PREP FOOTBALL SPOTLIGHT : Facts, Figures and Comments from Last Week’s Games

FALSE ALARM

Hawthorne breathed a collective sigh of relief Friday. The Cougars learned that the injury to the right knee of Justin Stallings, the team’s standout receiver and strong safety, is not as serious as first thought.

Stallings’s injury was diagnosed as strained ligaments, not torn ligaments, which had been reported earlier in the week. He is expected to miss four to six weeks and will not require surgery.

“He’ll be back before the end of the season, which is a big relief, to say the least,” Hawthorne Coach Dan Robbins said. “It’s more for him as an individual because he’s worked very hard to get where he is and we’re happy he’ll have a chance to play again.”

Stallings was optimistic about when he can return to the lineup.

“I’ll be back in three weeks,” he said. “I go back to the doctor the morning of the Peninsula game (Oct. 29) and if I get the OK, I’ll be back for that game. If not, I’ll definitely be back for the Leuzinger game (Nov. 12).”

Stallings will begin rehabilitation on his injured knee Monday. He said his morale has been markedly better since learning Friday that he would not miss the rest of his senior season.

“I can’t tell you how much better I feel about this,” he said. “I went from crying every night to jumping for joy.”

AMATEUR HOUR

Because of injury and illness, Hawthorne was down to its third-string quarterback for the start of Friday night’s Bay League opener against Santa Monica.

Kelvin Hunter, the Cougars’ all-league cornerback, started at quarterback and played the first half, which ended with Hawthorne leading, 10-7. Hunter was thrust into duty because starter Kenji Tatum has the flu and Stallings, the backup, is injured.

Despite his illness, Tatum started the second half and helped spark Hawthorne to a 45-7 victory at Santa Monica College.

“Kenji came back and that was a help,” Robbins said. “But Kelvin did a phenomenal job. Considering he’d never taken a snap before last week, he’s to be commended.”

Neither quarterback did much to decide the outcome, though. Hunter’s only pass attempt was incomplete and Tatum connected on two of six passes for 21 yards. The Cougars rushed for 294 yards, led by fullback Kalisi Moala with 154 yards and two touchdowns in 18 carries.

“(Moala) did a tremendous job,” Robbins said. “You can look at the 150 yards he got and he probably got 140 of them after he was hit.”

It was the Cougars’ fifth consecutive victory since an opening loss to Loyola. Santa Monica (2-4) dropped its fourth game in a row.

WARRIOR WAYS

Something had to give when South Torrance played host to West Torrance in a Pioneer League opener Friday night, but it wasn’t the West defense.

The Warriors (3-3) held South to 34 yards in the first half and 209 for the game en route to a 14-7 victory. South (4-2) entered the game averaging 164 yards rushing, but without top running back Kapono Tumale, who did not play because of disciplinary reasons, the Spartans gained only 99 yards on the ground.

“I think the game started sloppy, and then it got to be an excellent defensive game,” West Coach Kerry Crabb said. “We had kids come up with the big plays tonight, and that wasn’t happening for us earlier (in the season).”

Cory DeVry replaced starting quarterback Kirk Bolling late in the first quarter after Bolling aggravated a shoulder injury. DeVry completed 10 of 15 passes for 154 yards, including a 31-yard touchdown to wide receiver George Padjen to give West a 7-0 lead in the second quarter.

“I think it was almost a Godsend,” Crabb said. “We had to throw the ball to loosen things up for Tito (Powell), and Cory came up with some big plays.”

Powell, a senior tailback, rushed for 120 yards in 25 carries and scored on a 15-yard run early in the third quarter to build the Warriors’ lead to 14-0.

Crabb likes West’s chances in the Pioneer race after beating the league favorite.

“I’ve always thought that the guy who comes out of this game (with a win) is in the driver’s seat for the rest of league,” said Crabb, whose team lost to South, 18-13, last season.

ONE THAT GOT AWAY

Did Leuzinger let a victory slip through its grasp Friday night?

That was the feeling among the Olympians after Peninsula hung on for a 15-12 triumph in a hard-fought Bay League opener at Leuzinger.

Driving late in game, the Olympians had first-and-15 at their own 46-yard-line when quarterback Jason Simmons attempted a short pass to tight end Aaron Williams, who was open on a crossing pattern. But the ball bounced off Williams’ hands and into the arms of defensive back Chris Duffy, who returned the interception 30 yards to the Leuzinger 31 with one minute 45 seconds left. Peninsula then ran out the clock.

“If I (had) caught that pass, I was in the end zone,” Williams said. “We would have won.”

Leuzinger Coach Fred Boehm also thought Williams had a clear path to the end zone.

“I think he would have been gone,” Boehm said.

Duffy, though, said he was prepared to make the tackle had Williams caught the ball.

“I got lucky,” Duffy said. “(Williams) touched the ball. I thought he was going to catch it and I was coming up to make the play. It landed right in my arms.”

Special teams played a big part in the outcome.

