Sports

MR. EVERYTHING

Fred Montiel of Montebello High was selected the Almont League back of the year last season in leading the Oilers to a share of the league title.

Montiel, a two-way starter at quarterback and outside linebacker, is making a strong bid for the league’s most valuable player award this season.

The 6-foot-1, 180-pound senior has completed 47 of 91 passes for 786 yards and nine touchdowns. He has also rushed for 294 yards in 46 carries, an average of more than six yards a carry, and five touchdowns.

On defense, he leads the team with 61 tackles and three interceptions. Wait, there’s more. Montiel is also the team’s punter, averaging 33.5 yards a kick.

“His forte is defense,” Coach Doug Rihn said. “You hate to have your quarterback playing defense but that’s where we need him. If we’re two touchdowns or more ahead we try to take him out as soon as we can. His numbers would probably be higher if he played more.”

Montebello (7-1) won its sixth game in a row last week, defeating San Gabriel, 35-7. The Oilers can improve to 4-0 in Almont League play with a victory over Bell Gardens Friday night at home.

RONNIE ON THE SPOT

South Gate escaped with a 14-13 victory over Bell when Ronnie Landazuri broke up a two-point conversion pass with 44 seconds to play in a Southeastern Conference game at Bell.

Landazuri’s heroics ruined a Bell drive that had begun at its 18-yard line with 1 minute, 50 seconds left, culminating with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Gus Valenzuela to Freddy Alcala.

Landazuri, who has five interceptions this season, intercepted two passes for the second game in a row. His first-quarter pick-off in the end zone helped preserve a scoreless tie in the first quarter.

“I just had to do my thing,” Landazuri said. “I expected a close game. I thought it would come down to the fourth quarter and whoever scored the most points.”

South Gate (7-1), seeking its first conference title since 1989, improved to 6-0 in conference play despite being held scoreless in the first half for the first time this season. South Gate also failed to score twice when it had the ball inside Bell’s 10-yard line.

“That’s a bummer,” South Gate Coach Gary Cordray said. “That show’s a lack of intensity and a desire to win a football game on our part. The players did a good job of readjusting in the second half. Once we got ahead, our defense played pretty well.”

Juan Vasquez, who completed 10 of 20 passes for 203 yards, combined with Eddie Montez on two touchdown passes in the second half. The Rams scored on their first possession of the third quarter on a 21-yard reception by Montez and took a 14-7 lead with 7:55 to play on his 34-yard catch.

Montez had five receptions for 106 yards and Hoffman Cortes rushed for 103 for South Gate, which will play host to Jefferson on Friday night.

“We weren’t clicking, we weren’t doing what we were supposed to do in the first half,” Montez said. “In the second half, all we did was execute. That’s all we did.”

NUMBERS GAME

La Mirada and Long Beach Jordan have outscored their Suburban and Moore League opponents by margins of 126-6 and 164-13, respectively.

La Mirada (8-0) opened Suburban League play with a 47-6 victory over Mayfair, followed by a 35-0 win against Norwalk and a 44-0 rout of Glenn.

The Matadors have averaged 35 points in eight games and scored 42 or more points four times.

Jordan (6-2) registered a 71-7 victory over Millikan in its league opener with a running clock in the second half. The Panthers also defeated Long Beach Poly, 28-0, and beat Compton, 65-6.

DEL REY DERBY

Bishop Amat, the nation’s top-rated team, has been the class of the Del Rey League. The Lancers (8-0), who have lost only one game the past three years, and Crespi (5-3) are tied at 3-0.

Crespi, however, is still not assured of one of the league’s three playoff berths with two regular season games remaining. The Celts visit Bishop Amat Friday and play Loyola in their league finale.

St. John Bosco, boosted by Ryan Williams who rushed for 167 yards and scored three touchdowns, did little to clarify the playoff picture with its 27-15 upset of St. Paul.

St. John Bosco (4-4), St. Paul (6-2) and Loyola (6-2) are tied at 1-2. St. John Bosco plays Loyola Saturday night at Glendale High and finishes with Alemany (1-5-2, 0-3). St. Paul has games remaining against Alemany and Bishop Amat.

RANKINGS

Millikan and Long Beach Poly are first and second, respectively, in the Southern Section Division II girls’ volleyball rankings. La Mirada is fourth in Division IV.

In water polo, Long Beach Wilson is third in Division I. La Serna holds the No. 1 spot in Division III with Bell Gardens and Whittier third and eighth. Cerritos is sixth in Division VI.

COMMUNITY COLLEGES

Long Beach City quarterback Neo Aoga broke his third school record of the season in the Vikings’ 20-13 victory over Cerritos in a Mission Conference Northern Division game Saturday at Cerritos.

Aoga completed 18 of 31 passes for 268 yards to bring his season total to 2,215 yards to break the record of 2,131 set by Dennis Dummit in 1968.

The 6-4 freshman from Long Beach Poly passed for 454 yards and seven touchdowns to break single-game records for passing and touchdowns in the Vikings’ 56-40 victory over Palomar Oct. 22.

