Village Christian Unscathed After Close Shaves

Village Christian High’s football team has put together one of the Valley’s few remaining perfect records (6-0), but it hasn’t been without several close calls.

The most recent came last week, when the Crusaders trailed Marshall Fundamental, 10-3, late in the fourth quarter. Village Christian scored a touchdown on a trick play and added the two-point conversion to pull out the victory. Earlier in the year, Village Christian rallied from a 15-2 deficit to beat Kilpatrick, 16-15.

Behind Village Christian’s success are its defense, the running of Tarik Blair and Jake Funk, and the passing of David Treanor.

The Division X Crusaders have allowed 140.2 yards a game, which ties them with Crescenta Valley for the stingiest defense among area Southern Section teams.

Blair has gained 720 yards in 120 carries and Funk, a sophomore, has been a pleasant surprise with 269 yards in his past three games.

Treanor threw 15 interceptions last year but has thrown only two this year.

Although Western Christian, this week’s opponent, is 2-4, Village Christian Coach Mike Plaisance said, “We’re going to have trouble. They’ve always been our Achilles’ heel.”

Over the past five years, the Crusaders have beaten Montclair Prep, which traditionally dominated the league until its ouster last spring, two times. During that same time, Village Christian has beaten Western Christian once.

ENCORE, ENCORE

El Camino Real held Cleveland to 16 yards in a 16-0 victory last week, a turnaround that startled even co-Coach Mike Maio.

“It was a weird game,” Maio said. “I don’t know what it was. They looked like they could break one at any time.”

It’s almost surprising that Cleveland didn’t, considering the way El Camino Real played over its first five games. The Conquistadores had allowed 336 yards a game, the worst average by an area City team by more than 50 yards. Linebacker Rob Magnusson, who leads the team with 62 solo tackles, keyed the defense.

Will lightning strike twice? Doubtful. Said Maio: “That’s unusual. I don’t know if we can do that again.”

El Camino Real is still ranked last among area City teams in yards allowed at 282.7, but is closing on Monroe (280) and Reseda (278.3).

TRIPLE THREAT

Reseda standout John Buckley was practically a one-man wrecking crew in last week’s 42-29 loss to Taft. The tight end-linebacker-quarterback scored three times in three ways: He caught a 21-yard pass, threw a 10-yard pass and had a two-yard run, all for touchdowns.

“That’s very difficult to do,” Reseda Coach Joel Schaeffer said.

Buckley also leads the team in solo tackles (45) and sacks (11).

READY FOR ACTION

Shawn Stuart, Saugus’ preseason All-American center, has been given medical clearance to play in tonight’s game at Burbank. The 6-4, 280-pound senior suffered a knee injury during the second quarter of Saugus’ loss to Hart last week and did not return.

BACK TO SCHOOL

Fillmore Coach Curtis Garner likes to take a little time off as much as the next guy--preferably not during the football season, though.

The academic calendar in effect for three years in the Fillmore Unified School District calls for three breaks, none during the summer. Fillmore students returned to school Monday after being off since Sept. 30. During the span, the Flashes lost two consecutive games.

“It’s real hard to keep the kids focused when you don’t have contact with them during the day,” said Garner, whose team practiced during the vacation.

“We’ve had a lot of kids miss practice during the vacation, but you really can’t blame them because they are out of school and they want to be with their families and friends. It presents a big challenge for the coaches to keep the kids motivated.”

TOO CLOSE TO CALL

Parity has been redefined by City Section football teams.

Last week, San Pedro beat Banning for the first time in 24 years. Longtime 4-A Division powers Carson and Dorsey have struggled, as have the standout Valley programs at San Fernando, Kennedy and Granada Hills.

In many instances there is little difference between teams in the 3-A and 4-A divisions, particularly in the Northwest Valley Conference, where 3-A entry Chatsworth appears to be the best of the eight teams, four of which are 4-A.

WOOF WOOF

Gotta love those classic rivalries built upon mutual respect and traditions of success. How about St. Genevieve and Bell-Jeff? “It’s always a real dogfight,” Bell-Jeff Coach Doug Woodlief said. “The last four years we’ve been playing to see which of us wasn’t going to lose every game in the league.”

The teams will meet Saturday. Last season, the only win between the teams came when Bell-Jeff beat St. Genevieve. During the last four seasons, the teams played in the San Fernando League and finished last and second to last each year.

EYE IN THE SKY

Sure, it looks like the average, run-of-the-mill gymnasium roof. But on football game days, it becomes much more. There is no permanent press box at Harvard-Westlake for the assistant with the headset to sit in. So . . .

