City Teams Establish New Order

In a topsy-turvy state of affairs, North Hollywood and Canoga Park are each 2-0 in football and Kennedy and Granada Hills are each 0-2.

Canoga Park has not had a winning season since 1987 when the Hunters finished 6-3. From 1988-91, Canoga Park was 6-31, and, in an effort to equalize things, the City Section moved the team from the West Valley League to the less-powerful Mid-Valley.

At this rate, the City will not only have to consider moving Canoga Park back into the West Valley but from the 3-A Division into the 4-A when leagues are realigned next year.

Canoga Park, behind tailback Rashaud Vaughn, has knocked off Taft and Reseda and emerged as the favorite in the Mid-Valley race. Vaughn has rushed for 313 yards and could be the school’s best back since Mike Conover, who rushed for 1,262 yards in 1987.

At the other end of the spectrum--at least for the moment--are Granada Hills and Kennedy. Somebody needs to teach them a thing or two about scheduling nonleague patsies.

Granada Hills is off to its worst start since 1981, when the Highlanders started 0-2 and won in the third week. After losses to Lynwood and Simi Valley to open 1992, an 0-3 start looms: Granada Hills faces highly regarded Ventura (2-0) on Friday in its final nonleague game.

Even worse, senior tailback Raheem Kyle, who rushed for 201 yards in the 21-18 loss to Simi Valley last week, suffered strained ligaments in his left knee in the fourth quarter and will miss at least one game.

“Hopefully, I can get back in time for the City (conference) games,” Kyle said.

Kennedy, a 4-A semifinalist last fall, last lost its first two games in 1989. The Golden Cougars, who have been beaten by Banning and Bakersfield, face Crenshaw this week.

Crenshaw beat Kennedy last season and is the defending City 3-A champion.

PREDICTABLE PLAY

Sylmar Coach Jeff Engilman believes in his players.

He believes in them so much, he allows players to make split-second decisions on the field on fourth down--deep in their own territory.

However, the tendency to ad-lib was taken to extremes last week in Sylmar’s 20-14 victory over Chatsworth. Four times during the first half, the Spartans faked a punt and tried to convert a first down. And four times they failed, twice giving Chatsworth possession inside Sylmar’s 30.

“Those are their calls,” said Engilman, referring to backs Deon Price and Gabriel Rodriguez. “They read the defense and see what’s there.”

Even four failed fake punts didn’t stop Price and Rodriguez from trying again in the second half. This time it worked.

In the third quarter, the Spartans faked a punt on fourth and two at midfield. This time, Rodriguez jumped in front of Price, the punter, grabbed the snap and bolted to the Chatsworth 46 for a first down.

Four plays later, on fourth down with the score tied, 14-14, Engilman decided he had seen enough.

“I just screamed at them to punt the ball,” he said. “No more screwing around.”

And Price, also the team’s quarterback, did--for 47 yards.

With kicks like that, Engilman might intercede more often.

BOTLEY’S BACK

Poly tailback Ron Botley has an ax to grind.

Although Botley is the top returning running back among area City Section teams, a local newspaper overlooked him in its preseason list of the region’s top 10 backs.

Maybe nobody else noticed--or even cared--but Botley certainly did.

“I looked and I wasn’t there,” Botley said. “I was kind of curious . . . but I wasn’t on the list.”

Although Botley got off to a slow start in Poly’s opener against Belmont two weeks ago (11 carries, 35 yards), he hit his stride against Eagle Rock last week. The 5-foot-8, 170-pound senior gained 194 yards in 13 carries and scored on runs of 61, 56 and 33 yards--all in the first half--to pace the Parrots’ 35-7 victory.

Poly Coach Fred Cuccia also disagreed with the preseason assessment: How can a returning player with 122 carries, 849 yards, 14 touchdowns and a 7.0-yard average be overlooked?

Neither Cuccia nor Botley’s teammates can explain it.

“They were all saying, ‘How could you be left off (the list?),’ ” Botley said. “I just have to prove myself I guess.”

TAKING ATTENDANCE

L.A. Baptist Coach Mark Bates, whose team plays Oak Park on Friday, has a foolproof plan for stopping standout Eagle tailback Tarik Smith.

“We’ve got to try and work out something where he doesn’t go to class again,” he said.

Smith sat out Oak Park’s game last week against Calabasas because he missed a class.

SO LONG, GOOD LUCK

Agoura senior two-way tackle Mike Steussie, the team’s best lineman, is academically ineligible and likely will not play this season, Coach Frank Greminger said.

Steussie (6-2, 230), whose brother, Todd, is a 1989 Agoura graduate and now a junior tackle at California, has not practiced in weeks. Greminger said Steussie has severed relations with the coaching staff.

“He hasn’t come in to talk with us and I’m not going to talk to him,” Greminger said.

QUOTEBOOK

Reseda Coach Joel Schaeffer on his team’s lackluster performance in a 10-0 loss to Canoga Park: “We were flat and showed no fire at all. I felt like I was hunting bear with a BB gun.”

HEY! I’M COACHING HERE

Chaminade Coach Rich Lawson was surprised to find an official taking what he thought was too much interest in his play selection Friday. With the Eagles leading Burroughs, 35-14, Lawson inserted backup quarterback Clint Tanner to see what he could do. Tanner threw an incomplete pass. Then . . .

“The official comes over and says, ‘Coach, keep the ball on the ground,’ ” Lawson said. “I said, ‘We have our second-string guy in there. Is it OK if he throws a pass or two?’ I told him, ‘You do your job and I’ll do mine.’ ”

HART’S HALLADAY OUT

Hart receiver and strong safety Soren Halladay will miss at least three weeks because of a severe sprain of his right ankle sustained in Hart’s 21-6 win over Thousand Oaks on Friday.

“The X-rays were negative, but the doctors said I could wind up with a fracture if I keep putting pressure on it,” said Halladay, who must wear a cast for at least a week. “I’m just going to rest it for now and we’ll see how fast it can heal.”

Halladay, a 6-1, 175-pound junior, injured the ankle while attempting to tackle tailback Quincy Jacobs. Halladay had four catches for 98 yards and two touchdowns in Hart’s opening 43-6 victory over Pasadena.

HALL’S NEW FAME

Notre Dame’s Michele Hall has already earned a reputation as one of the area’s best swimmers, but the defending Southern Section 100-meter breaststroke champion is gaining attention this fall on the water polo team.

“She is an awesome swimmer and she is one tough kid,” Notre Dame water polo Coach John Hirr said.

To take advantage of her speed, Hirr has Hall swim as the team’s sprinter to start each quarter. And more often than not, she beats her male counterpart to the ball to give the Knights possession.

Hall not only takes the physical punishment typical of water polo, she also dishes it out. Her lip was split open Saturday morning by a head butt from a Nordhoff player in the Calabasas tournament.

However, she came back to help Notre Dame to a 25-2 win over Oxnard that afternoon, setting up several goals.

David Coulson and staff writers Steve Elling, Jeff Fletcher, Vince Kowalick, Paige A. Leech and Jason H. Reid contributed to this notebook.