THE HIGH SCHOOLS : Diana Revives Cleveland After She Survives a Lengthy Wait

It may rank as the world’s all-time sports cliche.

Bill Murray, swinging a garden utensil like a nine-iron, immortalized the line in “Caddyshack,” but it had been uttered a zillion-and-one times before.

It’s a Cinderella story.

For once, it actually applies. Friday night, with every eye in the house on her, Michele Diana laced up her kicking shoe, walked onto the football field and stole the show. Diana, a senior at Cleveland High, booted a 24-yard field goal with 1 minute 20 seconds remaining to lead the Cavaliers to a 25-22 victory over Fairfax in a game that reads like a Grimm’s fairy tale.

And grim it was for Cleveland most of the night. The Cavaliers trailed, 22-7, in the third quarter before mounting a furious rally. Cleveland recorded a safety and scored two touchdowns in a span of 4 minutes 31 seconds to tie the score, which set the stage for the belle of the ball.

With the clock winding down, Cleveland (1-0) faced fourth and three at the Fairfax four-yard line. Diana, perfect in her two point-after attempts, was sent in to try the field goal.

Her ponytail bounced across the back of her shoulder pads and she trotted out and surveyed the scene. The attempt would come from point-blank range, to be sure, but from an awkward angle on the right hash mark.

“I was just shaking,” she said. “It was on my weak hash, and real close in.”

Not so fast, Missy. Butterflies would soon become screaming eagles.

Fairfax jumped offside, and when the penalty gave the Cavaliers a fourth-and-one situation at the two, Cleveland switched to its regular offense and went for the first down.

Cleveland was flagged for illegal procedure, however, and the five-yard penalty put the ball on the seven. Pressure mounted as Diana again was sent out to try the field goal, but she pounded it through the uprights with plenty to spare.

Dianas are die-hards when it comes to this sort of thing. Michele’s brother, Frank, was an All-City Section soccer player who played linebacker and kicker for Cleveland three years ago. Frank, in fact, was the Times’ All-Valley kicker as a senior.

Michele, who as a freshman watched her brother’s football exploits from the stands, long ago made a promise to her sibling that would have seemed pretty darn impetuous, impudent and improbable to most folks: “I’m taking your spot.”

Diana (5-foot-7, 140 pounds) planned to try out for football in 1991, but a knee injury forced her to miss the season. It was tough to sit still--she played on the volleyball, softball, soccer and track teams before joining the football team.

Diana could erase the state mark for points scored in a season by a girl. Monroe kicker Rachel Gagliano set the record by booting eight PATs and a field goal to tally 11 points in 1989. The following season, Chaminade kicker Amy Cook scored six points, all on PATs.

“I played soccer against both of them,” Diana said. “I figured I could do it too.”

Friendly confines: Drive toward the Canyon football field and take a look at the road signs. Fans cross streets with names such as Pleasantdale and Delight, then are greeted with a message that reads “Welcome to Canyon High” as they enter the grandstands.

Talk about tourist traps. The Cowboys regularly ambushed those that entered their tradition-rich arena. Lately, though, Canyon’s defense has been as polite and neighborly as the Welcome Wagon lady.

In Canyon’s 26-21 loss to Crespi on Friday, the Cowboys failed to force a punt and gave up 317 yards. What’s more, the Cowboys gave up 372 yards in their 35-21 win over San Clemente in Week 1.

All-American effort: Tarik Smith watched. Meanwhile, Mark Schwanauer ran. Kicked. Caught. Recovered. In short, did his best impersonation of an All-American player.

“We have a lot of talented kids on this team,” Oak Park Coach Dick Billingsley said. “(Mark) really helped us out.”

With Smith--a preseason All-American tailback--riding the bench because he skipped a class, Schwanauer picked up the slack as Oak Park held off Calabasas, 21-18.

Because of the Smith suspension, Schwanauer was moved from fullback to receiver. He caught a 40-yard touchdown pass from Delfino to hand Oak Park a 19-18 lead with 6:29 left, ran for the two-point conversion and a heartbeat later recovered his own onside kick to help the Eagles (2-0) seal the victory.

Schwanauer, a junior, also kicked field goals of 25 and 29 yards and added one PAT.

Turnaround: This is more than a U-turn, it’s an Us -turn. It’s a We-turn. A Me-turn. Everybody is in on it.

Last season, North Hollywood was the worst team on the Valley floor. Even the North Hollywood students told the players as much. The Huskies scored one touchdown all season and finished 0-10.

Look who’s throwing zeros around in 1992. North Hollywood spanked El Camino Real, 17-0, Friday night to improve to 2-0. The reasons for the stark improvement are manifold, according to quarterback Jimmie Crist, an honor student who includes poetry among his hobbies.

Roses are red,

Our jerseys are blue,

We used to stink,

Now we’ve won two.

Crist ticks off the reasons.

“We still have a solid core from last year, we have more athletes and the coaching staff is better,” Crist said. “It’s been a lot more fun.”

Under first-year Coach Gary Gray, North Hollywood has outscored its opponents, 41-8. Last season, the Huskies were outscored--bust out those calculators and find some fresh batteries--by a whopping 48-11 and were blanked eight times.

Under Crist’s heading of better athletes falls Lamont Kinard, a speedy receiver who caught a pair of scoring passes against El Camino Real--the school he attended last fall.

“He was tearing them up,” Crist said. “All day long we talked about hooking up.”

Quite a change from last year, when everything was disconnected. Even the student body seemed to jump ship.

“Last year we had about 22 players, and it was like a real tight family,” Crist said. “We stuck together when nobody else cared about us, and that’s carried over.”

Losing certainly hasn’t.

Conversion complete: Walker is his name. Passer is his job description.

Crespi’s Matt Walker, a converted defensive lineman making only his second start at quarterback, completed 13 of 20 passes for 143 yards in the Celts’ thrilling 26-21 victory Friday at Canyon.

At one point, Walker (6-3, 200) completed seven passes in a row. Not bad for a guy who threw three passes in Week 1.

Given near-perfect protection, Walker picked away at Canyon with a variety of high-percentage tosses to backs and tight ends.

“He showed a lot of poise,” Crespi Coach Tim Lins said. “I was very proud of him.”

Defensive stalwart: Sal Lopez of Channel Islands intercepted four passes in his team’s 21-0 victory over Hueneme on Friday. He joins five other Southern Section players who have turned the trick and is the first since 1977 to do so.

The section record for interceptions is five, shared by four players.

Alas, Lopez also can’t lay claim to the Ventura County record. Sean Montgomery of St. Bonaventure picked off five passes against Cathedral in 1984.