Orange County Schools Seek Stronger Voice

Orange County officials appear to have lost the battle to form their own CIF section, but the two-year struggle will probably result in some major restructuring of the Southern Section.

Although the final vote on possible formation of the Orange County Section will be taken at the CIF State Federated Council meeting Friday in Riverside, the movement has little support and is not expected to pass.

That means Orange County’s 75 high schools will remain part of the Southern Section, the largest of 10 such sections in the state.

One of the major reasons that Orange County school district superintendents support the proposal is their belief that their area has not received equal say in Southern Section matters. Dean Crowley, the section’s commissioner, agrees and is planning legislation to remedy the situation.

Crowley said he hopes to change council voting so that leagues with bigger schools receive more votes. Currently, the section’s 73 leagues each receive one vote.

“It doesn’t make sense that a league with eight large high schools has the same say as a league with four small high schools,” Crowley said. “The voting should be weighted accordingly.”

Crowley said he has also formed a committee that will review dividing the section into regions for playoff groupings for team sports. That would help cut down on extra travel costs, one of Orange County’s biggest concerns.

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Crowley and Barbara Fiege, City Section commissioner, have each been on the job for a year and the reviews are favorable.

Each stepped into a difficult situation. Crowley took over for Stan Thomas, who was forced to resign for allegedly abusing his expense account. Fiege replaced Hal Harkness, who resigned after seven tumultuous years.

Crowley, 60, inherited an unbalanced budget. He had to reduce his office staff by 25% without cutting services. The section is now operating within budget and is slowly getting back to normal.

Fiege, 42, has reorganized the City Section by forming playoff advisory committees for every sport and cracking down on rule violations.

“It’s disheartening to find so many rules violations out there and the difficulty trying to enforce them,” she said. “But I do not intend to stop, even though it’s so time consuming.”

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Give the player-of-the-week award to Charles Chatman, a two-way player at Costa Mesa.

With starting tailback Dewayne Crenshaw sidelined because of a twisted ankle, Chatman, who splits time with Crenshaw, picked up the slack by rushing for 415 yards in 43 carries and three touchdowns in a 28-7 victory over Aliso Niguel last Friday night. He also intercepted a pass in the fourth quarter.

Chatman, a 5-foot-10, 170-pound senior, nearly broke the Orange County single-game rushing record of 418 yards set by Jim Gleed of Dana Hills in 1979. He has 1,578 yards and 21 touchdowns this season.

Costa Mesa Coach Myron Miller might have wanted to give his star player a little rest, but injuries have left the team with 23 players.

“The coach wanted to find out if I was man enough to carry the ball 30 to 40 times and if I was in shape to play both ways,” Chatman said.

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Los Alamitos’ unbeaten streak of 41 games nearly was ended by Huntington Beach Edison last Thursday. In a Sunset League showdown at Orange Coast College, Edison appeared headed toward victory after taking a 12-7 lead with 38 seconds to play.

But the Griffins stormed back. Quarterback Kevin Feterik quickly directed the offense downfield, capping the drive with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Tony Hartley with 12 seconds left. Feterik and Hartley then teamed up for a two-point conversion pass, allowing Los Alamitos to escape with a 15-12 victory.

Los Alamitos, which has not lost since Oct. 25, 1991, improved to 7-0.

“I told the kids today that sometimes life isn’t fair,” Edison Coach Dave White said after the game.

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Encino Crespi registered the upset of the week with its 14-13 victory over previously undefeated Santa Fe Springs St. Paul on Friday.

Quarterback David Lins threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to Marcos Solorzano with 12 seconds remaining to tie the score at 13-13. Greg Boskin’s extra point gave the Celts (4-3) the victory.

“We’d run that (winning) play three or four times earlier in the game, but always to the flop side,” said Crespi Coach Tim Lins, who played at St. Paul in the 1970s. He and David Lins are not related.

St. Paul’s record dropped to 6-1.

Prep Notes

Jonas Lewis, a senior running back at Beaumont, rushed for 302 yards and scored 10 touchdowns to lead his team to a 69-24 victory against Hemet West Valley last Friday. Lewis nearly broke the Southern Section record of 11 touchdowns in a game set by Frank Greene of Coronado in 1929. “I just kept throwing up and scoring, throwing up and scoring,” said Lewis, who was bothered by stomach pains all last week. . . . Bob Hughes, football coach at Anaheim Canyon, has been suspended for two weeks for unsportsmanlike conduct during his team’s 21-17 victory over Santa Ana Valley on Oct. 14. Hughes walked onto the field and picked up a loose ball in the final seconds, apparently believing time had run out. In announcing the suspension, Century League officials said Hughes’ action had interfered with the outcome of the game but declined to overturn it.

Times’ Top 20 Football Poll

The Times’ top 20 high school football poll, with teams from the City and Southern Sections.

School Sect. Div. Rec. LW 1. Bishop Amat SS I 7-0 1 2. Los Alamitos SS I 7-0 2 3. Mater Dei SS I 7-0 3 4. Hart SS II 7-0 6 5. Sylmar City 4-A 7-0 8 6. St. Paul SS I 6-1 5 7. Loyola SS I 5-1 7 8. Westlake SS III 6-1 9 9. Canyon Springs SS IV 6-1 10 10. Ayala SS III 7-0 11 11. LB Poly SS I 6-1 4 12. Esperanza SS I 5-2 12 13. Edison SS I 5-2 13 14. Muir SS II 5-2 15 15. Bloomington SS VIII 7-0 16 16. Alhambra SS III 7-0 17 17. Peninsula SS II 6-1 NR 18. LB Jordan SS I 5-2 NR 19. Arcadia SS II 6-1 14 20. Newport Harbor SS V 7-0 NR