PREP FOOTBALL SPOTLIGHT : FACTS, FIGURES AND COMMENTS FROM LAST WEEK’S GAMES : TO THE RESCUE

Hawthorne linebacker Tevita Moala wasn’t supposed to play Friday night. Nursing a tender shoulder, he sat out the first three quarters of the Cougars’ Bay League game against Inglewood at Coleman Stadium. He was dressed in street clothes during first half.

But with Hawthorne clinging to a two-point lead late in the fourth quarter, Moala entered the game for two plays and preserved the Cougars’ 21-19 victory by intercepting a pass at the Hawthorne two-yard line with 20 seconds left. He borrowed a uniform, pads, cleats and helmet from an ill teammate and changed at halftime, just in case he was needed.

Inglewood had first-and-goal at the three when quarterback Leandrew Childs attempted to pass to Gary Clemons in the end zone. Moala stepped in front of the receiver and returned the ball to midfield, securing Hawthorne’s eighth consecutive victory.

“He kept begging to play, but I wasn’t going to let him,” Hawthorne Coach Dan Robbins said.

The Cougars (8-1, 3-0 in league play) clinched at least a tie for their fourth consecutive Bay League title. They complete the regular season Friday against Leuzinger (5-4, 2-1).

Inglewood (3-6, 1-2) needs a victory over Peninsula on Friday to have any chance of making the Southern Section Division III playoffs.

“We didn’t play as a unit,” Robbins said. “Maybe we were thinking about Leuzinger and not giving Inglewood their due.”

FIT TO BE TIED

As is often the case in a tie game, there was an emotional winner and loser Friday night after Serra and Pius X tied, 28-28, at Serra.

The winner was Pius X, a team of 22 players which entered the game with a 1-7 record and tied for fifth place in the seven-team Camino Real League.

The loser was Serra, ranked fifth in the Southern Section Division VIII media poll and a victory away from clinching its sixth consecutive Camino Real title.

“We played the worst game of the year, without a doubt,” Serra Coach Kevin Crawley said. “We were looking forward to playing Verbum Dei for the league championship (next week). Our players didn’t even give Pius a second thought.

“Give Pius all the credit in the world. They came out to play, we didn’t.”

Serra (6-2-1, 4-0-1) fell behind, 21-8, in the first half and trailed, 28-14, after three quarters before rallying to tie the game on touchdown runs of four and two yards by halfback Kenny Fredieu in the fourth quarter. Pius X stopped a two-point conversion attempt after Serra’s last TD with seven minutes 22 seconds left.

Serra drove to the Pius X 35 on its final possession, but failed to convert a fourth-and-15 situation when Damon Vareen’s screen pass fell incomplete.

“That was tremendous,” Pius X Coach Larry Manfull said of his team’s defensive stand. “We have eight or nine guys who are playing both ways, and they just rose to the occasion. This group of kids is terrific. I couldn’t be happier.”

Manfull said Pius X, located in Downey, almost dropped football in August because there were only 14 players in the program. He said 11 players--half the team--never played a down of organized football before this season.

“They’re cross-country guys, they’re soccer guys, they’re baseball players,” Manfull said. “But they came out and made the team happen.”

ZEBRA HUNTING

Crawley placed part of the blame for Serra’s tie on the officials. The Cavaliers were penalized nine times for 125 yards, including a clipping penalty that nullified an 80-yard punt return for a touchdown by Fredieu with 3:17 remaining.

“I’ve never blamed the game on this before in my life, but the officiating was the worst I’ve ever seen,” Crawley said. “Every time we got in the open field, the flag came right out. These four gentlemen, I wouldn’t have them ref a game of girls’ soccer.”

Crawley drew a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct when he came on the field to argue an official’s call allowing Pius X to retain possession after a fumbled punt return in the third quarter. Starting in good field possession, the Warriors drove 54 yards in 11 plays to score their final touchdown and take a 28-14 lead.

LIGHTNING STRIKE

North Torrance’s time of possession in the fourth quarter against host Torrance was only 1:08, but that’s all the time the Saxons needed to post a come-from-behind 33-28 victory.

Taking possession with 1:46 left, North quarterback Frank Ramirez engineered a six-play, 70-yard scoring drive, capped by a 17-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Dean Halverson with 38 seconds left. The victory preserved the Saxons’ perfect record (9-0, 4-0) heading into Friday’s showdown against South Torrance (6-3, 4-0) for the Pioneer League title.

North Coach Joe Austin said he hopes the close call will serve as a wake-up call for his team, which has won most of its games by comfortable margins.

“This might be the best thing to happen to our kids,” Austin said. “You go along and no one really gives you a game. That’s the first game we’ve had.”

Torrance (3-6, 2-2), which trailed, 21-7, at halftime, scored touchdowns on its first three possessions of the second half to take a 28-27 lead on a one-yard sneak by quarterback Bill Bynum with 1:46 left, capping a 22-play, 96-yard drive that took more than 10 minutes.

“I would have liked to take all the time (in the fourth quarter),” Torrance Coach Bill Bynum said. “That’s what we were trying to do.”

