PREP FOOTBALL ’95 : TOP TEN / TEAMS TO WATCH : Some Top Teams Will Bottom Out

Nothing like arguing over the region’s Top 10 football teams with a bunch of sportswriters who have seen only a select dozen or so teams play . . . a year ago.

Add to that the fact that no one could possibly know how well the newcomers will fit in on a team that found success in 1994. And what about those sleepers? Who can predict which teams will overachieve and which will fail miserably despite considerable talent?

Given that, here is The Times’ Top 10 preseason poll along with last year’s final records. If tradition holds, half these teams will drop out within the first five weeks. Incidentally, the top five teams remain the same as the 1994 final poll, although not in the same order.

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1 Antelope Valley (11-2): The defending Southern Section Division II champions lost only to powerhouses Bakersfield (35-13) and Loyola (14-7) in the preseason a year ago. The speedy, scrappy Antelopes embarrassed previously undefeated Hart in the final, 36-15.

Ten starters return for the Antelopes, including their three fastest players----running back Jermaine Lewis, Trymon Redick--who moves from quarterback to receiver--and receiver Tony Walker.

Antelope Valley traditionally gets its toughest competition in the preseason, and this year is no exception. The Antelopes have added Long Beach Poly to a schedule that includes Bakersfield, West Bakersfield and Loyola.

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2 Sylmar (14-0): The Spartans were one of only four undefeated teams in the City and Southern sections last year. City 4-A champion two of the last three seasons, Sylmar has won 39 consecutive Valley Pac-8 Conference games dating to 1989.

The Spartans feature one of the hottest prospects in the nation, senior running back Durell Price, the 1994 Times Valley back of the year who rushed for 29 touchdowns and nearly 2,000 yards. Price, also one of the finest middle linebackers in the region, is one of 10 starters who must quickly set a good example for the newcomers. Taft, one of the toughest City schools in the region, is the Spartans’ first opponent.

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3 Hart (13-1): Had the Indians not been so humbled by Antelope Valley in the Division II final nine months ago, Hart would probably be sitting on top, a spot it owned for about half the ’94 season.

The Indians, who lost to nationally ranked St. Louis of Honolulu last week, 38- 33, have the most impressive returning set of offensive backfield starters in the region. Problem is, they must find running room behind a line full of question marks. Mike Wambolt is the only starter returning on the offensive line.

Ted Iacenda, The Times’ Valley player of the year, last season scored a region-high 41 touchdowns. Senior quarterback Steve McKeon will keep defenses from keying on Iacenda. McKeon, who last season passed for 30 touchdowns and nearly 3,000 yards, will use Iacenda and J.B. Nelson as his main targets in the Indians’ run-and-shoot offense.

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4 Notre Dame (13-1): Only a late interception by Harvard-Westlake in a nonleague game kept Notre Dame from an undefeated season. The Knights defeated Ayala, 27-20, for the Southern Section Division III title.

Notre Dame’s No. 4 ranking might seem a bit high considering graduated kicker Chris Sailer, now at UCLA, accounted for nearly one-third of the Knights’ points. But Notre Dame, which last season averaged only 249 yards a game, has a fine core of starters returning at the ball-handling positions. Most notably, senior quarterback Ryan Bowne, who completed 57% of his passes for 1,577 yards and 13 touchdowns, and senior receiver Troy Garner, who caught 27 passes for 327 yards. Edgar Nava, a 6-foot-2, 280-pound senior, is a blue chip lineman drawing the attention of many recruiters.

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5 Westlake (10-2): The Warriors clearly had all the horses to win the title last season. Trouble is, they didn’t make it past the second round. Diamond Bar, a third-place team from the Sierra League, upset them, 25-16. The Warriors lost 19 starters to graduation. So why is Westlake ranked No. 5?

Answer: seniors Jamal Harris, Steve Aylsworth and Jason Victor. Harris, who last season averaged nearly 10 yards a carry, is a speed demon who will make his presence known at running back and defensive back. Aylsworth moves into the quarterback spot and also returns in the secondary, where last season he made a region-high nine interceptions. Victor, who rushed for 542 yards and eight touchdowns as a reserve running back, steps into the starting lineup at receiver.

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6 Kennedy (6-5): Ten starters return from a Golden Cougar team that finished 6-5 last season and lost to Crenshaw, 30-16, in the first round of the City 4-A playoffs.

Two of three transfers Kennedy picked up were starters for Granada Hills last year. Most notable is senior safety Jason Ascencio, a nice secondary complement to returning starters Waking Bailey, who intercepted eight passes, and Karalus Doyle.

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7 Buena (6-3-2): Senior quarterback Glenn Dudley, who last season passed for 1,329 yards and nine touchdowns, is one of seven returning starters, none of them receivers. So the Bulldogs will likely rely on their running game, which Coach Rick Scott calls “tailback by committee.”

Buena’s offensive line is one of the largest in the league. The average starter is 6 feet 2, 265 pounds.

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8 Crespi (5-6): The Celts play one of the toughest schedules in the region, which should answer questions about last season’s losing record. Crespi lost its final three games of 1994 to Bishop Amat, Loyola and Long Beach Jordan, which finished with a combined record of 29-8.

Most of the Celts’ offensive personnel have graduated, except senior running back Jamian Barbour, who is attracting his share of Division I interest and was a 1,000-yard rusher last season.

Eight defensive starters return.

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9 Quartz Hill (7-4-2): The Rebels are perennially in consistent and last season was no exception. Quartz Hill managed only ties against Littlerock and Saugus, two teams it should have handled. The Rebels finished third in the Golden League, but dominated their first two playoff opponents--Muir (33-9) and Paramount (21-3)--before falling to Hart, 55-23, in the semifinals.

Junior Jeremiah Harris is a returning 1,000-yard rusher who averaged 6.6 yards.

Newbury Park (6-5): The Panthers’ passing attack might not reach the level of 1993, when Keith Smith & Co. set numerous state records en route to a 14-0 season, but it should be productive.

Junior quarterback Chris Czernek passed for 1,383 yards last year after taking over the starting job at midseason. His receivers in the run-and-shoot include speedy Patrick Reddick and Dejuan Hawkins, and solid possession types Ed Patterson, Justin Vint and Brant Diedicker.

Brock Diedicker, Brant’s identical twin, provides balance with a punishing running style--he rushed for 336 yards and nine touchdowns last season. The Diedickers also excel as linebackers.

Newbury Park’s weakness is depth; the roster includes fewer than 30 healthy players.

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Football Top 10

Preseason rankings of Valley-area high schools by sportswriters of The Times:

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Rk Team ’94 Rec 1 Antelope Valley 11-2 2 Sylmar 14-0 3 Hart 13-1 4 Notre Dame 13-1 5 Westlake 10-2 6 Kennedy 6-5 7 Buena 6-3-2 8 Crespi 5-6 9 Quartz Hill 7-4-2 10 Newbury Park 6-5

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