Sports

KEEPING THE PEACE

Like every teacher and administrator at Leuzinger High, football Coach Fred Boehm returned to work this week concerned about racial tensions in the wake of Friday’s fight between Latinos and African Americans at the Lawndale school.

Leuzinger’s 42-player team includes 21 African Americans and 13 Latinos. A division along racial lines could prove disastrous for a team rated among the best in the South Bay.

But Boehm was proud to report that his players, for the most part, stayed out of Friday afternoon’s fight, which broke out only a few hours before the football team boarded buses for a night game at Duarte High.

“Our kids did a super job of trying to maintain order,” Boehm said. “All of our kids were wearing their jerseys, so they were very (conspicuous). Our squad sort of stuck together and made sure that none of their teammates got wrapped up in (the fighting).

“We got the players in the weight room and off campus as soon as we could. It took quite a while to clear the campus.”

Boehm said the incident took its toll on the Olympians, who played poorly in a 20-20 tie with Duarte. It also didn’t help that five starters were held out of the game for various reasons, none directly related to the fight.

“We all know (the fight) had an effect, but I don’t want to elaborate on that,” Boehm said. “We have to overcome this type of adversity and maintain our focus. I try not to get negative about this. I can understand how emotions get very high.”

The fight, which students say involved hundreds, was touched off by last week’s shooting death of a former Leuzinger student, a Latino, by African American youths near Lloyde Continuation High School in Lawndale. Both the shooting and the fight involved gang members.

“We’re all a part of it,” Boehm said. “Just because we’re Leuzinger High School doesn’t mean we can change society for two or three hours every day. We’re just part of society. . . .If you work here, you have to deal with the environment down here. That’s the way it is.

“It would be a lot tougher if we didn’t have so many good kids to work with.”

GOING HOME

For 28 seasons, he was the embodiment of Carson High football, leading the Colts to a 235-66-1 record and eight City Section titles.

This week, however, Gene Vollnogle becomes the enemy.

Vollnogle, who coached Carson from the time the school opened in 1963 until his retirement from teaching after the 1990 season, will be on the opposing sideline when the Colts meet Los Alamitos in an intrasectional game Friday night at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach.

Vollnogle is a varsity assistant and the junior varsity coach at Los Alamitos, located near his home.

“He’s bringing the JV team down to Carson on Friday,” said Carson Athletic Director Saul Pacheco, who talked to Vollnogle on Monday. “He’s looking forward to it.”

Carson’s struggling varsity team might have a hard time beating its old coach. The Colts have been outscored, 77-13, in losses to Bishop Amat and San Diego Morse. Los Alamitos is 2-0, ranked No. 2 in the Southland by The Times and has the state’s longest current unbeaten streak (36-0-1).

GOING HOME, PART 2

An Orange County native son will take his football team into hostile territory when Hawthorne meets highly regarded Mater Dei (2-0) at Santa Ana Bowl on Friday night.

Hawthorne Coach Dan Robbins attended Mission Viejo High, where he competed on the football and wrestling teams.

“It’s L.A. versus Orange County,” Robbins said of the matchup. “I’m excited. We don’t get much chance to play teams down there.”

Hawthorne’s last game against an Orange County school was an exciting one. Los Alamitos beat the Cougars, 20-14, in overtime in the 1991 Southern Section Division III quarterfinals in Robbins’ first season as coach.

Robbins expects a similar struggle against Mater Dei, ranked third in the Southland by The Times. He compares the Monarchs to another Catholic school, Loyola, which beat Hawthorne in the 1992 and ’93 season openers.

“(Mater Dei) is just amazingly disciplined,” Robbins said. “In their first two games, according to the films, they only had two penalties. We’ve got our work cut out for us.”

ALL IN THE FAMILY

Robbins is happy with the progress of junior quarterback Siteina Latu, who, in his second varsity start, passed for 128 yards and three touchdowns Friday in Hawthorne’s 22-9 victory over Culver City.

“He has developed every week,” Robbins said. “I was pleased with the way he ran the team against San Pedro (a 25-14 victory Sept. 9), and I was pleased with the way he threw the ball against Culver City.”

Siteina is the third Latu brother to play quarterback for Robbins. Kalvein called signals when Robbins was Hawthorne’s freshman coach, and Joseph played quarterback when Robbins was the sophomore coach. Both older brothers went on to play free safety for the varsity team.

“Siteina’s the third and the last (brother),” Robbins said. “He’s the most talented at the quarterback spot.”

STAR WARS

With a 2-0 start, Mary Star’s football team has already equaled last season’s victory total, when the team was 2-8, and is close to matching its victory total in the three previous seasons combined.

