Perseverance Pays for Girls’ Soccer Team

Call it a peak for the Crescenta Valley High girls’ soccer team.

After three seasons as a self-supporting program--holding candy sales, pizza nights, garage sales and a variety of other activities to raise money--the school is funding the Falcons’ expenses for the first time, albeit only partially.

Now the team has an official budget of $2,000 allotted by the school, which helps defray the $8,000 annual team expenses. The money became available in part because Crescenta Valley dropped the girls’ gymnastics program, and in part because the soccer team had proved a viable and valuable program.

The budget includes referees’ fees, transportation costs and a uniform allowance. Extra funds are still raised by the team and its strong booster program.

“It’s nice to finally get some respect,” Coach Judd Bogust said. “They’re showing us that we’ve earned it.”

The boys’ soccer team, in its second year, is not funded by the school.

“They’ll probably have to pay their dues just like the girls,” Athletic Director Pat Snickles said.

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The future of the Crescenta Valley girls’ team is even more promising on the field.

There are 45 players on the varsity and junior varsity teams. None, repeat, none, are seniors, and only nine are juniors. The youthful Falcons already have beaten Chaminade, a perennial playoff team, and tied powerful La Canada this season.

FREE-LANCE: Where Are They Now?

Ah, what might have been.

What do senior swingman Kris Johnson of Crenshaw (City Section 4-A Division player of the year in 1992-93), senior swingman Kenyatta Niles of Monroe (All-City 3-A in 1992-93), Chatsworth sophomore point guard Jerome Joseph (All-Southern Section in 1992-93) and twin freshmen forward phenoms Jason and Jarron Collins of Harvard-Westlake have in common?

Apart from the fact that the group would make an ideal starting five, each attended Montclair Prep at one time before transferring to their current school.

FOOTHILL LEAGUE: Dog-Tired Team

Canyon High boys’ basketball Coach Greg Hayes doesn’t want to make excuses, but the first 11 days of the season fatigued his team. The Cowboys (5-3) played eight games in that span and Hayes attributes tiredness to at least one of their losses--a 75-47 blowout to Chatsworth in the Saugus tournament earlier this month.

“Our game against Monroe (96-93 loss in the second round) went past 11 o’clock the night before,” Hayes said. “The kids had to get up for school the next day, and we played Chatsworth at 2:30 p.m. It didn’t surprise me. Our kids were dragging. Chatsworth had lost the night before and they were fired up.”

Despite the exhausting pace, Canyon forwards Charles Woodard (senior) and Greg Minor (junior) average more than 20 points a game.

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Burbank’s basketball team is solid, but if it has one outstanding characteristic, it is brains.

Eight of the 13 players on the roster are top students. Brian Baker and Brad Warner lead the way, academically, with grade-point averages of 4.6 and 4.3 on a 5.0 scale in college preparatory classes. The Bulldogs also have Jason Jonas (4.0), Brian Casey (3.9), Tony Ngo (3.8), David Hunt (3.7), Bryan Arana (3.4) and Willie Perryman (3.2), who hold their own on the 4.0 scale.

“It’s great to have these guys,” first-year Coach Jeff Davis said. “I could have a doctor, an accountant, a lawyer from my first team. They’re smart and they can adapt.”

EAST VALLEY LEAGUE: Striding Right

The Poly boys’ soccer program has made quick strides.

The Parrots had not fielded a team for two seasons before Coach Michael Gitomer took over last year.

Any student who signed up for the physical education class called Soccer was on the team, and Poly won only one match.

But since those humble beginnings, things are shaping up. This year, nearly 60 players tried out for the team, and the Parrots already have beaten Calabasas, a Southern Section Division V playoff finalist.

MID-VALLEY LEAGUE: Family Tradition

Poly High football Coach Fred Cuccia has watched his 13-year-old son, Rocco, grow from 130 pounds to 170 in the last four months. Already 5-foot-8, Rocco is chomping at the bit to play football for his father.

Problem is, Poly doesn’t have a freshman class. Rocco, an eighth-grader, must wait another 20 months to play at Poly.

However, if Rocco can’t come to his father, perhaps dad will go to Rocco.

“My kids want me to apply to La Canada,” said Cuccia, who lives with his family in the La Canada attendance area. “But I like our team (at Poly).”

And who wouldn’t? This season, Cuccia took a team that had 10 sophomores starters and molded it into a league champion. The Parrots (4-7 overall) won the Mid-Valley League title with a 4-3 record.

“They really surprised some people. Everybody picked us for last,” Cuccia said. “They met all of my expectations.”

Cuccia has no plans to apply for the current football coaching vacancy at La Canada, he said, but he is considering all options that would bring him together with his son in a high school next fall. Cuccia also mentioned the recent job opening for a football coach at Monroe, a four-year school.

“You’ve got to do what’s best for your family,” he said.

MARMONTE LEAGUE: Add Family Tradition

Royal soccer player Tim Pederson is carrying on a family tradition. The junior forward is the third brother in his family to earn All-Marmonte League honors for the Highlanders, following Luke (who graduated in 1992) and Andrew (1993). Tim was an all-league selection last season as a sophomore.

“He’s the last one,” Coach Kevin Corley said. “I wish we had more.”