Aoga’s totals surpassed the previous mark of 388 set by Chris Baker in 1980 and his seven touchdowns broke Greg Barton’s 30-year-old record of five.

Patrick Norris rushed for 128 yards and a touchdown for the Vikings against Cerritos (5-2, 1-2). Kevin McKenzie had six receptions for 126 yards and a score and defensive back Richard Ashley had two interceptions and eight tackles.

Expect plenty of passing when Long Beach (7-1, 4-0) plays host to El Camino (7-0, 3-0), the state’s No. 2 team featuring state passing leader Steve Sarkisian, in a battle for first place in the Northern Division at 7 Saturday night.

Members of Long Beach’s 1964 national championship team will be recognized during a halftime ceremony and a tailgate party will be held before the game in celebration of the 30th reunion of the team, which defeated Cameron State (Okla.), 28-6, in the Junior Rose Bowl.

*

Germel Ford of Compton intercepted a pass at the goal line with 28 seconds left to preserve a 15-15 tie against Southwest L.A. in a Western State Conference Southern Division game at Southwest.

The sophomore linebacker also had four solo tackles and 10 assists for Compton, which improved to 3-3-1 and 1-1-1.

Tight end Anthony Lock caught a two-point conversion pass from Jimmy Perry to tie the score, 15-15, after Perry had connected with Joe Austin on a 13-yard touchdown pass with 1:19 left.

Perry passed for a season-high 213 yards and rushed for 39 yards. Phillip Jones had two receptions for 92 yards, including a 61-yard touchdown pass for Compton, which plays at Santa Monica (4-3, 1-2) at 7 Saturday night.

*

The Cerritos College volleyball team, the top-ranked team in the state, remained undefeated with a 15-12, 15-1, 15-4 victory over Long Beach in a South Coast Conference match Friday.

Shannon Walker had 14 kills and Yolanda Plascencia added eight kills and seven blocks for Cerritos (15-0, 6-0).

Christi Phillips had 12 kills and Kris Metz had seven for Long Beach (5-6, 2-4).

*

The Long Beach City water polo team defeated top-ranked Golden West, 13-12, to win the South Coast Conference title in a match featuring the state’s top two teams on Friday at Belmont Plaza.

George Hernandez had five goals for Long Beach (19-3, 5-0). Jeff Bostrom scored three times and Jose Reyes added two goals.

The victory avenged a 8-6 loss to the Rustlers in the championship of the Cypress tournament Oct. 22. Golden West is 23-2 and 4-1. Both of Golden West’s losses have come against Long Beach.

*

The Long Beach City College men’s cross-country team placed seventh in the Johnie O Invitational at Moorpark College. Jaime Moreno and Miguel Ramirez both timed 21:05 for the four-mile course to place 10th and 12th.

Katy Donahue of Long Beach was 24th in the women’s race in 21:00 for the 5,000-meter course to lead the Viking women to a nine-place finish.

GOLD RUSH

Season ticket sales for the Cal State Long Beach men’s basketball team’s inaugural season in the Pyramid, the new $22-million campus arena, have nearly tripled last season’s total of 490--the highest figure in more than 20 years.

A total of 1,277 seats have been sold, including the entire inventory of 1,024 “Gold” package preferred season tickets. Standard-season tickets are still available as well as seats in the “Platinum,” and “Silver” sections.

Proceeds from the Pyramid’s preferred seating package will benefit the 49er Athletic Assn. and its efforts to fund scholarships for all Cal State Long Beach athletic programs.

Here’s a look at the seating plans, which do not include the $185 cost for a season ticket.

Platinum: It offers preferred parking and floor-level, chair-back seating with table space and food service. An annual minimum donation of $2,449 to the 49er Athletic Assn. is required for the first seat and $2,000 for each additional seat.

Gold: It offers preferred parking and chair-back seating. An annual donation of $249 is required for the first seat and $200 for each additional seat.

Silver: This level requires an annual donation of $149 and earns access to bleacher seating.

A six-game “Slam Dunk” mini package, priced at $88, is also being offered. It includes games against Detroit, New Mexico State, Nebraska, Nevada Las Vegas, UC Santa Barbara and any other game of choice.

An All-Sports pass is also available for $300. The pass, available to alumni at $250, includes admission to all Long Beach home athletic events, including men’s basketball games.

Long Beach opens the season against Detroit Mercy on Nov. 30. A free sneak preview of the Pyramid is scheduled for Saturday from 1 to 4:30 p.m.. At 5, the 49ers will play High Five in an exhibition in the campus Gold Mine gym.

*

A team that included former Cal State Long Beach basketball guard Trise Jackson reached the final of the Hoop It Up 3-on-3 World Championship in Dallas, where it lost to the ’93 defending champions, 16-9.

Jackson joined Althea Ford (UCLA), Joyce Walker (Louisiana State) and Trisha Stafford (Cal) on the runner-up team. Jackson’s team defeated Jacksonville, 21-20, in overtime to reach the championship.