Disarming the Opponent : Sports: The East Los Angeles sheriff’s station flag football team bagged a world championship at the police and fire games.

The fleet-footed 15-year-old was caught flat-footed.

The pistol-packing gang member was racing down Arizona Avenue in East Los Angeles when sheriff’s Deputy Martin Rodriguez scooted in behind him.

“I caught up with him, tackled him and disarmed him,” said Rodriguez. “He was very surprised that some old, fat, bald guy could catch him.”

No sweat. A member of the country’s top flag football team was simply recording another sack.

Rodriguez, 33, is a defensive end on the East L.A. sheriff’s station’s flag football team. He and 14 teammates are back patrolling the streets fresh from winning a world championship in Colorado.

The deputies won the title by first upsetting the defending champion Houston Fire Department last month. They went on to beat the Des Moines Police Department and then the Chicago Fire Department, 24 to 14, in the finale.

The deputies did it by renting an aging bus to haul them to Colorado Springs. They arrived minutes before the kickoff and changed into their game uniforms as the bus rumbled into the Air Force Academy, where the 1993 Police and Fire World Games were being held.

“Our driver got lost on the academy grounds. He didn’t know anything about football, either,” said Deputy Mark Calderon, 36, a 215-pound defensive lineman. “But by the end of the tournament, he was jumping up and down on the sidelines. He was our biggest fan.”

Police are often among football’s biggest fans. For 15 years, the Los Angeles Police Department has fielded a tackle football team, the Centurions. That 55-member team raises about $100,000 a year for children’s charities by playing other police teams across the country.

The Sheriff’s Department does not have a tackle football team. Deputies formed their flag football team three years ago when the event was added to the annual California Police Summer Games sports competition. They won the state championship in 1992 and again this summer.

Flag football gets its name from the ribbons that hang on players’ belts. Seven members of the opposing team try to stop ball carriers by grabbing the flags instead of tackling them. No padding is worn in flag football because there is supposed to be no physical contact among the players.

Of course, team members take their lumps, anyway. Deputy Bob Riley played in last year’s state championship in San Diego without realizing he had suffered a broken shoulder early in the game.

The deputies started playing informal, sandlot games in 1985, after discovering that the 200-officer East Los Angeles station was filled with former high school and college football standouts, said Ray Lugo, a 34-year-old detective.

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In the field, the deputies take their orders from Ramon C. Sanchez, captain of the East Los Angeles station. On the field, they take orders from Lugo, who is the team captain.

Lugo played at Cantwell High School in Montebello and later at East Los Angeles College. Jim Wolak, the quarterback, played at Covina High. Joe Barbosa played at Cal State Northridge. Wide receiver Peter Levin played for Whittier College and was drafted by the Miami Dolphins. Gricel Saldana, an offensive tackle, was a standout at Salesian High.

Others on the team include Deputies Phillip Marquez, Arthur Scott, Joe Ramirez, Ruben Nava, Jason Wolak, Terrell White, Tim Phillips, Dave Vasquez and Rob Fitzgerald. Lt. Tony Argott is head coach; Sgt. Dave Furmanski is his assistant.

The players use their vacation time for games and tournaments. They also practice on their own time, although sheriff’s officials said medical coverage is provided for injuries sustained during department-sanctioned games. Practice sessions are at players’ own risk, however.

During the Colorado tournament, play-by-play updates were broadcast over the paging system in the East Los Angeles station house and posted on the briefing room blackboard, Sanchez said.

Sanchez, a former guard on the Lincoln High football team, was pleased with the gold medals the deputies brought back, but was prouder of the way they went.

Although local merchants had kicked in enough money to buy airline tickets for the Colorado trip, the team decided to rent the cheaper bus and use the leftover cash to defray travel expenses so several players on tight personal budgets could go. “They’re like a family,” he said.