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Andy Silva retired last season after 14 years as the boys’ soccer coach at Simi Valley where he guided the Pioneers to nine league titles and two appearances in the Southern Section 4-A Division final. Now a teacher at Royal, Silva is an assistant for the Royal boys’ soccer team, Simi Valley’s cross-town rival.

The Pioneers’ new coach is Ken Dale, an assistant at Radford (Va.) University last season, and currently an assistant for the Pepperdine women’s team.

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Many people know of Leodes Van Buren--the state’s all-time leading receiver--because of his accomplishments on offense.

Hawthorne found out firsthand in the Southern Section Division III championship game that the Newbury Park senior can hurt you on defense too. Van Buren came through with the Panthers’ biggest two plays of the season on defense.

With Hawthorne leading, 14-0, and driving for a potential score on its first series of the second half, Van Buren, playing free safety, stepped in front of a pass thrown by Cougar quarterback Kenji Tatum and returned it from his 13-yard line to the Hawthorne 48. Five plays later, Van Buren caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from All-American quarterback Keith Smith.

With Newbury Park clinging to a 15-14 lead early in the fourth quarter, Hawthorne drove to the Panther one-yard line.

Van Buren then stuffed the Cougars’ Kalisi Moala on fourth and one and knocked him back to the three-yard line with a fierce tackle. Two plays later, Smith weaved 98 yards for a spectacular game-clinching touchdown in the Panthers’ 22-14 victory.

“That was not a called blitz . . . I free-lanced,” Van Buren said. “I took a chance. I knew it was do or die on that play, but I read it all the way.”

FRONTIER LEAGUE: Second Thoughts

Moorpark boys’ soccer Coach Mike Scanlon announced his retirement midway through last season, then thought better of it when the season ended.

“I sort of caught a lot of people by surprise,” Scanlon said. “I realized I should have told people at the beginning of the year rather than midway through. They needed more of a smooth transition.”

Scanlon said he also was influenced to stay because the Musketeers have most of their players from their 18-2-2 team that was defeated in the third round of the Division V playoffs after goalie Aaron Linder was injured.

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Tom Donahue’s Santa Paula basketball team is off to an impressive start that includes a tournament championship appearance. But Donahue is not happy about it, and he’s not mincing words.

“We just choked,” he said after the Cardinals fell to Santa Ynez, 64-62, in overtime in the Fillmore tournament final last week. “Choke city. No excuses.”

Santa Paula had a 10-point lead at halftime, but that dissolved within the first 50 seconds of the third quarter when the Cardinals missed bad shots and committed turnovers while Santa Ynez scored layups at the other end.

Eight days earlier, Santa Paula was nipped by Ventura, 65-64. Donahue hasn’t recovered from that loss either.

“We had the ball with five seconds to go and we dribbled off our foot,” he said.

Around the Leagues . . .

* When it comes to generating offense, few teams have accomplished a football balancing act. Only 10 of the 63 teams playing 11-man football in the region managed to finish with a 1,000-yard passer and 1,000-yard rusher.

They are, in no particular order: Saugus, with quarterback Greg Marquez (1,134) and running back Chris Johnson (1,398); Kennedy with Dan McMullen (1,481) and Donte Scarbrough (1,280); and St. Genevieve with Alex Muller (1,419) and Omar Gutierrez (1,161).

Also, Taft with Mike Ferguson (1,185) and Jerry Brown (1,761); Paraclete with Robbie Wood (1,180) and Mike Kendrick (1,163); Camarillo with Jay Nirenberg (1,023) and Robbie Smith (1,130) and Crespi with Dave Lins (1,199) and Shaun Williams (1,749).

Also, Antelope Valley with Mike Gleich (1,329) and Jermaine Lewis (1,612); Van Nuys with Chris Byfield (1,147) and Larry Reed (1,000) and Moorpark with Tyler Dritz (1,139) and Bryan Wilkins (1,402). Wilkins, however, rushed for 420 yards at Littlerock before transferring at midseason.

Six of the 10 teams qualified for postseason play. No team from the region had a 1,000-yard quarterback, running back and receiver, though a few didn’t miss by much. Newbury Park’s Keith Smith, who led the state in passing with 4,244 yards, rushed for a team-high 774 yards. The Panthers had a pair of 1,000-yard receivers in Leodes Van Buren and Jason Tucker.

Kennedy, which had a 1,000-yard passer and runner, came even closer--senior Shaun Dudra and 844 receiving yards.

What’s it all mean? Depends on whom you talk to. Newbury Park won the Southern Section Division III championship and Kennedy failed to earn a City 4-A playoff berth.

Only one team from the region rolled up more than 2,000 yards in the air and on the ground. Taft, which finished 10-2 and lost in the City 4-A quarterfinals, passed for 2,072 yards and rushed for 2,411.

* Maury Cauchon, who coached boys’ soccer and baseball and was a football assistant at Littlerock for the past four years, is now at Quartz Hill. He is the co-coach of boys’ soccer and an assistant football coach.

* Mike Harvey had to resign as the Canyon girls’ soccer coach because he is president of the Santa Clarita United girls’ under-19 club team. The new coach is Michele Braceros, who played for Canyon and UC Irvine and coached the junior varsity the past two seasons.

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