PREP FOOTBALL ’93 / SMALL SCHOOLS

THE TEAMS: Heritage Christian (4-6); Huntington Beach Claremont (2-6); Liberty Christian (5-2); St. Margaret’s (2-6); Capistrano Valley Christian (4-5).

THE LEAGUES: Academy: California Lutheran, the Huntington Beach school that won the eight-man small schools division title last year, has moved its campus to Wildomar, a Riverside County town southeast of Lake Elsinore. The C-Hawks are top-ranked in the division and are the favorites to win the Academy League, which has only three members after Hesperia Christian moved to the newly formed Christian League and L.A. Windward didn’t have enough players for a team this year. Liberty Christian and St. Margaret’s finished in a three-way tie for second with Cal Lutheran last season. Christian: Hesperia, the runner-up last year in the large schools division, is ranked second in the preseason poll and is the league favorite. Capistrano Valley Christian is the only Orange County team. Express: Defending champion Harbor City Gateway Christian is the favorite again. Runner-up Heritage Christian aims to bounce back from a 46-40 loss to Gateway last season. Huntington Beach Claremont has one of the more explosive runners in Bram Slipakoff, who has recovered from an ankle injury that ended his season last year.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Steve Acheson, Heritage Christian, QB-DB; Brian Askew, St. Margaret’s, RB; Jason Bienaz, Capistrano Valley Christian, OL/DL; Derrick Border, Capistrano Valley Christian, FB/LB; Eric Carreon, Heritage Christian, LB; Steve Kimbell, Claremont, QB-DL; Rick Miller, St. Margaret’s, LB; Bram Slipakoff, Claremont, RB-DB; Scott Smith, Heritage Christian, DL; John Trette, St. Margaret’s, TE; Carl Warmack, Liberty Christian, QB; Gavin Watson, Claremont, WR; Dave Vaccaro, Liberty Christian, RB-LB; Matt Watts, Capistrano Valley Christian, QB/DB.

TOP PERFORMANCES OF 1992: Slipakoff set school records for single-game rushing yards (487) and touchdowns (seven) in a 74-56 victory over Pioneer Baptist. Liberty Christian’s Gabe Baltodano scored four touchdowns and passed for two more in a 50-0 mercy-rule victory over L.A. Lutheran.

A DIFFERENT APPROACH: Rules in eight-man football are identical to those in the 11-man game, except: the field is 10 yards narrower and 20 yards shorter and five men are eligible instead of seven. Because high-scoring mismatches are common, games are ended on the mercy rule when a team is 48 or more points ahead after halftime.