Rio Mesa Specializes in Causing 1st Blemish

The Rio Mesa High football team knocked off its third undefeated opponent in its past 10 games Friday with a 35-34 Channel League victory over first-place Santa Barbara.

The win moved the Spartans (4-4 overall) into a fourth-place tie with Ventura, both with 3-2 league records. Santa Barbara, San Marcos and Buena are tied for first at 4-1.

Senior middle linebacker Demetrius Henderson had a big hand in the win--literally--blocking a PAT attempt with less than three minutes to play. The kick, which would have tied the score, was the first unsuccessful PAT attempt by the Dons this season in 33 attempts.

“I just went straight up over the center’s head,” Henderson said. “I said, ‘We gotta do something to block this kick.’ It couldn’t have come at a better time.”

Four weeks ago, Rio Mesa upset previously undefeated Oxnard by an almost identical score, 37-36. Last season, in the opening round of the Southern Section playoffs, Rio Mesa shocked undefeated Royal, the Marmonte League champion, 10-7.

FINDING A SOPH SPOT

Tailback Jerry Brown already has made his mark. Two of his classmates are not far behind.

Brown, a sophomore standout at Taft, already has rushed for 987 yards and ranks as a sure-fire college prospect. Yet he isn’t the only super soph on the roster.

Taft (5-3, 3-2), in fact, has only three senior starters on offense and four on defense yet has won three games in a row to move into a tie with Chatsworth for the West Valley League lead.

Deshon Polk, a sophomore, starts at strong safety and has the size of a major college player at 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds. “He is the premier DB in the area,” Coach Troy Starr said.

Dion Gaston, another sophomore, starts at tight end and linebacker, and like Polk he is a co-captain. Gaston is the team’s leading receiver with 22 catches for 329 yards.

“Both are (legitimate) Division I guys,” Starr said. “If they were seniors we could get ‘em signed right now. They’re that good.”

NOT AGAIN!

If this keeps up, Agoura Coach Frank Greminger had better start wearing shoulder pads.

Last week, Greminger underwent wrist surgery to repair ligament damage suffered after he was bowled over by an opponent’s ballcarrier earlier this season.

Friday night against Newbury Park, Greminger again was flattened, this time by his own quarterback, Jason Warren.

Greminger was sent sprawling over the team’s bench but emerged uninjured. He landed atop defensive back Evan Sanchez, who helped soften the blow.

Said Greminger: “We were going over the bench, and he said, ‘Don’t worry, Coach. I gotcha.’ ”

SPITTING OUT SIX

Kilpatrick’s Jonathan Russaw had just scored a touchdown--apparently giving the Mustangs a 12-7 lead--when he made the mistake of yelling in celebration. His mouthpiece popped out. Then came a flag. There went the touchdown, waved off because Russaw was not wearing his mouthpiece.

“It was very bizarre,” Coach Glenn Bell said. “You can see on the film that his mouthpiece was in during the play and then came out when he yelled after he scored.”

The Mustangs lost, 7-6, to Rialto on Saturday, dropping their record to 3-5. Kilpatrick had won three in a row, positioning itself for a possible playoff berth. Because the Mustangs are a free-lance team, they must have a .500 record to qualify for playoff consideration, meaning the team has to win its final two games. “I’m still confident (we can make the playoffs),” Bell said.

EXTRA DUTY

When desperation hits, some ideas don’t seem so bad after all--such as playing your quarterback at outside linebacker.

That is exactly what Hoover (1-7, 0-3 in the Pacific League) did last week. It seems quarterback Nate Dishington, apparently feeling he wasn’t busy enough directing the offense, had been pestering coaches to let him play linebacker too.

On Saturday, they gave in.

“He did a pretty good job,” Coach Dennis Hughes said. “He was in on some tackles. He feels that by just playing offense he can’t contribute enough.”

Dishington, who has completed 112 of 288 passes for 1,615 yards, on Saturday had one of his best passing games, connecting on 18 of 34 for 295 yards in a 45-39 loss to Pasadena.

“I think maybe (playing linebacker) might have helped because a lot of times he throws too hard, but he didn’t (Saturday) because he was tired,” Hughes said.

Staff writers Steve Elling, Jeff Fletcher and Vince Kowalick contributed to this notebook.