Peninsula (6-0) took the lead for good, 15-12, early in the third quarter on a seven-yard touchdown run by running back Mike Margolf and two-point conversion run by fullback Tony Persichina. The TD came six plays after Casey Gourdine returned a short second-half kickoff 50 yards to the Leuzinger 29.

Leuzinger (3-3) was also hurt by a nine-yard punt in the first quarter, leading to Peninsula’s first touchdown drive, covering 54 yards. In addition, the Olympians botched an extra point and missed on a two-point conversion try.

NO MORE MR. NICE GUY

Bishop Montgomery beat visiting Harvard-Westlake, 24-18, in a Mission League opener, but not before Knight Coach Matt Giacalone learned a valuable lesson.

With Bishop Montgomery leading, 24-10, midway through the fourth quarter, Giacalone decided to play his reserves. The Knights (2-4) were unable to move the ball, and Harvard (4-2) drove for a touchdown and two-point conversion. Although Harvard didn’t score again, Giacalone won’t be so quick to pull his starters next time.

“I learned something today as a coach,” he said. “I should have left the starters in the game to grind it out.”

While Giacalone’s substitutions may have caused some anxious moments, the Bishop Montgomery defense has the coach smiling. He said a switch from an attacking style to a more conservative approach has been beneficial for the Knights, who are tackling better than they did early in the season.

Giacalone cited the play of defensive back Mike Luera against Harvard.

“He was all over the field, screwing up their blocking and creating havoc,” Giacalone said.

LETHAL WEAPON

An unbeaten team averaging more than 320 yards a game would seem to be operating on all cylinders. But Chadwick rediscovered another weapon in its 49-7 Prep League victory over host Rio Hondo Prep.

Dolphin wide receiver Neil Thakur, who caught 130 passes in the previous two seasons but only 13 in four games this season, finally had a big day as a senior with seven catches for 130 yards and three touchdowns.

Coach Sid Grant said promoting Ricco Washington to starting quarterback was the primary reason for Thakur’s renewed success. Washington, starting his first game in place of Steve Thorp, completed six of 10 passes for 123 yards and two TDs. Thorp passed for 16 yards and one TD to Thakur.

“You have to get (Thakur) in the offense,” said Grant, whose team improved to 5-0, 2-0 in league play. “Ricco and Neil just seemed to click real well together.”

PASSING FANCY

Redondo running back Bob Cracknell rushed for 206 yards and three touchdowns in a 30-22 Ocean League-opening victory over Beverly Hills, but the senior seemed more excited about a 21-yard scoring pass he completed to wide receiver Brian Mahanke.

Leading, 17-7, late in the first half, Redondo faced third-and-four at the Beverly Hills 21 when Cracknell took a pitchout from quarterback Scott Albin, ran to his right, stopped and passed to Mahanke in the right corner of the end zone. The pass was a little short and was tipped by a Beverly Hills defender before landing in Mahanke’s arms.

“I was throwing spirals during the week (in practice),” Cracknell said, “but I just tensed up.”

Redondo Coach Chris Hyduke was confident the play would work.

“We saw that their corners come up (to force) the run, so we put the play in to see if it worked, and it did,” Hyduke said.

It was the third consecutive game in which Cracknell rushed for more than 200 yards, and it was the third consecutive victory for Redondo (3-3).

NOTEWORTHY

* Carson quarterback Ramon Rogers set a school record in a 52-14 victory over Narbonne. He has not had a pass intercepted to 81 attempts this season, breaking the previous record of 76 passes without an interception set by Perry Klein in 1988. Rogers completed five of 11 attempts for 188 yards and three touchdowns.

* North Torrance senior Lacy Watkins did a little bit of everything in a 35-6 Pioneer League victory over Centennial. He rushed for 53 yards in 11 carries, caught five passes for 56 yards and led the Saxon defense with 10 tackles and a 38-yard interception return for a touchdown.

* Serra’s defense came up with 10 turnovers (eight fumbles, two interceptions) in a 34-0 Camino Real League victory over Mary Star. Defensive end Michael Archie and tackle Brandon Webb each had two fumble recoveries. Archie returned one fumble 60 yards for a TD.

* South Bay Lutheran of Inglewood set a school record for points scored in an 88-50 victory over Pilgrim in a Heritage League eight-man game. The Waves (4-1, 2-0) gained 573 yards, 466 rushing.

* Torrance came up with six turnovers (three fumbles, three interceptions) in a 12-6 Pioneer League victory over El Segundo. Aaron Kaopua, Andre Hilliard and Henry Quintana each had an interception.

IN QUOTES

Chadwick Coach Sid Grant after getting his first-ever victory at Rio Hondo Prep, 45-7: “Now I know how it felt when the Lakers exorcised all those demons by going into the (Boston) Garden and beating the Celtics. Time and time again strange things happened to us on that field.”

South Bay Lutheran Coach Greg Rathke on his team’s 88-50 eight-man victory over Pilgrim: “They couldn’t stop us and we couldn’t contain their quarterback. It was quite an interesting night.”

Peninsula Coach Gary Kimbrell after his team escaped with a 15-12 victory over Leuzinger: “It was just like we told the kids, it was going to be a 48-minute gut-check.”