Sander Wants to Continue a Family Tradition : Football: Quarterback will attempt to lead Carson to a City title, just like his father did in 1966.

Quarterback Jamie Sander knows all about Carson High’s winning tradition.

Over the past 30 years, the Colts have gone 250-74-3 and won eight City Section titles.

Although Saturday’s 4-A Division championship game against Sylmar will be Sander’s first start in a City final, the senior believes he has been a part of Carson’s football legacy because of his father.

Jimmy Sander was the quarterback on Carson’s first City championship team in 1966, guiding the Colts to an 11-0 record.

Sander is hopeful he can follow his father’s lead when Carson (9-3-1) meets Sylmar (12-0) at 1 p.m. Saturday at El Camino College. The 6-foot, 190-pound Sander leads the South Bay in passing, having completed 169 of 312 attempts (54.2%) for 2,488 yards and 21 touchdowns.

Sander got his first taste of a championship game as a sophomore in 1990. He played behind John Walsh, but passed for two touchdowns in the playoffs to help Carson win the 4-A title and a 12-1 record.

Promoted to starting quarterback, Sander entered last season with high hopes. But Carson suffered through its worst season since 1968, finishing with a 6-5-1 record and breaking a 10-year streak of appearances in a City final.

Although the team was inexperienced and playing under a new coach, Marty Blankenship, it was Sander who took much of the blame for the disappointing season. He accounted for 32 of Carson’s 38 turnovers, losing 13 fumbles and having 19 passes intercepted.

“I took a lot of heat last year,” Sander said. “I heard it from my teammates and other people.”

Sander said he tried not to let the criticism bother him.

“There was a lot more pressure on Jamie than I or the coaches actually realized,” his father said. “Part of that came from the team not supporting him.”

After the season, Sander took a stack of game videos home for the summer. He spent a lot of time in front of the television, picking apart his play and trying to learn from his mistakes.

It was the amount of mistakes that prompted Marty Blankenship to install a new offense for the 1992 season. Although it was designed to minimize the risk of turnovers by including more running plays, Sander said he did not feel comfortable abandoning the passing offense the team had run for the past several years.

After three weeks, Carson was 0-2-1.

“After (the coaches) changed the offense, I felt that I worked so hard learning the (previous) offense, that it had all gone to waste,” Sander said. “I didn’t like it, but I did whatever I had to do.”

For Carson’s fourth game against Colton, the passing offense Sander had learned as a sophomore was put back in by the coaches.

“Once the offense came back, I became myself,” Sander said. “I had to show my coaches that this is what we need to stay with. I don’t mind handing the ball off, but I love to pass.”

With a big senior year, Sander has became Carson’s all-time passing leader. He has completed 299 of 554 career passes for 4,505 yards and 36 touchdowns.

Sander still has problems with turnovers--he has had 18 passes intercepted and lost seven fumbles--but the difference has been eight more touchdown passes than last season and the support of his teammates, his father said.

“He doesn’t seem any different to me,” Jimmy Sander said. “He just set his goals and became more of a leader.”

Blankenship said Sander has improved immensely over last season, along with the rest of the team.

“He has the ability to find second and third receivers, which he didn’t do last year,” Blankenship said.

Carson coaches would like to see the soft-spoken Sander take charge more often, something Blankenship said he has been working on all season. “We move the ball well when Jamie is on,” Blankenship said. “Jamie is pretty much an introvert. When he becomes more of an extrovert, he seems to be a much better leader on the field. When he lets the shyness get out of him and becomes more in control, the team seems to get behind him a little bit better.

“If we can get him in that mode come Saturday, he’s going to be on.”