SIDELINES : Fenwick Boasts a Portfolio of Blue-Chip Assistants at Valley

Valley College football Coach Jim Fenwick can hold his own when recruiting players, and he is no slouch when it comes to hiring assistants, either.

This year’s Monarch staff includes several veteran coaches, some with professional and major college experience, and a younger one with impressive credentials as a player.

The linebackers coach, for instance, is former NFL star Don Shinnick. He played 13 seasons with the Baltimore Colts and holds the NFL record for interceptions for a linebacker with 37.

Defensive coordinator John Rosenberg is a former head coach at Brown, was an assistant to Joe Paterno at Penn State for eight seasons and was the backfield coach for the Philadelphia Stars of the defunct USFL.

Former Glendale College assistant Merle Stone helps with the defensive linemen, who are coached primarily by former USC offensive lineman Mike Scarpace.

Other Monarch assistants who played Division I football are offensive coordinator Gary Barlow (Pacific and Barcelona Dragons of the World League of American Football), secondary coach Doran Cates (Oregon State), and receivers and tight ends coach Rob Phenicie (Nebraska).

And then there is quarterbacks coach George Malauulu, the former All-American at Arizona who played in two bowl games with the Wildcats.

Quite a cast, indeed.

Flip side: Hart High’s football team is 12-0 on the field and 0-2 in coin flips.

The Indians are seeded first in the Southern Section Division II playoffs, but because they can’t win a flip will play their second consecutive playoff road game, traveling to Quartz Hill on Saturday.

Unlike the City Section, the Southern Section does not award higher seeded teams home-field advantage in the playoffs. Because Hart and Quartz Hill played on the road last week, a coin flip decided which school would be the home team in the semifinals.

Quartz Hill won the toss, extending Hart’s coin-flip losing streak to six over a four-year span.

Rick Herrington, Hart’s defensive coordinator, said friends have gone so far as to suggest that section officials must be fudging on the flips. “There’s no cheating,” Herrington said. “It’s just the breaks. If you’re going to win, you’ve got to win on the road.”

In the other semifinal, Antelope Valley will play Peninsula at home. If Antelope Valley and Hart win, Hart would be deemed host of the championship game.

And if Peninsula and Hart win? Another coin toss.

Measuring up: Size might be a problem for the North Hollywood High girls’ basketball team this season.

The Huskies, who have won eight Mid-Valley League titles in nine years, will have three 5-foot-4 players and two 5-9 forwards in the starting lineup.

“All the height is on our drill team,” Coach Rich Allen said. “They’re the only team on campus we don’t want to scrimmage.”

Quotebook

Crescenta Valley High basketball Coach John Goffredo, asked which teams were rated ahead of his ninth-ranked Falcons in the Cal-Hi Sports state poll:

“Eight teams that recruit.”

Trivia Question

UCLA, Alabama Birmingham, Cincinnati, New Mexico, Pepperdine, California and Washington State all opponents of the Cal State Northridge men’s basketball team this season--have something else in common. What is it?

Stats

Ventura College’s undefeated men’s basketball team has scored more than 100 points in five of its six victories through Wednesday. The freshman-laden Pirates are averaging 111.3 points and have limited opponents to an average of 68 points. That’s an average margin of victory of 43.3.

Honors

Senior linebacker Nate Coyle of Buena High was selected football defensive player of the year in the Channel League by vote of league coaches. Dos Pueblos quarterback J.T. Stone was offensive player of the year.

Trivia Answer

All seven schools lost in the first round of last season’s NCAA tournament.

Compiled by Mike Hiserman. Contributing: Dave Desmond, Fernando Dominguez, Jeff Fletcher and Dana Haddad.