After a poor first half, Torrance opened the second half by recovering an onside kick. Four plays later, running back Jay Silverman scored on a one-yard run.

“They didn’t make any mistakes and they ran the ball on us,” Austin said. “We couldn’t get (the ball) away from them. Their kids played a great game.”

JUST FOR KICKS

Jerry Pilato does a little bit of everything for Peninsula. The 5-foot-9, 220-pound senior is a defensive mainstay at inside linebacker, and he contributes to the Panthers’ impressive running game as a blocking back.

Friday, Pilato also showed that he possesses one of the area’s strongest legs by kicking a career-best 47-yard field goal in a 38-9 nonleague victory over visiting Redondo.

“I kicked a 55-yarder in practice, but in games I get nervous,” Pilato said. “I’ve missed from 42 and 37 (yards).”

Peninsula Coach Gary Kimbrell said he gave Pilato the opportunity to kick the 47-yarder after he had kicked three field goals from 50 yards in pregame warm-ups.

GIVEAWAY DAY

Four turnovers and penalties that nullified two long touchdown runs by quarterback Stais Boseman were more than Morningside could overcome in a 17-7 loss at Beverly Hills.

Boseman blamed the poor effort on distractions caused by the media. He said TV crews from KCBS and KNBC and several newspapers conducted interviews with him during the past week.

“I’ve gotten a lot of attention this week as far as the media and everything goes, and we didn’t have a lot of good practices,” he said. “I guess that’s why we got beat.”

Boseman completed only three of 13 passes for three yards and was intercepted three times. He rushed for 39 yards in eight carries and had scoring runs of 54 and 84 yards called back.

“I was totally out of sync in the first half,” he said. “It was a little better in the second half, but we still couldn’t get anything going.”

The loss prevented Morningside (4-4, 3-1) from clinching the Ocean League title outright. The winner of Friday’s game between Culver City (5-4, 2-1) and Beverly Hills (4-5, 2-1) will tie the Monarchs for the title.

DEFENSIVE GEMS

* San Pedro safety Bryan Castaneda returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown and blocked an extra point in a 21-6 victory over Crenshaw. San Pedro end Michael Spelich caused a fumble with his 11th sack of the season on Crenshaw’s final possession.

* South Torrance linebacker Josh Waybright returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter and recovered a fumble on the Spartans’ one-yard line in the fourth quarter during an 18-8 victory over Centennial.

* Peninsula’s Hynman Whang and Chris Chapman blocked punts in the second quarter of a 38-9 victory over Redondo. Chapman recovered his block in the end zone for a touchdown.

* Serra linebacker Janal Harris returned an interception 36 yards to the Pius X eight-yard line in the fourth quarter to set up the tying touchdown in a 28-28 game.

* Mira Costa defensive back Jade Byrd blocked two punts, the second recovered in the end zone by teammate Casey Glynn for a touchdown, in a 28-21 loss to Culver City.

* Culver City defensive back Mister Veazie intercepted a pass at the Culver City 35 with two minutes left to preserve the Centaurs’ victory.

* Torrance defensive back Antoris Coleman had two interceptions, the second at the Torrance four-yard line to stop a scoring threat, in a 33-28 loss to North.

IN QUOTES

Serra Coach Kevin Crawley after his team’s 28-28 tie with Pius X: “The defense probably played the worst game of the year. And believe me, they’ve had some bad ones. But this one tops it. They played a team that was 1-7 to a 28-28 tie. There’s not a lot you can say except that we played terrible.”

Morningside Coach Ron Tatum after his team lost to Beverly Hills, 17-7, for the second consecutive season: “I don’t know what it is, but I remember last year we came in the same way mentally. This was more of a mental thing than anything else. We made a lot of mistakes and errors.”

South Torrance Coach Don Morrow after his team’s 18-8 victory over Centennial set up a showdown with North Torrance for the Pioneer League title Friday: “This was a hard week for us because everybody wanted to talk about North and we kept trying to stay focused on Centennial. We’ve looked a little bit at (North) in our spare time and they’re awfully impressive. We’ll certainly have to play better than we did tonight.”

Redondo Coach Chris Hyduke on mistakes that prevented his team from scoring touchdowns on two possessions inside the Peninsula three-yard line in a 38-9 loss: “We’re doing the same thing we’ve been doing the whole year. We self-destruct.”

Peninsula Coach Gary Kimbrell on dismissing Wednesday’s practice after his players failed to rebound emotionally from last week’s 35-22 loss to Hawthorne: “It wasn’t any psychological ploy because I’m not smart enough for that. I was just (mad) at them... But they adapted. They came back and played like the team I think they are.”

INJURIES

Hawthorne tailback Corey McCoy suffered a sprained ankle and sat out the last 11:08 of a 21-19 victory over Inglewood. Coach Dan Robbins said X-rays were taken and the injury is not serious, but he said McCoy is questionable for Friday night’s game against Leuzinger. Before he was hurt, McCoy ran for 229 yards and touchdowns of 77, 40 and 33 yards.