PREPS / ROB FERNAS : When Push Comes to Shove, Banning May Be Taking a Step Back

Are we to believe the news coming out of Banning High these days?

Some suggest the Pilots have lost their punch on the football field. That after years of pushing around City Section opponents, Banning suddenly is getting sand kicked in its face.

Coach Ed Paculba won’t go that far, but he does acknowledge the Pilots have problems matching up against physical teams. Paculba said size was the difference Friday when Banning (2-2) opened Southern Pacific Conference play with a 24-6 defeat by Crenshaw.

“They had the size on us and they pushed us off the line,” Paculba said. “It felt kind of bad. We’re not used to losing too much.”

The Pilots’ ineffective line play is being blamed for the fact that they rank last in the South Bay in team offense, averaging only 149 yards a game.

Banning lost all but one of its starting linemen from last season’s 12-2 team that reached the City 4-A Division final. Paculba says the inexperience has prevented the Pilots from establishing a consistent running game, which has been the team’s hallmark in the past.

“Against size, we have problems,” he said. “We’ve got the backs who can break (runs), but we have to block to get these people open. We can’t rely on their skills alone.”

And, as Paculba pointed out, Banning can’t rely on its reputation either.

“A lot of times I think these kids feel tradition is going to win the game,” he said.

That’s hasn’t been the case in losses to Long Beach Poly and Crenshaw. In both games, Banning was held under 100 yards rushing.

With a tough conference schedule ahead, Paculba is worried if the Pilots have what it takes to win competitive games this season. Banning plays at San Clemente in a nonleague game Friday night.

“We needed to win (the Crenshaw) game,” Paculba said. “Now it’s going to make it tougher to get in the playoffs. We still have (to play) Carson, Dorsey and San Pedro.

“The way we’re getting pushed off the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, it kind of scares me.”

Brandon Moore, Banning’s preseason All-American, has been quiet through four games. He has no interceptions playing strong safety--he led the Pilots with six last season--and he has been limited to a reserve role at tailback behind Damin Hurst.

“You don’t hear too much about players when the team is losing,” Paculba said. “Brandon is playing his game. He almost had three (interceptions) last week. He knocked down three balls and was a hair away from intercepting them.

“I think opponents are doing a good job of scouting us. They’re always running away from his side.”

Mira Costa water polo Coach Mike Nollan credits a fast-break style of play for his team’s impressive start.

Borrowing a page from the Loyola Marymount basketball playbook, Mira Costa has been successful with a nonstop attack that uses two platoons of players in an attempt to wear down opponents.

So far, the formula has worked. The Mustangs, ranked seventh in the Southern Section Division III coaches’ poll, improved to 5-0 in the Ocean League and 14-5 overall Tuesday with a 10-5 victory over El Segundo. They took third in last weekend’s South Bay tournament, losing to eventual champion Loyola in the semifinals, 7-2.

“I’ve always been a fan of Loyola and that Blitzkrieg basketball they had going for a while,” said Nollan, who has coached prep water polo in the South Bay since 1966. “We try to run like a fast-break basketball team. We just keep subbing and subbing and subbing, and after a while we wear teams down.

“A lot of teams try to slow it down on us, but we try to run until you die.”

Mira Costa boasts several outstanding seniors. David Happy, a transfer from El Toro, and Jeff Miller each scored three goals in Tuesday’s victory. Other standouts include Robin Breitinger, the team’s fastest swimmer; team captain Jason May, returning all-league player James Fujikake and goalie Eric Hess.

The 6-foot-4 Hess, who has overcome knee problems early in his high school career, has 154 blocks in 18 games.

“Most of the guys who are seniors played as sophomores,” Nollan said. “They really got pounded on, but I convinced them and their parents that they could play on (the varsity) level. We have a strong group of juniors now. We have depth. A lot of those guys have played for three years.”

One of the team’s juniors is Nollan’s son, Sean, who was born in 1976, the year Nollan began coaching the water polo team at Aviation High.

An ankle injury reportedly has soured Morningside’s Stais Boseman on the idea of playing college football.

“This (ankle injury) has me thinking I’ll forget about football and just play basketball,” Boseman told Cat Tracks, a publication covering University of Arizona athletics. “The pain is too much.”

Boseman, the Morningside quarterback, sprained his ankle Sept. 11 in a season opener against Inglewood. He sat out the next game before returning last week to lead the Monarchs past South Torrance, 21-20.

The day Boseman sprained his ankle was eventful for another reason. That night, Arizona basketball Coach Lute Olson visited Boseman’s home. Boseman took a recruiting trip to Connecticut last weekend.

According to Cat Tracks, if Boseman chooses to play basketball, he will pick between Arizona, USC and Connecticut. If he chooses to play football, it will be between USC and Washington.

In a meeting of two of the nation’s top girls’ tennis teams, Peninsula defeated San Diego-area powerhouse Torrey Pines, 15-3, on Friday.

It was the 31st consecutive victory for the Panthers and snapped a 55-match winning streak by Torrey Pines, the dominant team in the San Diego Section.

Peninsula, which as yet to lose a match in two seasons, played Friday without No. 1 player Nicole London, a junior who was in Barcelona competing for the U.S. national team in the World Youth Cup.

Junior Janet Lee and freshman Amanda Basica led the Panthers against Torrey Pines, each winning their three singles matches.