Scott’s Stepson Loses Ground Categorically

Buena High defensive lineman Cecilio Flores had seven sacks in the Bulldogs’ 35-21 league win over Dos Pueblos, breaking the record of six set by Bobby Gregorchuk in 1991 and causing a problem for Coach Rick Scott.

You see, Gregorchuk is Scott’s stepson. Scott was unsure how to break the news to his wife.

“It was always nice to see Bobby’s name in the record book when we print the game programs,” Scott said. “It was something she really enjoyed.”

So, will Scott be the bearer of bad news to his stepson?

“No,” he said. “I’ll let my wife handle that one.”

NORTH VALLEY LEAGUE

The Worst of Times

They used to have horses. Now, it’s Shetlands.

Granada Hills has stumbled to an 0-5 start, its worst under co-coaches Darryl Stroh and Tom Harp. The Highlanders, once the most feared City Section team in the Valley, has lost six in a row dating to the playoffs last season.

What happened?

“It emphasizes what high school football is all about,” said Kennedy Coach Bob Francola, a former Granada Hills assistant. “Every year it’s different guys. It’s lean and it’s bountiful. It’s up and it’s down.”

Right now, the Highlanders--who haven’t won a nonleague game since 1991--are in a down cycle. Harp says the team and coaching staff are working as hard as ever. But it helps to have a little depth.

And speed.

And experience.

“You can’t make people faster,” Harp said. “Talent is the key to winning in a lot of respects. You can’t catch a guy with 4.6 speed with a guy who runs 5.0. That’s just the reality of it.”

Just ask El Camino Real co-Coach Mike Maio. When he and Ralph Stam took over the struggling program in 1988, the team had not won in 2 1/2 seasons and was the not-so-proud owner of one of the state’s longest winless streaks (0-21-2).

Two years later, El Camino Real advanced to the City 4-A semifinals. The past two seasons, El Camino Real finished 3-7. This year, the Conquistadores are 4-1, which includes an upset of Sylmar.

“There’s no question that they’re two good coaches and that their program speaks for itself,” said Maio, who taught with Stroh at an area junior high two decades ago. “I’ve been there. I don’t like to see any coach go 0-5. I wish everybody could be 2-2 or 3-3.

“Everything’s cyclical.”

*

This is some family tree. Call it a redwood.

Not only are San Fernando Coach Sean Blunt and quarterback Leon Blunt related--they are cousins--Birmingham running back Courtney Blunt is also kin.

Sean said his father was one of 14 brothers and sisters so he isn’t quite sure about the precise lineage, but he is confident that Courtney is one of the fold.

“If his name’s Blunt, he spells it like I do and he lives in the Valley, it’s almost a slam-dunk he’s in the family,” Sean said.

*

Taft defensive back Antwan Simpson, who put quite a scare into his teammates Friday night, will not play Friday because of a neck injury.

Simpson lay on the field for approximately 30 minutes and was taken to an area hospital after his neck snapped back during a tackle. He returned to the sideline in the second half but did not play.

It was definitely a sobering night for the sophomore, who was the team hero after making a game-saving interception against Kennedy two weeks ago. Simpson was told by doctors Monday that if the impact had been absorbed an inch or two lower in his spine, he might have been left paralyzed.

“It was that close,” said Simpson, who is now wearing a neck brace.

*

Welcome to the job. Strap on your seat belt.

Reseda administrators contacted City Section Commissioner Barbara Fiege on Monday to inform her of what took place during the final moments of last week’s 39-13 loss to Taft.

Taft Coach Troy Starr later admitted to running up the score, which incensed Reseda coaches and officials. Starr later apologized to the Reseda players.

Fiege, whose first day on the job was Monday, said the issue is a personnel matter that must be handled at the school level.

“It’s an ethics thing,” she said.

However, Fiege said she plans to remind all coaches at the next preseason meeting that displaying good sportsmanship is a job requirement.

“It’s unfortunate that I should have to remind them of that,” she said.

GOLDEN LEAGUE

Mark of a Winner

If a red substance appears to be leaking from the midsection of an Antelope Valley player, do not fret. Nobody has been gored.

The team’s latest fad is to draw on one another’s midsections before games. Running back Jermaine Lewis, for instance, usually sports a large red 23, his jersey number, or ‘Lopes, shorthand for the school nickname, Antelopes.

Yes, they use permanent markers.

