JUNIOR COLLEGE FOOTBALL : TEAM PREVIEWS

ANTELOPE VALLEY

Outlook: If a manpower surplus can translate into efficiency on the field, the Marauders should be much better than last season. Coach Brent Carder has more than 70 players available, a formidable total for a program that generally goes to battle with far fewer numbers. Carder hopes there’s enough talent to reverse last season’s 3-7 record. “We obviously have a lot of improving to do,” Carder said. “But I don’t have any reason to feel negative about anything. We have a fine group of players.” Particularly on defense, where the strength is at inside linebacker led by returner Wilbert Reed and newcomers Keith Schiele, Brian Pereira and Amedeo Viola. “They’ve all been impressive in our preseason practices,” Carder said. “We seem to have pretty good quickness on both sides of the ball.” Two freshmen, Shawn Sharp from Cheyenne High in Las Vegas and Chris Molloy from Mojave High, are competing at quarterback.

Facts and Figures: Carder is in his 26th season with the Marauders. His 144-108-5 record ranks him among the winningest active junior college coaches in the country. . . . Last season, the Marauders missed playing in a bowl game for the first time since 1989. They have played in nine bowl games under Carder, 14 altogether. . . . This is the 20th anniversary of Antelope Valley’s last state championship. The Marauders won state titles in 1974 and 1975.

Last year: Michael Gleich passed for 1,441 yards, the fourth-best single-season output by a quarterback in Marauder history. . . . Three players each had kickoff returns of 40 or more yards: Garland Ingraham (66 yards), Troy Searcy (58) and Roosevelt Miller (43). . . . Reed led the team in tackles with 87.

GLENDALE

Outlook: Traditionally, the Vaqueros have built teams around big, skilled linemen. But without proven players up front, Coach John Cicuto will need time to develop his freshmen. “They are going to be green at the beginning,” The defensive line has a few sophomores who were part-time starters last season, but only center Mark Miller returns on the offensive line. Glendale has two outstanding sophomore linebackers in Neal Sowter and Victor Huezo. Jey Register, who was sidelined because of a knee injury last season, provides plenty of speed at cornerback. The running attack features Steve Brenes (116 yards in 27 carries at Valley last year) and Ramone Archie, a freshman from Belmont High. Perhaps the biggest question mark is at quarterback. Sophomore Eddie Michel (22 of 55 for 342 yards) is bouncing back from a broken leg. The other two prospects are freshmen--Greg Marquez from Sylmar High and Aryn Hart from Alhambra High.

Facts and Figures: The Vaqueros were 5-5 last year, their second consecutive marginal season. Glendale was 4-5-1 in 1993. . . . Until last season, even-numbered years since 1982 had been favorable to the Vaqueros. They were a combined 51-14 in those years, including 10-1 in 1986 and 10-2 in 1988. . . . For the fourth consecutive season, Glendale opens with a nonconference game against Citrus.

Last year: Glendale won its 300th game with a 38-6 victory over Ventura on Oct. 22. The school started playing football in 1928. . . . In his sixth season with the Vaqueros, Cicuto (36-24-2) became the second winningest coach in school history behind Jim Sartoris, who was 111-63-1 from 1972-88. Sartoris is now the Glendale athletic director and quarterbacks coach. . . . Ilan Zilberman (1,000 yards in 176 carries) became the 10th Glendale player to reach the 1,000-yard plateau.

MOORPARK

Outlook: Tough defense has been the traditional Raider strong suit, but Coach Jim Bittner is concerned about it this season. The Raiders were second in the conference in defense in ‘94, allowing 280.7 yards per game, but lost the entire defensive line to graduation. “They are all new people,” Bittner said. “Defense is a very big part of what we do, so we’ll do everything to shore that up.” They’ll have to, especially after losing freshman outside linebacker Brian Oberreuter and sophomore cornerback Walter Thomas to injuries last week in a scrimmage against El Camino. The offense also took a major blow in the scrimmage when sophomore quarterback Jeremie Watkins, a backup last year, suffered torn knee ligaments and could be out for the season. Freshman Taj Lewis (Oxnard High) becomes the starter with freshman Tom Racius (Chaminade High) next in line. That might force the Raiders to emphasize the run. They have two talented ballcarriers returning from injury-shortened seasons: tailback Gary Clemons, who rushed for 521 yards before suffering a broken ankle, and fullback Kris Kirksey, who was sidelined early because of a broken toe.

Facts and Figures: Moorpark should like the WSC South Division. In the past nine seasons, the Raiders are 32-3 against current South teams. Two of those defeats came against Valley and one against L.A. Southwest. . . . Fifteen players on last season’s team signed to play at four-year schools. . . . There’s a different theme for every Raider home game this season. It will be City of Moorpark Night on Saturday when the Raiders play host to Ventura.

