Goal Post Suffers the First Injury of the Season at West

As if Kerry Crabb didn’t have enough to worry about this week, the West Torrance High football coach also had to deal with an act of vandalism.

When Crabb arrived at school Tuesday morning, he learned that one of West’s goal posts had nearly been destroyed. The uprights were torn off and the crossbar was bent down considerably.

“I was thinking they’d have to dig up the goal post and we wouldn’t be able to get it replaced in time for the game,” said Crabb, whose team plays host to Mission Viejo in its opener Friday night.

Fortunately, the repairs were made and the game is still on.

Crabb suspects students from Torrance High were responsible, based on several clues found on West’s field. Crabb said the uprights were positioned to form a “T” and “Torrance” was painted over a large “W.”

“You can try to level blame, but they would just deny it,” said Crabb, who has not discussed the incident with anyone at Torrance.

When contacted Wednesday, two Torrance administrators said they were unaware of the incident.

West defeated Torrance, 25-20, in the final week of Pioneer League play last season to keep the Tartars out of the playoffs.

*

David Williams has been getting plenty of advice as he prepares for his first season as Carson football coach.

Among those helping him are former Carson coach Gene Vollnogle and Williams’ father, David, a former coach on the prep and community college levels. Vollnogle and the elder Williams, a former UCLA fullback, are friends from their days as rival City Section coaches in the 1950s at Banning and Jefferson, respectively.

“When Gene isn’t telling me something to do, my dad is,” Williams said. “But I can’t argue with people who have coached for 30 years. I’d be a fool not to listen to them.”

Williams, 38, has also been listening to longtime defensive coordinator Jim D’Amore, who returned to Carson’s staff after sitting out last season.

“D’Amore astounds me,” he said. “Having someone call the defense is a luxury for me. At the B level, I handled everything. I called every offensive play and every defensive play.”

Williams, who coached Carson’s B team to a 27-3 record the past three seasons, figures to need all the help he can get Friday night. The Colts open against Bishop Amat, the defending Southern Section Division I champion and the nation’s ninth-ranked team by USA Today.

*

Although he coaches football, Williams’ main sport as an athlete was track. After graduating from Pasadena High, he received a track scholarship to UC Irvine, where he twice was an NCAA finalist in the 100 and 200 meters.

Williams and miler Steve Scott, the former Olympian, were co-captains in 1976 and led Irvine to the Division II national title.

Sometimes Hawthorne Coach Dan Robbins gets carried away, as evidenced by his recent appraisal of senior quarterback Kenji Tatum:

“He’s one of the best quarterbacks we’ve had at Hawthorne, if not the best.”

Tatum is good, but he’s no Curtis Conway.

*

Leuzinger Coach Fred Boehm was bemoaning the fact that his team lacks depth at several positions, particularly the offensive line.

“I was talking to Hawthorne’s coaches the other day,” he said. “I told them, ‘Just send over your excess.’ ”

*

San Pedro, the defending City Section 3-A Division champion, looks to have the best schedule of any area team. The Pirates play seven of their 10 games at Daniels Field, their home, and two others at neutral fields.

Only their Nov. 5 game at Washington is on an opponent’s campus.

Banning Coach Ed Paculba, entering his second season, intends to take a more active role in all aspects of coaching the team after drawing criticism last season for the Pilots’ 7-6 loss to Garfield in the first round of the 4-A Division playoffs.

“I’m going to be a little closer to what’s going on,” he said. “I want to get things organized and get more involved. If I’m going to take the heat, I want to make sure I can answer what’s going on.”

Notes

Former South Bay standouts Johnnie Morton and Bryan Reeves were the leading collegiate receivers in the nation last weekend. Morton (South Torrance) set a USC record with 15 catches in a 49-7 victory over Houston, and Reeves (Carson) had 12 catches for Nevada in a 35-17 loss to Wisconsin. Morton and Reeves were members of The Times’ 1987 South Bay all-star team. . . . Former Carson and West Torrance quarterback John Walsh had an impressive 1993 debut for Brigham Young, completing 24 of 38 passes for 384 yards and four touchdowns in a 34-31 victory over New Mexico. . . . The Mira Costa girls’ volleyball team has been ranked No. 15 in the preseason state coaches’ poll. Defending Division I champion Corona del Mar is No. 1.