New Schedule Comes at Right Time for City

It was viewed as a mostly positive move last summer when the Los Angeles Unified School District went to a year-round academic calendar. And the switch has proved to have its merits.

As a result, City Section and Southern Section schools now begin playing football the same week. Previously, City teams started as much as two weeks after their Southern Section counterparts.

This season, several intersectional games have been scheduled. Granada Hills High coaches, for instance, long had been outspoken about playing the same City teams in the regular season and again in the playoffs. The Highlanders this season added three Southern Sections teams to their nonleague schedule.

“We were looking to play some different people,” co-Coach Tom Harp said.

Kennedy, Cleveland, El Camino Real and Poly each scheduled one Southern Section team this season. Furthermore, Oxnard and St. Genevieve scheduled games against City teams from the L.A. Basin. That makes a total of nine intersectional games involving local teams.

There were only two intersectional games involving regional teams in each of the 1990 and 1991 seasons. What’s more, neither of the 1991 games involved City teams from the Valley: St. Genevieve played Hollywood and Oxnard played Westchester.

ONE AND COUNTING

The significance of the moment was not done justice by the numbers on the scoreboard alone: Santa Paula 19, Desert 0. While the Cardinal win last Friday was neither a championship victory nor a record-setting performance, it was victory No. 1 under first-year Coach Rick Shoup.

“That was really great, especially because it was a shutout,” Shoup said. “I was happy for myself, but I was even happier for the kids, the district and the administration, because this shows that they picked a person who knows what he’s doing.”

Shoup’s father, Bob, also knows a thing or two about coaching, the elder Shoup having turned Cal Lutheran into a perennial NAIA power. Bob, now an assistant on the Cardinal staff, is one proud dad.

“(The win) was great because the team played better and it showed everyone, the coaches and the players, beginning to come together,” Bob said. “We’re all very happy for (Rick).”

GONE SOUTH

Simi Valley travels to San Diego tonight for a game against Serra, which replaces Santa Maria on the Pioneers’ nonleague schedule.

Simi Valley Coach Stan Quina said the school searched far and wide for a nonleague opponent in a city that also offered a pleasant getaway.

“Santa Maria wasn’t our idea of a luxury trip,” Quina said. “We said, ‘If we’re going to make a weekend trip, let’s make it somewhere we can spend the whole weekend.’ ”

QUOTEBOOK

Newbury Park Coach George Hurley, on Buena running back George Keiaho, whom the Panthers must contend with tonight in a nonleague game at Ventura High: “If we can keep him under 500 yards and six touchdowns, I think we can outscore ‘em.”

THRICE IS NICE

Bell-Jeff quarterback Luke Barrett completed three passes for touchdowns to Carlos Baker last week.

Unfortunately, Baker plays defensive back for Burbank, which defeated Bell-Jeff, 49-7.

“I thought I was dreaming,” said Baker, a 5-foot-10, 180-pound sophomore. “I just kept saying, ‘Don’t let me wake up.’ ”

Baker, the most valuable player of the frosh team last season, returned the interceptions 56, 44 and 29 yards. He fell two thefts short of tying the Southern Section record for one game, which was set in 1975 by Darrel Diaz of Santiago. The Southern Section does not keep records on interceptions returned for touchdowns.

Bulldog Coach Randy Stage was awe-struck by the performance.

“In 15 years of coaching, I have never, ever seen anyone return three interceptions for touchdowns in one game,” Stage said. “Just getting three interceptions in one game is spectacular.”

Coincidentally, two days earlier, Glendale’s Jaiya Figueras intercepted three passes and returned two for touchdowns in a 35-21 win over La Canada. Glendale picked off seven passes in the game.

NAIL-BITING TIME

Saugus Coach Jack Bowman likes excitement as much as the next person, but his charges are giving him a bit too much.

The Centurions played to a 13-13 tie with Thousand Oaks to open the season and defeated Royal, 27-25, last week after stopping a two-point conversion attempt with five seconds left.

“Well, I know the fans like an exciting product, but this is ridiculous,” Bowman joked. “I told the guys that they’re going to have to stop this because it’s getting to my wife.”