“It’s permanent, but it comes off with the sweat,” Lewis said. “We say that if you sweat and the ink comes off, you had a good game.”

*

Call Antelope Valley the giant-killer.

The Antelopes, 4-1 and ranked 10th in the state by Cal-Hi Sports, are the last team to defeat to Southland football powers, Bishop Amat and Loyola.

Antelope Valley defeated Loyola, 15-14, two weeks ago and knocked off Bishop Amat in overtime, 13-10, in the first round of the Southern Section Division I playoffs in 1991.

Bishop Amat hasn’t lost since, a span of 20 games.

FOOTHILL LEAGUE

Star-tling Treatment

Star football players get star treatment. Right? Not Burbank’s Willie Perryman, who hobbled around campus with an injured knee before he could get a proper examination.

Perryman is a 6-foot-4, 220-pound tight end-linebacker with sprinter’s speed and has Division I recruiters chasing him. But after Perryman wrenched his right knee in a pickup basketball game two weeks into the football season, Burbank Coach Dave Kemp said the player visited a hospital five times before he was able to see a doctor.

Perryman needed a magnetic resonance imaging examination but couldn’t get one scheduled until Oct. 30. Instead, a Burbank team doctor gave Perryman a knee brace, and a private physician gave him an MRI on Monday. The test revealed a minor cartilage tear.

Kemp said Perryman could return to football in two weeks. It couldn’t be soon enough for the Bulldogs (1-4). In two games, the senior has 13 catches for 240 yards and three touchdowns.

To try to compensate for the loss, Kemp has changed schemes and used 11 other receivers. How important was Perryman to Burbank?

“Let’s put it this way,” Kemp said. “It was like night and day. He’s so dominant, opponents have to run away from him. That was a big help to us. Since we lost Willie, both our offense and defense (have) dropped off.”

*

Chalk up Hart’s 15-14 loss to Eisenhower on Friday to a special team’s breakdown. With 2 minutes 50 seconds left and kicker Matt Kohl attempting to tie with a conversion kick, the snap went low and Kohl’s kick went low and wide left. Had Hart executed better, Kohl probably would have converted. He was 14 for 14 on point-after attempts to that point.

MARMONTE LEAGUE

Raiders of the Lost Art

These have been hard times at Channel Islands.

The Raiders have lost 13 in a row over two seasons. With a 36-0 loss to Newbury Park, Channel Islands dropped to 0-5, 0-2 in league play. Among the defeats was a 13-12 loss to Hueneme, which had not won since 1990--a span of 22 games.

Channel Islands won consecutive league titles in 1988 and ’89. Longtime Raider Coach Joel Gershon, in his 20th season, points to inexperience and lack of depth as factors contributing to Channel Islands’ hard fall.

“Obviously, we’d like to have a better record to date, but the kids are all still motivated and working hard,” Gershon said. “We’re anticipating improvement and we hope it’s coming around the bend real soon.”

*

Is Thousand Oaks--a former perennial area power--really as bad as its record?

After a 14-14 tie with Westlake, the Lancers are 0-4-1, 0-1-1 in league play. But the record is deceiving.

In three of its losses, Thousand Oaks has been outscored by a combined 16 points. Thousand Oaks Coach Bob Richards believes the Lancers are better than their winless record indicates.

“We’re a few plays away (from having some wins), but we have to make the plays,” Richards said. “We just have to keep hoping we make a few of those plays.”

DEL REY LEAGUE

So This is Winning

Alemany’s upset of Canyon on Friday night just might sum up how the fortunes have turned for the Indians. Last season, when the Indians were 1-8-1, they led Canyon, 21-7, at halftime and lost, 24-21. This year, they led 14-0 early, then held on for a 14-13 victory.

“The big difference between this team and the team last year is last year we had some kids who, for whatever reason, found it easier to give up than keep fighting,” Coach Pat Degnan said. “We didn’t have any business winning that game Friday night. We were dominated. We just kept hanging in there.”

SANTA FE LEAGUE

What Now, Coach?

Marshall Fundamental found a way to really confuse St. Genevieve last week--move backward. The Eagles had 14 penalties for 186 yards against the Valiants.

“Once they had a first and 54,” St. Genevieve Coach Richard Fong said. “I looked at my defensive ready list and I didn’t know what to call for first and 54. Then we stopped them and they had a second and 54 and I still didn’t know what to call.

