Seeing Film Finally Is Believing for Crescenta Valley’s Huezo

Victor Huezo had to watch the game film during the weekend to make sure he was not dreaming. Did he really have two interceptions, including the game-saver, during Crescenta Valley’s 13-7 upset of Newhall Hart on Friday?

“Yeah, I guess that was really me,” said Huezo, a senior middle linebacker for the 11-1 Falcons. “The coaches had told me last week that I couldn’t catch a pass to save my life, so I had to show them they were wrong.”

Huezo was an unlikely hero in an unlikely victory. Hart (11-1) began the Southern Section Division II quarterfinal game as a fourth-seeded team averaging 38 points. Few gave the Falcons any chance.

Crescenta Valley coaches clipped out all of the newspaper articles last week. There were few encouraging words.

But Hart, which fell behind, 7-0, struggled from start to finish. Quarterback Davis Delmatoff, held to 152 passing yards, fumbled twice and threw three interceptions. Huezo got his second on the Falcons’ four-yard line with 41 seconds remaining and the Indians driving.

“I tipped the ball up in the air, and I told myself if I didn’t catch it that the whole team would blame me if we lost,” said Huezo, who had not had any interceptions until Friday. “I couldn’t let that happen to me.”

Crescenta Valley will play top-seeded Los Alamitos (12-0) in the semifinals Saturday at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach.

The City Section should take disciplinary action against the Bell football team, which showed poor sportsmanship in a 31-6 defeat by Chatsworth in the Division 3-A quarterfinals Wednesday.

The game was called with six minutes left because officials believed the violence between plays was getting out of hand. In what proved to be the game’s final play, Chatsworth fullback Robert Webb was kicked in the groin while lying on the ground.

“They just started kicking me in the (groin), then some guy tried to yank my facemask off,” Webb said.

Top-seeded Bell, which was penalized 145 yards, finished the season with a 10-2 record.

The cheap shots started late in the second quarter as Chatsworth was taking a 31-0 lead. Things got out of hand during the second half.

Although Bell coaches were apologetic afterward, that kind of behavior is inexcusable. The Eagles should be put on probation, or perhaps barred from the playoffs next season.

Which is the best football team in the state?

In most national polls, Concord De La Salle (12-0) is the highest rated California team and has been since Loyola was beaten by La Puente Bishop Amat three weeks ago. The Spartans are also No. 1 in the state, according to Cal-Hi Sports.

Bishop Amat (12-0), which plays one of the toughest schedules in the Southern Section, is rated No. 1 in The Times’ poll of top teams in the Southland. Some consider Los Alamitos (12-0) the best local team, however.

Morse (12-0) reached the San Diego Section Division 3-A semifinals with a 48-0 victory over Monte Vista Friday and appears to be the best team in that section.

Since there is no state playoff system, it is difficult to to pick the best team. But one would have to figure that Southern California teams play tougher schedules than their Northern California counterparts because of the wealth of competition.

Templeton defeated Linfield, 35-13, on Friday night in the Southern Section Division XI semifinals, but the Eagles’ celebration was short-lived.

The next morning, they lost a coin flip with Anza Hamilton, the other semifinal winner, to decide who would play host to the title game. The distance between the schools is 325 miles, about a seven-hour drive.

Templeton, which has an enrollment of 300, is 25 miles north of San Luis Obispo. Hamilton, which also has 300 students, is slightly south of the San Bernardino National Forest. Since Hamilton has no lights, the game will be played at nearby West Valley High in Hemet at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

“We will leave the school at about 8 a.m. Friday because we would rather have our kids sleep in their own beds Thursday night and eat their mothers’ cooking,” said Jerry Reynolds, Templeton’s coach.

“We want to disrupt our normal routine as little as possible. Barring any major traffic problems in Los Angeles, we hope to get to Hemet at about 5 p.m.”

Reynolds said the team will not spend Friday night in Hemet, meaning the players will get home at about 5 or 6 Saturday morning.

“We have to get back and get ready for a booster auction Saturday night,” he said. “Our kids will probably be tired, but let’s just hope it’s a happy tired.”

The Arcadia Track and Field Invitational, one of the nation’s premiere high school meets, is in financial trouble and might cease operations.

The invitational, which started in 1967, has relied heavily on money from the Arcadia School District. Statewide budgets cuts in education, however, have resulted in less money for the meet.

Doug Speck, co-director of the event, said one or more outside sponsors are needed to save the meet, which costs about $50,000 to put on. “We’ve been hanging on in recent years and now we’ve hit the bottom,” Speck said. “We need help from the outside, or we’re not going to be back.”

The Arcadia Invitational draws some of the top talent in the nation, including 47 athletes who have gone on to compete on the last three U.S. Olympic teams.

Prep Notes

Brentwood’s Matt Newmark, who suffered a broken right leg in the middle of the season, received clearance from his doctor last week to return to football. The junior kicked a 33-yard field goal during the Eagles’ 21-8 victory over Hesperia Christian on Saturday in the Southern Section eight-man large-division championship game. . . . Orange County teams made it a clean sweep in the Southern Section water polo championships Wednesday: El Toro (Division I), Anaheim Esperanza (II), Costa Mesa (III) and Fountain Valley Los Amigos (IV).

Basketball gets into full swing this week with a full schedule of nonconference games and tournaments for boys and girls. . . . Girls’ individual tennis finals for the City and Southern Section are scheduled this week. The City will hold its tournament Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. at the Racquet Centre in Studio City. The Southern Section tournament is set for Friday at 9 a.m. at the Irvine Racquet Club of Huntington Beach. . . . The girls’ state volleyball tournament will have championship matches in four divisions Saturday at Cal State Fullerton.

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. Bishop Amat SS I 12-0 1 2. Los Alamitos SS II 12-0 2 3. Muir SS II 11-1 3 4. Fontana SS I 11-1 4 5. Loyola SS I 11-1 6 6. Eisenhower SS I 10-1-1 8 7. Esperanza SS II 11-1 7 8. Irvine SS IV 11-1 12 9. Sylmar City 4-A 11-0 14 10. Cres. Valley SS II 11-1 NR 11. Hart SS II 11-1 5 12. Ran. Alamitos SS VII 10-2 13 13. Servite SS II 9-2-1 10 14. Hawthorne SS III 10-2 15 15. Bell Gardens SS III 11-1 19 16. Duarte SS VI 11-0 20 17. Mater Dei SS I 9-2-1 9 18. San Marcos SS III 10-2 NR 19. Camarillo SS III 9-3 NR 20. Carson City 4-A 8-3-1 NR