Glendora Feels the Pressure, Lets Off Steam

Coach Gary Day and his Glendora High football team reached a boiling point Friday night.

One of the most frustrating weeks in the school’s athletic history was capped by a controversial finish to a game against Claremont, in which raging emotions among fans, players and coaches hit a peak.

“I didn’t sleep much this weekend,” Day acknowledged Monday. “So much is going through my mind.”

Glendora had forfeited five victories for using an ineligible player, so it seemed fitting that the Tartans would go out and narrowly lose a pivotal league game against Claremont after a questionable call.

With Claremont leading, 35-28, at Citrus College, Glendora marched down the field with a minute to play. Quarterback Jonathan Smith appeared to have put his team in a position to win when he connected with Mathis Ward on a 26-yard pass with four seconds remaining. The line judge signaled a touchdown, but a second official ruled that Ward had caught the ball on the one-yard line then fumbled it away. So, he called a touchback and awarded the ball to Claremont.

After a short meeting, the officials denied the touchdown and awarded possession to Claremont, which ran out the clock. The Glendora coaching staff argued the call to no avail, and angry players had to be restrained. One Glendora player was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Angry fans also got into the act, shouting profanities at the officials, who tried to run for cover.

The Southern Section had not received any reports on the incident as of Monday. And Glendora officials were not offering any apologies.

“If there had been no intangibles involved, I might say our actions were a little out of line,” said Mike LeDuc, Glendora’s athletic director. “But considering all that happened last week, I think the whole thing is understandable.”

The problems started last Tuesday when Glendora administrators told the Southern Section that it would forfeit five victories for using an ineligible player. The unidentified player is a sophomore starter who did not meet the minimum age participation requirement of 15 during the first six weeks of the season.

The Tartans went from 5-2 and a Division VI contender to 0-7 in minutes. The loss to Claremont assured Glendora of missing the playoffs for the first time in six years.

“I don’t think my football team was out of control,” said Day, who is in his first season at the school. “A week of frustration and anger just hit a point. What happened is unfortunate but somewhat understandable.”

Said Claremont Coach Dave Hoover, “That’s a tough week on a team. I can certainly feel for them.”

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Kevin Feterik, the quarterback of the moment in the Southland, said he is too busy resting these days to enjoy much of his newfound success.

The junior has led Los Alamitos to dramatic comeback victories the last two weeks and the Griffins’ unbeaten streak has reached 43 games. Late touchdowns against Huntington Beach Edison on Oct. 20 and Anaheim Esperanza last Thursday indicate that Feterik is quickly mastering the two-minute drill.

Against Esperanza, he moved the offense 83 yards in 48 seconds, capped by a 30-yard touchdown pass to Stan Guyness, as the Griffins escaped with a 35-32 victory. He finished the game with 22 completions in 34 attempts for 364 yards and three touchdowns as Los Alamitos improved to 8-0.

“These last couple of games have really been emotionally draining,” Feterik said. “I’ve been spending my weekends lying on the couch and watching football. I’m trying to give my body a rest. There’s no extra time for partying or celebrating.”

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An unusual number of ties in football this season has escalated the debate over whether there should be overtime periods. CIF rules do not require teams to settle ties, so the matter is left up to each league. Most leagues do not use overtime.

Littlerock, a new school in the high desert, has tied three of its eight games. Coach Jim Bauer is not upset about the team’s record, however.

“A tiebreaker is emotionally very hard on the kids,” he said. “A tie can often be a moral victory, and it’s better than losing after a hard-fought game.”

Corona Centennial Coach Steve Silberman, whose team is coming off a 23-20 overtime loss to Norco Friday, disagrees.

“It’s better to decide the outcome of a game on the field,” he said. “I don’t know anyone in football who likes ties.”

City Section teams only play overtime if the final game of the regular season ends in a tie, but a proposal was recently submitted to broaden that rule to all regular-season games.

The City and Southern Section do not have tiebreakers for championship games, and there are no immediate plans to change that policy.

Prep Notes

Carson was leading Gardena, 7-6, in the second quarter of a City Section game at Gardena on Friday night went the power went out. Because the problem was not immediately rectified, the game will be resumed from the point it was stopped at 2:15 p.m. today. . . . Bloomington continues to be the scoring machine of the Southland. The Bruins defeated Yucaipa on Friday, 60-14. It was the sixth time they have scored 60 points or more this season. With 512 points in eight games, Bloomington should easily break the state’s regular-season scoring record of 564 set last year by Redding Foothill. . . . Huntington Beach Ocean View ended the state’s longest losing streak at 36 games with its 20-12 victory over Santa Ana on Friday.

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