Swan Song Became Dirge at the Finish

Valley College’s 21-19 last-second victory over Moorpark in the Western State Conference K-Swiss Bowl last Saturday ruined the last college game for Raider running back Gil Carrillo.

The sophomore from Simi Valley High has no college eligibility remaining because he attended Cal State Northridge on a track scholarship before transferring to Moorpark. He had hoped to go out with a victory.

“Through the whole game, I was caught up in, ‘God, this is my last college game ever.’ I was devastated at the end,” Carrillo said. “What really bothered me the most is that we didn’t get the nine-win season. I wanted to do it for the coaches.”

Moorpark had won nine games in each of the previous five seasons but finished 8-3 this year. Carrillo rushed for 2,287 yards and 23 touchdowns in his two seasons with the Raiders, and was named Western State Conference North Division player or co-player of the year both years.

With his college career over, Carrillo, 23, hopes to catch on with a Canadian Football League team.

“That’s my plan,” he said. “I started lifting (weights) again two weeks ago and I’m running about five days a week, just for speed improvement.”

Not that he lacks much in that area. Moorpark offensive coordinator Will Thurston said Carrillo (5-feet-11, 195) ran 40 yards in 4.4 seconds. A career in the CFL might be within Carrillo’s reach.

“He has so many great assets,” Thurston said. “He has tremendous hands. That’s a real big plus right there. And he has a sturdy frame. . . . For someone who technically had only a couple of seasons at running back, he is tremendously sound.”

JUNIOR COLLEGES

Fourth-Quarter Flourish

What Valley quarterback Sean Fitzgerald accomplished in the second half--actually, the fourth quarter--of the victory over Moorpark in the K-Swiss Bowl left him speechless.

“I don’t know what to say,” Fitzgerald said after his winning 16-yard touchdown pass to Brian Comer with three seconds to play.

Fitzgerald, a 6-foot-5 sophomore transfer from Idaho State, completed 17 of 29 passes for 266 yards in the second half and was 12 of 20 for 190 yards and three touchdowns in the final quarter. He finished 25 of 46 for 317 yards.

His three touchdown scores all went to Comer on passes of 11, 27 and 16 yards. The last one finished a 70-yard, nine-play drive that started with 1 minute 31 seconds remaining and no timeouts left.

*

Although the Antelope Valley women’s volleyball team lost in the second round of the Southern California regionals last week, the Marauders went out knowing they had pieced together the school’s best single-season record.

The Marauders (19-1) were 18-0 in the Foothill Conference and lost only six games. They won their first six conference matches without dropping a game. Their only loss came in a match against Golden West, the eventual state champion, 15-3, 15-3, 15-11, in the regionals.

The team’s dominance in conference play surprised Coach Jane Cwayna, who expected a strong showing, but nothing so dominant.

“It’s a credit to the kids’ determination,” said Cwayna, who has coached the Marauders for 13 seasons. “This is definitely the most talent we ever had.”

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Although no official award is given, Glendale tied Mt. San Antonio College for the top combined cross-country program in the state this year.

Mt. SAC was initially deemed the state’s top program after finishing second in the men’s race and fifth in the women’s at the state championships in Fresno last month.

With points being awarded for a team’s finish in the state meet, Mt. SAC totaled seven points.

Glendale originally finished second with nine points based on its third-place finish in the women’s race and sixth in the men’s. The Vaqueros moved into a tie for first, however, when the men were moved from sixth to fourth in the final standings after Juan Hernandez was reinstated following an appeal by the school.

Hernandez had originally finished 42nd in the state championships, but he and teammate Gilbert Roca (82nd) were disqualified for allegedly cutting inside some cones on the four-mile course.

After Hernandez’s reinstatement, Glendale totaled 178 points for fourth.

Around the Campuses . . .

* John Czimbal, Cal Lutheran’s sports information director, reported that the women’s basketball team set five school records when the Regals defeated Pacific Christian, 124-9, last week, but it wasn’t until a few days later that he discovered the team also broke or tied three NCAA Division III records. The Regals set Division III records for most field goals attempted (134) in a game and widest margin of victory (115 points). They tied the mark for fewest points allowed (nine).

Staff writers Fernando Dominguez and John Ortega contributed to this notebook.