Heart, Soul of a Pirate : Castaneda Exemplifies Determination of 12-1 San Pedro

San Pedro High football Coach Mike Walsh thought it was odd last season when he found Bryan Castaneda sulking on the bench after a practice.

In Walsh’s mind, there was no reason for Castaneda to feel anything but elation. The junior had been playing well in his first varsity season as a receiver, cornerback and return specialist.

But, unbeknown to Walsh, Castaneda had angered an older teammate. His crime? Covering Bryant Thomas, the Pirates’ standout receiver, too closely in passing drills.

“Bryan was upset because Bryant Thomas had punched him,” Walsh said. “Thomas couldn’t run by him and he couldn’t run underneath him.”

Thomas is 6-foot-2. Castaneda is 5-6 and 145 pounds.

“It was quite a size differential, but size differential means nothing to Bryan,” Walsh said. “He’s too quick for the other guys.”

Chances are Castaneda’s opponents have wanted to take a swing at him too. That or shake his hand.

More than any player, the diminutive Castaneda represents the heart of San Pedro’s most successful era in football. The Pirates are 24-2-1 over the past two seasons and will defend their City Section 3-A Division title Friday night at 7:30 against Fremont at Gardena High.

Castaneda was largely responsible for San Pedro winning the 1992 title, the school’s first since it began playing football in 1908. He caught three passes for 85 yards and two touchdowns and had two interceptions in the Pirates’ 24-7 victory over Woodland Hills Taft in the 3-A final at Gardena.

He hasn’t slowed down since.

During a remarkable senior season, Castaneda has helped San Pedro to a 12-1 record in just about every way imaginable. The statistical breakdown:

* He leads the South Bay in receiving with 57 catches for 857 yards and six touchdowns.

* He has rushed for 56 yards in four carries, a 14-yard average.

* He has completed both of his passing attempts for 22 yards.

* He has averaged 17.8 yards on 28 punt returns, one for a TD.

* He has averaged 20.8 yards on four kickoff returns.

* He has accounted for 1,621 all-purpose yards, nearly half of the team total of 3,887.

* He leads the team with seven interceptions, one returned for a TD.

* He has 34 solo tackles, 11 assists, 12 pass deflections, a fumble recovery and three blocked kicks.

“Give me three of those guys and I’d never lose a game,” Walsh said. “Forget three, I’d take two.”

A humble Castaneda said he’s surprised by his success.

“I didn’t think I would be the (leader) of South Bay receiving or anything like that,” he said. “But I wanted to win.

“Even though I’m small, my coaches wanted me to play big, and that’s what I’ve been trying to do.”

Walsh considers Castaneda the best player in school history, although no one is quite sure how he reached this conclusion, considering the number of outstanding athletes who have played for the Pirates.

“There may have been a better offensive player at this school, and there may have been a better defensive player,” Walsh said. “But there’s never been anyone like Bryan.”

One of the better players in San Pedro’s past was Castaneda’s father, Ernie, who played single-wing tailback for the Pirates in the 1963 and ’64 seasons. A longshoreman, the elder Castaneda never misses one of his son’s games.

“Every time something happens, I’ll say, ‘That’s my boy out there,’ ” Ernie Castaneda said. “I’m very proud of him. A lot of kids around the neighborhood look up to him. They say they want to be like Bryan.”

Castaneda’s two older brothers, Ernie and Steve, also played football at San Pedro. Bryan is the shortest male in the family by a few inches, a condition his father partly attributes to Bryan being a premature baby.

“He was a month premature and weighed only six pounds,” the elder Castaneda said. “I think that’s contributed to his size. But he’s a gutsy little kid. He likes the contact.”

After sitting out his sophomore season at San Pedro because he was academically ineligible, Castaneda was apprehensive about playing varsity football last year.

“I was thinking I was going to play (on the B team) because the varsity had some big boys,” he said.

Walsh, though, had other plans. When the 1992 season opened, Castaneda was starting at cornerback and returning punts for the varsity team.

“I was real nervous, but after a few plays I started getting used to it,” said Castaneda, who has played organized football since he was 7. “I felt good and I felt I could compete. Maybe the other team didn’t feel that way, but I knew I would be able to do something.”

Castaneda wants to continue playing football after high school, although because of marginal grades and his size, he knows it will probably be at a community college. His other option is baseball. He’s the starting center fielder for San Pedro.

Castaneda’s football coaches call him Houdini, a nickname he lived up to last week in a 17-0 victory over Reseda in the 3-A semifinals. He intercepted a pass that was tipped by a Reseda receiver, catching the ball with his left hand while keeping his balance just inside the sideline.

“The official on the sideline told me he’d never seen anything like it in his life,” Walsh said. “It was incredible.

“Bryan never surprises me anymore because I’ve seen him too much, but he never ceases to amaze me.”

Championship game notes

Fremont (11-2) is making its first appearance in a City Section football final in 43 years. The Pathfinders won consecutive titles in 1948, ’49 and ’50. This year’s team is led by quarterback Williams Yates, a threat to pass or run. Yates passed for 147 yards and one touchdown and rushed for 86 yards and two TDs last week in Fremont’s 28-21 victory over Washington. San Pedro defeated Washington, 28-0, on Nov. 5 in a Southern League game. Fremont utilizes Yates in either an option attack or run-and-shoot scheme, often with four wide receivers. His main targets have been receivers Andre Johnson and George Jacobs, with sophomore Delante Walker getting most of the carries. The Pathfinders’ losses were to San Fernando and Garfield.

San Pedro has swept through the playoffs on the strength of its defense, which has not given up a point in victories over Chatsworth, Roosevelt and Reseda. The top-seeded Pirates have given up only 20 points during an eight-game winning streak that started after their 17-0 loss to Banning on Oct. 8. San Pedro played Banning without quarterback Chris Pappas, who was sidelined because of a knee injury. The Pirates are 19-0 over the past two seasons with Pappas as the starter. Pappas passed for 207 yards last week in a 17-0 semifinal victory over Reseda. Castaneda had nine catches for 135 yards. The San Pedro running game received a boost last week with the return of tailback Jeff Williams, who had missed three games because of a bruised leg.