“We have to improvise,” Wolverine Coach Gary Thran said.

The assistant sits on the roof of the gym, where he peers down on the field over the goal post in the south end zone.

IF YOU ASK ME

After Glendale’s 41-0 loss to Muir last week, Dynamiter Coach Don Shoemaker was wishing Mustang Coach Jim Brownfield was still out of football.

“I’m going to have to see if I can get with the Brownfield family and have them take another vote,” said Shoemaker, referring to the family’s decision to support Brownfield’s return to the sideline after a five-year absence because of a heart condition.

BROKEN HEARTS

Poly lost much more than five fumbles against previously winless Grant last week: The Parrots lost the game, 10-6.

Poly also lost its streak of scoring in double figures, a string that ended at 29 games. “(The loss) broke our hearts more than anything else,” Poly Coach Fred Cuccia said. “The players are just totally embarrassed by the loss.”

Poly (4-2, 1-2 in league play), which also was upset by Canoga Park two weeks ago, was averaging 26.4 points a game before the loss to Grant.

I THINK I CAN

Grant Coach Bill Foster knew what he was looking for in a tailback: “I want someone who can slam it through the line,” he would tell his players as they reviewed game films each week.

Almost as an involuntary reaction, quarterback Roy Rodriguez would perk up and say, “I can do it, Coach. I can do it.”

Wide receiver Sandro Perez would often add: “Let Roy do it.”

More often than not, however, those outbursts would result in extra laps for the two overzealous and eager Lancers.

But last week, Rodriguez finally got his wish and the Lancers (1-4-1, 1-2) finally got their first victory.

At tailback for the first time in two seasons, Rodriguez rushed for 128 yards in 20 carries, accounting for most of the Lancers’ 172 yards.

“Everybody always pointed to the line and said that’s why they couldn’t get through,” Rodriguez said. “But I’d always see these holes after I’d hand off the ball, so I knew it wasn’t the line.”

INJURY PLAGUE

Nordhoff may be pointing toward its first Southern Section girls’ volleyball title since 1986, when it capped three consecutive Southern Section titles with a state Division II championship. Although Coach Cheryl Glass is happy with a No. 1 ranking in Division IV and 11-0 record, she is worried about the health of her team. “We’ve never had so many injuries in any year of my coaching career,” Glass said.

The latest casualty is junior middle blocker Tacy Franklin, who suffered stretched ligaments in her right ankle last week. Franklin will wear a cast for another week and will face at least a week of rehabilitation before she can play again.

Four-year starter Sarah Wright had just returned to the lineup after a strained back had sidelined her since the first week of the season. And All-Southern Section setter Sami Sawyer missed a week last month because of a sprained ankle.

When at full strength, Nordhoff has only eight players on its roster and the injuries have given Glass little flexibility with substitutions. It hasn’t slowed the Rangers too much, however. They proved that with a 15-4, 15-13, 15-0 victory over No. 2-ranked Paso Robles on Saturday.

PLAYOFF PLAN

For years, the Royal water polo team had been frustrated by second-round losses in the Southern Section playoffs. The Highlanders finally broke that jinx last year by advancing to the semifinals, and Coach Steve Snyder has a plan to take them even farther: play as many Orange County teams as possible.

“That’s where the best water polo players are,” Snyder said. “We’re trying to bring our level of play up a notch.”

The strategy appears to be paying dividends. The Highlanders (19-1) are ranked No. 3 in Division II and beat No. 2-ranked Costa Mesa last week, 8-6. Goals by Jack Kocur and Luke Frazier gave Royal the win in overtime.

“That was a monumental win for us,” Snyder said. “To go down there and beat a team like that in a close game, with Orange County referees, is quite an accomplishment.”

Snyder said a key has been a more diversified offense. Kocur, a senior driver, is still scoring: He has 80 goals. But Royal is also getting offense from other sources, including Frazier, Greg Galloway and Morten Wang, a member of Norway’s junior national team who transferred to Royal as a foreign exchange student this fall.

LOOKING FORWARD

The Thousand Oaks cross-country team might be willing to concede the state Division I boys’ title to Hart, the top-ranked team in the nation. But next year, the Lancers should be a legitimate contender for the state title.

Thousand Oaks, which won Southern Section titles in 1980, ’84 and ‘86, is ranked third among the state’s Division I teams, but with two juniors and two sophomores among their top five runners, the future looks bright.

“I’m sitting on the best team I’ve ever had here next year,” Thousand Oaks Coach Jack Farrell said. “I hope people are saying the same things about us next year that they’re saying about Hart this year.”

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