For Starters, They’ll Be Watching McKeon : Football: Hart High junior is following quarterbacks who have earned Section honors for nine consecutive years.

Hart High football fans can get a preview glimpse of their new quarterback today when Steve McKeon, a 5-foot-7, 150-pound junior, makes his varsity debut in a seven-man passing league game at the Watts Summer Games.

The game may not mean a lot but as the team’s quarterback, McKeon will be under pressure to live up to the school’s ongoing tradition of producing great players at that position.

For nine consecutive years Hart has produced a quarterback who has earned All-Southern Section honors.

McKeon follows Mike Kocicka, who last season ranked third in the area in passing (2,966 yards and 32 touchdowns) and was named to the All-Southern Section team. He will play at UNLV.

McKeon, the Indians’ sophomore quarterback last season, beat out senior Eric Negre for the starting varsity position, replacing Kocicka.

“He’s going to have a different style than Kocicka,” Hart Coach Mike Herrington said. “He’s real quick and he has a good arm, but not a great one.”

At 6-3 and 200 pounds, Kocicka was a dominating force in the pocket and an explosive passer. That won’t be the case with McKeon, Herrington said.

“He is not going to be a pro-style quarterback, but he’s going to win games for us,” Herrington said. “One of the big things about him is that he has great mobility.”

The Indians have a first-round bye in the 48-team tournament and will meet the winner of this morning’s Bell-Chatsworth game at 3 p.m. at Compton College.

Other events in the Watts Summer Games--developed by the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce after the 1965 Watts Riots--are scheduled throughout the Southland, including sites at USC, Inglewood High and Fairfax High. The games are reportedly the nation’s largest high school athletic competition, featuring more than 12,000 athletes from throughout Southern California.

They will compete in 15 sports over two weekends. Basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, water polo and track are some of the main attractions.

Basketball is the biggest event, with 128 boys’ teams and 64 girls’ teams. Boys’ teams include Marmonte League co-champion Agoura, West Valley League champion Cleveland, Canyon, the Foothill League’s second-place team, and Buena, the Channel League runner-up.

Area girls’ teams include Kennedy, Notre Dame, Taft and Crescenta Valley.

This weekend’s boys’ games will be played at Dorsey and Inglewood highs, and the girls will play at Crenshaw and Locke.

Chatsworth, Granada Hills, Kennedy and Burroughs join Hart as football representatives from the region.

The 32-team baseball tournament features three area teams, including Mission League champion Notre Dame. The Knights reached the semifinals of the Southern Section Division I playoffs and finished with a 21-6 record.

Notre Dame will play Tustin today at 1 p.m. at Bell High. Kennedy (17-11), the North Valley League’s second-place team, will meet Etiwanda today at Compton College at 3 p.m. Grant (12-12) will play Brea-Olinda at 3 p.m. at West L.A. College.

Sylmar, Kennedy and Canyon are the only area softball teams competing.

Sylmar lost in the semifinals of the City 4-A championships and Canyon lost in the semifinals of the Southern Section Division II playoffs.

Birmingham will participate in track and Crespi is entered in water polo.

Physically challenged athletes will participate in the games for the third consecutive year. They will be integrated with the rest of the athletes and will compete in the same events.