Saugus Advertised for an Opponent, and Nation’s No. 1 Team Answered : High school football: Centurions open the season tonight against Los Alamitos, which has won 53 of its past 57 games. Still, Bowman says his team is not awed.

When football Coach Jack Bowman discovered last spring that his Saugus High team had an open date for the start of the 1995 season, he posted a notice to Southern Section schools.

Los Alamitos Coach John Barnes answered the call, and Saugus has a game.

Boy, what a game.

Los Alamitos has a record of 53-3-1 in the past four seasons. Until the 1994 Division I playoff semifinal--a 28-24 loss to Mater Dei--the Griffins had played 47 games without a loss, a section record. Losing to Mater Dei didn’t hurt their reputation.

Los Alamitos is ranked No. 1 in the nation in USA Today’s preseason poll.

Perhaps Saugus got more than it bargained for in tonight’s 7 o’clock game at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach. The Centurions last year finished second in the Foothill League and, despite two victories in the Division II playoffs, endured an injury-riddled 6-4-1 season.

“We asked our kids what they would want to do if they had the chance to play a great football team,” Bowman said.

“They said they wanted to play them.”

Bowman is quietly confident that the Centurions can compete with the Griffins. Los Alamitos has three All-Americans: quarterback Kevin Feterik and receivers Stan Guyness and Tony Hartley. Fourteen starters return for Saugus.

Barnes is not taking Saugus lightly. Like Los Alamitos, the Centurions had trouble finding an opponent that wanted to play a big team with lots of experience.

“I think it’s crazy for us to have to play Saugus, we’re both so far from each other,” Barnes said. “But we were at the point where we’d play the San Francisco 49ers just to get a game.

“I know Saugus. They’re big, quick and very physical. I think this is going to be a heck of a tough game for us. The USA Today thing gives people more incentive. I am positive of this: We are not overconfident. We’ve watched Saugus films, so I don’t need to tell them how good Saugus is.”

Feterik completed 67.2% of his passes last season for 2,911 yards and 27 touchdowns with only six interceptions. Guyness caught 40 passes for 747 yards and 11 touchdowns. Hartley had 49 receptions for 967 yards and eight touchdowns in a potent run-and-shoot offense.

But Saugus was stingy on defense, allowing only 79 passing yards per game. The Centurions held Hart’s run-and-shoot offense, which averaged more than 215 yards per game passing, to only 76 in a 20-6 defeat. Saugus’ top two players in the secondary, Colin Butterfield and Brandon Alvarado, are back.

On offense, Saugus is strong up front. The line of center Peter Hilton, guards Kevin Schmitz and Jason Huml, and tackles Justin Cherry and Erich Hodge averages 222 pounds. But that unit must contend with a powerful defensive front that has been bolstered by 6-foot-6, 300-pound tackle Rashawn Davis, a transfer from Spring, Tex.

“He’s incredibly physical; he doesn’t have any fat on him,” Barnes said. “He’s having a hard time breaking into our lineup. But we’d be stupid not to play him.”

Said Bowman: “I don’t think we’re going to blow them out. [But] I wouldn’t be coaching if I thought they were going to blow us out.”