Out of His Bed for a Second Chance

Some final notes from the almost-completed football season:

--Cerritos Valley Christian football Coach Mike Wunderley was resting in bed with a touch of pneumonia last Friday when he found out his team was back in the Southern Section football playoffs. The Crusaders had been eliminated in the Division X semifinals after losing to Rosamond, 45-10, on Dec. 1.

But Rosamond was removed from the playoffs after it was discovered that its coaches had altered videotapes of previous games. Assuming an 11th-hour legal challenge launched by Rosamond boosters is turned down, Valley Christian will play Orange Lutheran for the title Saturday night at Orange Coast College.

“Half of the kids had already checked in their gear, and everybody had thrown away their mouthpieces,” said Wunderley, who is in his 23rd year at the school. “But I don’t mind buying some new mouthpieces. This is a second chance for us, and we’ll gladly take it.”

Rosamond is seeking a restraining order in Bakersfield Superior Court to halt the game. A ruling is expected Thursday.

--Southern Section Commissioner Dean Crowley said his office was bombarded with calls on Friday from angry parents of Rosamond football players. Many of the parents believed the Southern Section was punishing kids for mistakes committed by adults.

Crowley said the rules clearly state that game videotape is to be unedited.

The frustrations are understandable, but the parents should be upset with the coaches and not the Southern Section. Rosamond coach Lon Boyett resigned Monday.

--For its 14-10 victory over Loyola in the Southern Section Division I championship game, La Puente Bishop Amat finished the season as The Times’ top-rated team in the Southland. But the Lancers aren’t the best team in California, according to Cal-Hi Sports, which puts out a weekly statewide poll.

That honor goes to Concord De La Salle for the second year in a row. The parochial school, located near Berkeley, finished 13-0 after defeating Pittsburg in the North Coast Section final. De La Salle has won a state-record 52 consecutive games.

--The De La Salle-Pittsburg title game was held at the Oakland Coliseum on Dec. 4. After Pittsburg lost, 35-14, many of its players took out their frustrations in the locker room by stealing 26 Raider nameplates off lockers.

Two days later, 17 players were suspended from school because of the incident. Coliseum officials haven’t said whether they will allow Pittsburg to play there again.

--For the third year in a row, Channel 13 televised the Southern Section Division I final. And once again, the response was favorable. The game finished with a 3.7 rating and 7 share, which was ahead of most of the other programming.

-- Brothers Tom and Tim Salter accomplished a rare feat last weekend when they coached teams to divisional titles.

Tom is the coach at Bishop Amat, and Tim at Upland. Upland defeated Rancho Cucamonga, 33-13, in the Southern Section Division VI final. The Salters’ father, Dick, was a longtime coach at Arcadia and led the school to the finals in 1977 and ’78.

--The Times will present the Glenn Davis Award Sunday to the top player in the Southland. The finalists are Chris Claiborne, a running back and linebacker for Riverside North, and Ralph Brown II, a running back and defensive back for Bishop Amat.