Mira Costa’s Football Fortunes Appear to Be Stuck in Low Tide

How quickly things can change.

Through the first eight weeks of the football season, Mira Costa didn’t seem to have a care in the world. The Mustangs were 8-0 and had beaten all of their opponents handily.

Today they’re 8-1 and fighting to avoid a third-place finish in the Ocean League with a team weakened because of injury and off-the-field problems.

The first sign of trouble came last week at Culver City, where Mira Costa fumbled and stumbled its way to a 21-20 defeat. The Mustangs committed three turnovers, botched a punt that led to a Culver City touchdown and were penalized 15 times in the loss, which probably cost them the Ocean title. Culver City figures to win the championship outright Friday by beating 2-7 Beverly Hills.

Adding injury to insult, Mira Costa tailback Ronnie Hand, the team’s leading rusher, suffered a bruised hip in the loss and is questionable for Friday night’s league finale against rival Redondo.

The Mustangs’ troubles grew Sunday night. Several Mira Costa players reportedly were involved in a fight at a party that resulted in police being called. As a result of the incident, three players, two of whom are believed to be starters, have been suspended for the Redondo game because they violated the team’s code of ethics.

“It’s an internal thing,” said Coach Don Morrow, who would not identify the players. “They violated team policy and we made a decision to hold them out (against Redondo). They did something that wasn’t right.”

Morrow said the incident should not be blown out of proportion.

“They’re all good kids,” he said. “We don’t have any derelicts.”

With so much riding on Friday’s game, Morrow is doing his best to keep his team focused on football. The Mira Costa-Redondo winner will avoid finishing third and having to open the Southern Section Division VII playoffs on the road, most likely against a first-place team.

“We were hurt by what happened Friday night (at Culver City),” Morrow said. “We felt like we should have won and we should still be unbeaten. But rather than focus on the negative, we want to get going on Redondo.”

Mira Costa dropped two places to No. 4 in the Division VII rankings, but will probably still be seeded in the playoffs if it beats Redondo.

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Serra Athletic Director Tim Boyer has been studying football game videos this week. No, Boyer isn’t helping the Cavaliers prepare for Friday’s game against Pius X. This is more like playing “Where’s Waldo?”

Boyer has been watching films of Serra’s Oct. 1 game against Verbum Dei in search of Charles Slade, an ineligible Verbum Dei player. If Boyer finds that Slade played in the game, Serra could be awarded a forfeit that would reverse its 20-13 loss to the Eagles.

A forfeit would also put Serra in position to gain a share of the Camino Real League title if it beats Pius X and St. Monica beats Cantwell on Friday. That would leave Serra, St. Monica and Cantwell in a three-way tie for first with 5-1 records.

As of Wednesday, though, Boyer still hadn’t found Slade in the video. Verbum Dei contends Slade did not play against Serra, although he did play the following week against Mary Star, which has been awarded a forfeit.

“We’re looking and listening to our film,” Boyer said Tuesday. “We hear (Slade’s) name being announced. Now we have to find him.”

By Wednesday, it sounded as if Boyer was giving up hope.

“No, I haven’t been able to find him,” he said. “We’ll probably have to give it up.”

Stay tuned.

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A Serra teacher thinks that Kevin Crawley, fired as the Cavalier football coach last month for allegedly abusing players verbally, is getting a bum rap from others at the Gardena school.

“I’ve never seen Kevin abuse a child,” said the teacher, who requested anonymity. “He cares about the kids. I’ve seen him trying to keep kids from making stupid moves academically.”

The teacher said he wanted to rebut allegations by another Serra teacher, whose comments appeared Nov. 4 in The Times, that Crawley was an abusive coach and needed to be replaced.

Now that both sides have voiced their opinions, enough said.

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Culver City, which clinched at least a tie for its third consecutive Ocean League football title Friday by beating Mira Costa, should be even better next season.

The Centaurs have 26 underclassmen on their roster, including several talented juniors led by quarterback Damon Williams, running back Aki Wilson and wide receiver-defensive back Jasiri Rodell, who secured Friday’s victory with a last-second interception.

With those players at the skill positions, Culver City could be a force in 1994 if it develops a stronger line. Presently the Centaurs are small and have trouble matching up with bigger teams.

One player who doesn’t have to worry about his size is Williams, who passed for 139 yards and a touchdown and ran for another TD against Mira Costa. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound quarterback makes his share of mistakes, but he’s such a good athlete that it’s easy to overlook his inconsistency.

Culver City Coach Rob Moore was in a forgiving mood Friday after a mistake by Williams nearly cost the Centaurs the game. With Culver City protecting a 21-14 lead, Williams checked off a running play at the line of scrimmage and threw a slant-in pass that was intercepted by Mira Costa defensive back Dino Rossi and returned 47 yards for a touchdown with 3 minutes 26 seconds left.

Fortunately for the Centaurs, Mira Costa failed on a two-point conversion try that would have given the Mustangs the lead.

“We wanted to keep it on the ground, but that’s basically my fault,” Moore said of Williams’ audible. “I gave him the option to audibilize.

“I’ll live or die with him. He’s still my man. He’s doing a great job and he’s going to be twice as good next year.”

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A few weeks ago, nobody thought Hawthorne senior Jason Stallings would play another football game this season. His knee injury was initially diagnosed as torn ligaments before being upgraded to a strain.

Stallings, a highly regarded wide receiver and defensive back, considered himself lucky when he returned to the lineup after missing only two games.

Now Hawthorne Coach Dan Robbins reports that Stallings is letting his quick recovery go to his head.

“He wants to take his knee brace off,” Robbins said. “I told him he can take it off when his college coach tells him he can take it off. I want him to wear a brace to bed.”

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After Bishop Montgomery won its first two Mission League football games, it appeared the Knights were in position to earn their first playoff berth since 1983.

But after losing their last two games, the Knights need a victory Friday against first-place Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks to have a shot at postseason play. Bishop Montgomery Coach Matt Giacalone knows the odds are against his team, but he isn’t giving up hope.

“That’s the one thing we have to hold on to, that we’re not out of it,” Giacalone said. “We felt if we beat Chaminade or St. Bernard, we would have been in control of our own destiny. But that slipped away from us. Now we just have to regroup and get ready for Notre Dame.”

Notes

Pepperdine forward Bryan Hill, a freshman from Banning, underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Wednesday and is expected to be sidelined for three weeks. The 6-foot-7 Hill was contending for a starting spot before being injured at basketball practice Friday. He was the City Section 3-A Division player of the year last season. . . . Carson quarterback Ramon Rogers has had only one of his 135 passes intercepted. The school record for fewest interceptions in a season by a starting quarterback is four, set by Perry Klein in 1988.

South Bay Prep Football Top 10

Rank School Record Comment 1. Hawthorne 8-1 Looking to avenge ’92 loss to Leuzinger. 2. San Pedro 8-1 Is this the year Pirates beat Carson? 3. Carson 6-3 Leads series with San Pedro, 20-1-1. 4. Peninsula 8-1 Needs help to get share of Bay title. 5. Banning 5-4 Coming off impressive win over Dorsey. 6. Mira Costa 8-1 Must regroup after loss to Culver City. 7. Leuzinger 5-4 In role of spoiler against Hawthorne. 8. South Torrance 6-2-1 Must beat North to secure playoff spot. 9. North Torrance 5-4 Has already clinched Pioneer title. 10. West Torrance 5-4 Meets Torrance with playoff berth at stake.