“I think they punted back to the original line of scrimmage on that one.”

The Valiants (3-2) won, 30-7.

Around the Leagues . . .

* Granada Hills quarterback Jim Landress, who suffered a minor concussion last week, will be held out of contact drills this week but is expected to play Friday against El Camino Real. Landress hit his head on the turf when he was tackled early in last week’s loss to Kennedy.

* Notre Dame kicker Chris Sailer’s streak of consecutive successful extra points stands at 37. A junior, Sailer has not missed a conversion at Notre Dame.

* Of the six L.A. Baptist players to carry the ball this season, each has scored a touchdown. Altogether, they have 10 touchdowns in 106 carries.

* After having a minus-seven turnover ratio in its first four games, Notre Dame finally started to turn things around last week against Duarte. The Knights were plus-three in the game, a 35-14 Notre Dame victory.

Kennedy Cosgrove and staff writers Steve Elling, Jeff Fletcher, Dana Haddad, Paige A. Leech, John Ortega and Jason H. Reid contributed to this notebook.

The Times Top 10

Rankings of Valley-area high schools by sportswriters of The Times:

Rank Prev. Team League W-L 1 1 Newbury Park Marmonte 5-0 2 2 Taft North Valley 5-0 3 3 Antelope Valley Golden 4-1 4 4 Hart Foothill 4-1 5 5 Quartz Hill Golden 5-0 6 8 Saugus Foothill 4-1 7 10 El Camino Real North Valley 4-1 8 NR Crescenta Valley Pacific 4-1 9 NR Rio Mesa Channel 4-1 10 NR Alemany Del Rey 3-2

*

Team Last week This week Newbury Park Def. Channel Islands, 36-0 Fri. at Simi Valley Taft Def. Reseda, 39-13 Fri. vs. Chatsworth Antelope Valley Def. Muir, 39-21 Fri. at Littlerock Hart Lost to Eisenhower, 15-14 Fri. vs. Saugus Quartz Hill Def. Apple Valley, 42-0 Fri. at Highland Saugus Def. Littlerock, 38-28 Fri. vs. Hart El Camino Real Def. Cleveland, 38-6 Fri. vs. Granada Hills Crescenta Valley Def. Burroughs, 24-8 Fri. at Hoover Rio Mesa Def. Oxnard, 35-13 Fri. vs. Ventura Alemany Def. Canyon, 14-13 Fri. vs. St. Paul

State Leaders

How Valley-area athletes rank among California high school statistical leaders, as reported to Cal-Hi Sports: RUSHING

Player, School G Att Yds Wilbert Smith, Montclair Prep 5 110 1,177 Steve Wofford, Bakersfield 5 125 1,156 George Keiaho, Buena 5 155 1,151 Ramod Lee, Valley View 4 119 1,071 Dan Nguyen, Alameda 5 124 1,058 Matt Dellepere, Tomales 5 135 1,053 Oscar Interiano, Sierra Vista 5 127 998 Reuben Droughns, Anaheim 5 132 995 Tom Hair, Hayfork 6 148 993 Jeremy Umbay, Esparto 6 102 966

*PASSING

Player, School G PA PC Yds Keith Smith, Newbury Park 5 149 97 1,554 Zack Hernandez, L.A. Baptist 5 144 89 1,455 Jared Savage, Avenal 5 159 90 1,356 Brad Norris, Quartz Hill 5 126 78 1,284 Ben Wilkins, Princeton 6 150 83 1,278 Chris Silveira, Hanford 5 140 82 1,234 Dan Wilder, Sutter 6 137 68 1,183 Jeremie Watkins, Simi Valley 5 143 77 1,158 Aaron Baughman, Bolsa Grande 5 137 68 1,086 Mike Kocicka, Hart 5 120 61 1,074

RECEIVING Player, School G Rec Yds Altie Parker, S.D. Crawford 5 48 512 Dameane Douglas, Hanford 5 43 784 Leodes Van Buren, Newbury Park 5 43 690 Eric Christopherson, Sutter 6 36 683 Robbie Roberts, Princeton 6 34 541 Jim Romero, L.A. Baptist 5 33 597 Chris Williamson, Princeton 5 33 591 Todd McBride, Walnut 5 29 502 Brad Melsby, Los Alamitos 5 29 496 Daniel Jones, Indio 5 28 553