Ventura’s Healing Takes Time

One of a school’s worst nightmares was realized last week when Harvey Kochel, football coach at Ventura High, was arrested and charged with seven felony counts of sexual misconduct with a minor.

Kochel, 48, announced last Monday that he was taking a leave of absence from the school district. He turned himself in to police two days later and on Friday was charged by the Ventura County district attorney’s office. His arraignment is Wednesday morning.

According to the district attorney’s office, Kochel allegedly had a nine-month sexual relationship that began earlier this year with a 16-year-old female student at the school.

School officials and Kochel are not talking. Neither is Kochel’s attorney. Phil McCune, the assistant coach who took over for Kochel, has declined comment on the matter.

After the team’s first loss of the season last Friday at Santa Barbara San Marcos, McCune told a Times reporter he did not want to discuss the mood of the team. All he would say was that he was proud of his players.

“How could you not be proud of these kids?” McCune asked.

Ventura was 3-0 and ranked No. 4 in the Southern Section Division III poll before the San Marcos game. But Friday, the Cougars looked like a different team.

Perhaps they were still in shock. Kochel, who graduated from Ventura in 1962, has been the school’s coach for the last 12 years and has won more games than any of his predecessors.

Some of the players might have been embarrassed. Jake Kochel, the coach’s son, is a junior fullback-defensive back. He recovered a fumble on defense.

The community offered its support by filling the visitors’ bleachers.

Since taking over the team in 1981, Kochel’s record is 77-45-5. Many of his players have received scholarships and a couple have gone on to the pros.

But if he is convicted, a major trust will have been violated, and the effects could be felt for years.

“The news is just devastating,” said Stan Thomas, commissioner of the Southern Section. “A very unfortunate set of circumstances has taken a veteran coach out of our ranks. That has an impact on the community and school district.”

Santini Puailoa, football coach at San Marcos, said the incident could have a major impact on the Ventura football team.

“It is very detrimental to lose a head coach at any level because that is the person who the kids know, trust and identify with,” Puailoa said. “On a team, everything centers around the head coach. In football, the kids spend all summer with the coach, getting ready for the season.”

The California Interscholastic Federation, which governs the Southern Section, does not have a policy on such matters. Margaret Davis, associate commissioner, said that although a few such incidents have occurred over the years, the CIF believes the issue is best handled by the school districts.

“It’s an unfortunate and disappointing thing,” she said.

It is unlikely Kochel will return to the team this season, even if he is cleared of the charges. The damage has been done, and at this point school officials need to restore order on the team and in the student body.

Assistant coaches need to focus Ventura players, and parents need to offer guidance.

With luck, time will take care of the rest.

After getting a temporary restraining order against the CIF’s San Diego Section last Thursday, quarterback Ryan Lynch led Torrey Pines to a 22-3 upset of El Camino on Friday.

Lynch, a senior, was ejected from a game against La Jolla on Sept. 25 for kneeing an opponent. That is a violation of an Ethics in Sports bylaw, which calls for a one-game suspension. The two-year-old bylaw had never previously been challenged in court, according to Kendall Webb, section commissioner.

A court hearing is scheduled Oct. 19 and Lynch will continue to play until then.

Anthony Brooks, a junior linebacker at Lake Elsinore Temescal Canyon, says he is glad to be alive but that his football career is over.

Brooks took himself out of a game against Moreno Valley Rancho Verde on Sept. 24, complaining of dizziness. He underwent emergency surgery later that night for removal of a blood clot on his brain.

It is still not known if the problem was football related, but Coach Houston Haynes said a review of the game film did not show anything that could have caused it.

Prep Notes

Inglewood Morningside quarterback Stais Boseman, who has played sparingly this season because of a sprained ankle, was back in form Friday night against South Torrance. Boseman threw for two touchdowns, ran for a two-point conversion and made a key fourth-quarter interception in leading the Monarchs to a 21-20 victory. After the game, Boseman rushed to the airport to make an 11:30 flight for a basketball recruiting trip to the University of Connecticut. . . . Anaheim Esperanza replaces Rialto Eisenhower as The Times’ top team in Southern California. Eisenhower tied El Toro on Friday, 14-14. Esperanza, a Southern Section Division II team, has beaten its first four opponents by a combined score of 175-14.

Times’ Top 20 Football Poll

The Times’ top 20 high school football poll, with teams from the City and Southern sections.

School Sect. Div. Rec. LW 1. Esperanza SS II 4-0 3 2. Bishop Amat SS I 4-0 2 3. Loyola SS I 4-0 4 4. Eisenhower SS I 3-0-1 1 5. Muir SS II 3-1 5 6. Hart SS II 4-0 6 7. Los Alamitos SS II 4-0 7 8. Fontana SS I 3-1 8 9. Dominguez SS II 4-0 9 10. Servite SS II 3-0-1 10 11. Nogales SS IV 4-0 11 12. Mater Dei SS I 3-0-1 12 13. Ran. Alamitos SS VII 3-1 14 14. Crespi SS I 4-0 16 15. Baldwin Park SS IV 4-0 15 16. Saugus SS II 3-0-1 19 17. North Torrance SS IX 4-0 NR 18. Lakewood SS I 4-0 NR 19. Sylmar City 4-A 3-0 20 20. Crenshaw City 4-A 3-1 NR