valley of Hemet, 21-21. . . . All seven Camino Real League football teams lost in their openers. Serra was beaten by Crespi, 15-8; Mary Star fell to South Torrance, 16-0; Pius X lost to Bishop Montgomery, 37-13; St. Monica lost to Harvard-Westlake, 37-14; Verbum Dei fell to Torrance, 10-8; Cantwell-Sacred Heart lost to Salesian, 13-6, and St. Anthony was beaten by Valley Christian of Cerritos, 23-13.

What’s in a name? For Banning quarterback Vaimagalo Faavi-Tua’au, plenty. Nicknamed Andre last season by coaches who had a hard time remembering his Samoan name, Faavi-Tua’au told a Times reporter last week that he wants to be known as Vaimagalo. So be it. . . . Apologies to South Torrance offensive lineman John Calas, whose name was misspelled in last week’s football preview.

South Bay’s Football Top 10

Selected by Times Sportswriters

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