PREP FOOTBALL ’95 / SANTA FE LEAGUE : SOUTHERN SECTION

FACTS AND FIGURES: Half of the league’s teams have new head coaches: Bill Conner at St. Genevieve, Chris Griego at Salesian, Antoine Raby at Pius X and Kevin Pearson at Cathedral. . . . Bell-Jeff has large holes to fill, including one at quarterback. Three first-team all-league players graduated from a defense that last year ranked 10th in the region among Southern Section teams. . . . St. Genevieve hopes that Conner’s newly installed offense, the Delaware wing T, will revitalize a running game that gained only 351 yards last season. . . . Running back Rick Estrada, who last year scored seven touchdowns, should be the main man in the Valiant offense. . . . Vince Pisano is back at quarterback for the Valiants, but his touchdown-to-interception ratio from last year (four to 13) needs to improve before the passing attack can do much damage. . . . La Salle should be the most-improved team in the league with game-breaking threat Rafael Lazcano at tailback. . . . Murphy has a league-high nine starters returning. Nobles’ defensive back Francis St. Paul can shut down the best receivers in the league. . . . Cathedral has all-leaguers Edwin Alvarez at linebacker and Chris Castaneda at center, but lost 13 players due to disciplinary problems. . . . Pius X had 10 players transfer out. This is the last year of football for Pius, which becomes an all-girls school in 1996-97. . . .Salesian added 6-foot-3, 225-pound linebacker Joe Hall from Pius X to shore up its defense. . . . Prior to its league championship season in 1994, Mary Star had won just once in two years. The Stars lost eight starters on defense, but All-Southern Section linebacker Phil Trutanich is back.

LAST YEAR: Mary Star defeated Murphy, 24-14, in the final league game to capture the title. . . . Cathedral defeated Mary Star in its second league game, but couldn’t capitalize, managing victories only against the league’s weakest teams, Pius X and St. Genevieve. . . . Mary Star, Murphy and Bell-Jeff all lost in the first round of the playoffs.

KEY RETURNERS: Bell-Jeff: Ryan Ortiz, lineman. La Salle: Rafael Lazcano, running back. Murphy: Francis St. Paul, wide receiver. Cathedral: Edwin Alvarez, linebacker. Mary Star: Phil Trutanich, linebacker.

OUTLOOK: Murphy is the front-runner. It has the talent to win and a system the players are familiar with. . . . Salesian’s new coach, new players and revamped passing attack make the Mustangs a legitimate contender. . . . Mary Star may find the competition a little tougher as it tries to repeat. The Stars should, however, make the playoffs. . . . La Salle will field an experienced team, but must rely on a one-dimensional offense. . . . Bell-Jeff has too many question marks for it to repeat as a playoff team, but good coaching makes the Guards the best of the bottom-half teams. . . . Cathedral’s returning all-leaguers and new attitude should keep the Phantoms out of the league basement. . . . St. Genevieve has too many injuries and not enough size or speed to move up in the standings. . . . Pius X just doesn’t have enough players to choose from. The few good athletes it has can’t prevent another cellar-dwelling year for the Warriors.

1994 IN REVIEW*--*

League Overall School W L T W L T Mary Star 6 1 0 11 2 0 Murphy 6 1 0 6 5 0 Bell-Jeff 5 2 0 6 5 0 Salesian 4 3 0 4 6 0 Cathedral 3 4 0 5 5 0 La Salle 3 4 0 4 6 0 St. Genevieve 1 6 0 1 9 0 Pius X 0 7 0 0 10 0

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