Last year: The Raiders made their seventh consecutive bowl appearance. . . . They finished 8-3, their seventh consecutive season with at least eight victories. . . . Bittner won his 100th game with the Raiders in a 45-21 victory over Hancock on Nov. 5. . . . Punter Robert Ralston led the WSC with a 42.5-yard average. He is a J.C. Grid-Wire preseason All-American pick.

PIERCE

Outlook: This might be the Brahmas’ year. Coach Bill Norton, in his fifth season at Pierce, has his best team since the squad that went 7-3-1 in 1991 but was forced to forfeit five victories for using an ineligible player. For starters, he has perhaps the best quarterback in the WSC in David Muir and a large corps of receivers, including sophomores Reggie James and Darryl Pittman. Muir is backed by Brad Norris, the former Quartz Hill standout who was a redshirt at Nevada Las Vegas last season. The two should give Norton peace of mind--if one can’t run Pierce’s spread-out offense effectively, the other most likely will.

Facts and Figures: The Brahmas are adding black pants to their wardrobe this season to go with red home jerseys and white road jerseys. They wore red or white pants in past seasons. . . . Muir could threaten several WSC career passing marks of Jarrod DeGeorgia, who played at Santa Barbara in 1993-94. DeGeorgia was 483 of 803 for 5,876 yards with 48 touchdowns, all records. Muir was 239 of 421 for 2,923 yards and 27 touchdowns.

Last year: Muir passed for a school single-game record 541 yards in a 57-51 loss to Glendale in the season finale. . . . Receiver Jabri Hodge, now at Oregon, caught 15 passes for 276 yards against Glendale, but Rodney Williams led the team with 659 yards receiving for the season. Williams caught a touchdown pass for Arizona last week in a 41-9 rout of Pacific.

VALLEY

Outlook: Since Jim Fenwick took over at Valley in 1991, the Monarchs have improved every year, particularly the past two. The Monarchs were 10-1 last season and 9-2 in 1993, giving Fenwick reason for optimism. “We’ve got some momentum from last year,” he said. “But we have to create our identity for this year and not live off last year.” Valley parlayed a high-powered pass-oriented offense into two stellar seasons, but most of the key players from those teams have graduated. Quarterback Jim Arellanes and receiver Brian Comer, who teamed to set several school passing and receiving records, are gone. Quarterback Aaron Flowers, a redshirt sophomore transfer from Utah State, will start Saturday against West L.A. His backups are Zack Hernandez from L.A. Baptist High who transferred to Valley after one season at Cal Lutheran; freshman Ryan Connors, who set state passing records at Hart, and David Lins, the former Crespi standout. The defense will be anchored by sophomore inside linebackers Troy Tuck and Robby Proffer, and safety Chris Shinnick.

Facts and Figures: This is the sixth consecutive year the Monarchs have a different starting quarterback. . . . Valley scored 392 points last year, their second-best output in a single season. The 1987 team scored 410. . . . Valley hasn’t been shut out since a 14-0 loss to West L.A. in 1990, a stretch of 44 consecutive games. . . . Valley is ranked 17th in the nation by the J.C. Grid-Wire.

Last year: The Monarchs capped their best season in many years with a 36-28 victory over Rancho Santiago in the Orange County Bowl. It was their second consecutive bowl victory. . . . Arellanes, now at Fresno State, passed for a state single-game record 639 yards against Bakersfield in a WSC game. He set several school career passing records, including yards passing with 3,909, pass completions with 246 and total offense with 3,735 yards. . . . Comer, now at California, became Valley’s top career receiver with 139 receptions, 2,656 yards and 26 touchdowns.

VENTURA

Outlook: Third-year Coach George Rosales believes the Pirates are headed in the right direction after several disastrous seasons. Two years ago, Ventura was 0-10 and looking for a rock to crawl under. The Pirates finished 4-6 last season but still were 0-5 in WSC North Division games, a dubious showing Rosales is eager to correct. The Pirates will showcase a run-and-shoot offense led by receivers Greg Johnson and Archie Jackson, an All-WSC pick. Sophomore quarterback Jason Brown (673 yards passing, seven touchdowns) is being pushed by Erick Negri, a freshman from Hart High. The defense has solid personnel, including All-State nose guard Shawn Popken, sophomore linebackers Dwayne Hurst and Eric Terrell, and sophomore cornerbacks Noah Walsh (returning from a broken hand) and Jimmy Lyon.

Facts and Figures: Ventura doesn’t have any nonconference games on its schedule. The Pirates open Saturday with county rival Moorpark in a WSC interdivisional game. . . . Ventura’s last winning season was 1989. The Pirates were 7-4.

Last year: The Pirates won their first three games before hitting the skids. They lost three of their five North Division games by a combined 11 points. . . . Ventura scored six times as many points as the previous season: 226 to 36.