The Stars were 3-26 from 1991-93, a dismal stretch in which Dino Andrie was an assistant under Mike Marinkovich. Now the coach, Andrie says Mary Star is capable of reaching the playoffs for the first time since 1990, the year it won the Santa Fe League title. The Stars return to the Santa Fe League this season after two years in the Camino Real League.

Andrie, who played on winning Mary Star teams under Joe Radisich in the late 1970s, says the program is slowly regrouping.

“We’re on our way back,” he said. “It takes time. In the last couple of the years, we lost a lot of close, heartbreaker football games. I think we needed to get over the hump. Our seniors went through some growing pains. Now they’ve matured. The experience is showing.”

Depth remains a problem at Mary Star--the varsity has only 21 players--but there’s no shortage of talent. In Saturday’s 27-7 victory over Narbonne, Iggy Galaz returned the opening kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown and tailback Danny Pulu rushed for 174 yards and two TDs.

“Narbonne has 1,800 kids and we have 270,” Andrie said. “I think that makes (Saturday’s victory) even more of an accomplishment.”

UNDER CONTROL

Morningside, coming off an 0-9 season, has started the 1993 season 2-0 with victories over Inglewood and Santa Monica.

So, the Monarchs must be jumping for joy, right? Well, not exactly.

“In terms of morale, even when we were 0-9, it wasn’t that bad,” Coach Ron Tatum said. “It’s pretty much the same now. We put things in perspective last year. We came out and set a goal to improve every week. I think we did that. From there, we just ended it and started a whole new chapter.

“I think we still have things in perspective. We’ve played two (nonleague) games. Leuzinger will be the third.”

In other words, don’t get too down or too excited. Tatum, though, has been pleased with his team’s play. Standouts have included running back-linebacker Donechio Long, running back Peter Suggs, linebacker Darnell Ned and defensive linemen Anthony Jenson.

The Monarchs have also gotten a big boost from sophomore Rashaad Reed, who plays quarterback and free safety. A talented athlete, Reed reminds some of Stais Boseman, arguably the best athlete in school history.

NOTABLE

Former Torrance High standout Kim Blankinship, a sophomore outside hitter for Loyola Marymount, was named the West Coast Conference women’s volleyball player of the week. Blankinship had 33 kills, 24 digs and a .362 attack percentage last week as the Lions (4-4) lost to San Diego State and beat Colorado State in the LMU-Red Lion Hotel Conference Challenge. Loyola travels to South Bend, Ind., this weekend to compete in the Notre Dame Golden Dome Invitational, facing the host school on Friday and Rice on Saturday. . . .

Celeste Adams of Loyola Marymount was named Soccer America’s national goalie of the week for her performance in a 1-0 victory over ninth-ranked Santa Clara on Sept. 11. Adams, a freshman from Bishop Montgomery, had five saves in the shutout, which was the biggest victory for the Loyola women’s team in two years of existence. Adams also was named West Coast Conference defensive player of the week. . . .

Richard Gallien of Manhattan Beach has been hired as an assistant men’s tennis coach at Pepperdine. Gallien was an All-American player for the Waves in the early 1980s, and coached at Pepperdine from 1985-90 before serving as the head professional at the L.A. Tennis Club. . . .

Among those inducted into the Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame on Sept. 4 were Matt Gage and Sharkie Zartman of Hermosa Beach, Kirk Kilgour and Nina Matthies of Manhattan Beach, and Miki McFadden of El Segundo. . . .

The South Bay Stingers placed second in the junior division (18 and under) at the North American Roller Hockey Championships on Aug. 27-29 in St. Louis. The Stingers, California champions, lost in the final to Berlin, N.J., 7-1, despite outshooting their opponents, 32-14. Stingers’ forward J.J. Van Niel was named tournament most valuable player.

SIGN-UPS

Jim Harrick of UCLA, George Raveling of USC, Rollie Massimino of Nevada Las Vegas and John Olive of Loyola Marymount are among the basketball coaches expected to participate in a boys’ coaches clinic Oct. 8-9 at South Torrance High. Pre-registration is $50 for the first coach and $10 for each additional coach from the same school. Information: Harold Jones at (310) 676-5818 or (213) 565-3844. . . .

Registration for the American Roundball Corp. (ARC) Instructional Youth Basketball League is scheduled for noon Saturday at South Torrance High. Boys and girls in third through eighth grades are eligible. The league, which begins in October, will be conducted by current and former prep coaches. Information: (818) 995-3761 or (818) 891-3988. . . .

Registration is under way for the Southern California Roadrunners cross-country team, which began the season Monday. Boys and girls from age 8 to eighth grade are eligible to participate. Practices are held at Palos Verdes Intermediate. Information: Barry Sacks (310) 514-2030.