PRESS THE ISSUE

Inspiration comes from many places.

Written on Crespi’s sideline chalkboard before last week’s game at Canyon was this quote: “They have nothing to lose. We beat them 75-0 the last two games.” --Canyon player in The Newhall Signal.

Crespi won, 26-21.

NICE CALL

Kilpatrick quarterback Cecilo James on Friday called an audible that led to one of the most exciting plays of the season. Problem was, it wasn’t a play.

“I heard him call the play number and we didn’t have the play number he called,” Coach Glenn Bell said.

Sixty-nine yards later, James had turned a broken play into a touchdown.

“He just started zigzagging and he ended up in the end zone,” Bell said. “Then he thought, ‘I can do anything now.’ ”

HOME SWEET HOME

It was a change made in the heat of battle, born of necessity. But, how it paid off.

In Kennedy’s opener against Banning, junior inside linebacker Vincent Carthron was struggling. He had trouble making reads and was moved in midgame to defensive end.

Last week against Bakersfield, in his first start at defensive end, Carthron (6-1, 235) recorded two sacks and returned a fumble recovery for a touchdown.

“Who knows, by next year, he may (weigh) 260 and he could really be something,” Coach Bob Francola said.

GHOST IN THE MACHINE

Only his doctors know for sure.

Two weeks ago, Alemany tailback David Eastham was on the shelf because of what was believed to be a broken bone in his left foot.

It appeared as though Coach Pat Degnan would have to enter his first season without one of his key backfield starters.

As the opener approached, though, Eastham was granted an 11th-hour reprieve--it seems his X-rays were misread.

“You’d have to ask his doctors (about what went wrong),” Degnan said. “The quote was, ‘There was a glitch in the X-ray machine.’ ”

Eastham leads Alemany with 149 rushing yards in two games.

FAMOUS LAST WORDS

File this under the best-laid plans of mice and men, or, things that drive coaches to early retirement.

In the early stages of Crespi’s victory over Canyon last week, Crespi defensive coaches screamed at length and in unison, imploring their troops to watch for a screen pass.

Several times. At high volume. With emphasis. The defenders nodded.

Canyon, facing third and long, did indeed dump a middle-screen pass to running back Sean McDermott . . . who ran for an 82-yard touchdown.

TAKE THREE

From the Third-Time-Is-the-Charm Department: Early in the third quarter of Village Christian’s 19-6 victory over Southern California Christian on Saturday, the Crusaders faced a first-and-goal situation at the four-yard line.

A handoff to Tarik Blair. Touchdown. Flag. Holding.

First and goal again, the ball now on the 14. Blair on a sweep. Touchdown. Another flag. Clipping.

First and goal again, ball on the 24. Quarterback David Treanor hits J.B. McLeod for a touchdown pass. No flags.

HONESTY AWARD

St. Francis rallied from a 23-point deficit to defeat Mary Star, 24-23, on Friday, but Coach Andy Boynton takes no credit for any halftime inspiration speech.

“I think (the players) rallied themselves,” he said. “We said something to them at halftime, then they came out and gave up another touchdown.”

CRUISING CHARGERS

Agoura’s powerful cross-country teams have kept a relatively low profile so far in order to be well rested for the more important meets later in the year, according to Coach Bill Duley.

While other teams, such as Hart, will compete in their third invitational of the season at Saturday’s Bell-Jeff meet at Griffith Park, Agoura has competed in only one meet, the Woodbridge invitational last Saturday. The Chargers’ next meet will be against Camarillo on Thursday, followed by the Kenny Staub invitational in La Crescenta on Oct. 10.

Many teams will be running in their sixth or seventh meet by then.

“I just feel like it’s more important for us to be training right now than running a lot of races,” Duley said.

“In the past, some of our teams have not run that well at the end of the season because they were a little worn out. It seemed like they had run one too many races during the course of the season. . . . So I decided to run one less race this year and start the season a little slower.”

Staff writers Steve Elling, Jeff Fletcher, Vince Kowalick, Paige A. Leech, John Ortega and Jason H. Reid contributed to this notebook.