Fabricius Will Be Quite a Catch If a Head Coaching Job Comes to Pass

High schools needing a football coach lend an ear. The Newbury Park High passing attack that has logged more than 15,000 yards and several Southern Section and state records the past five seasons can be yours.

Gary Fabricius, the offensive coordinator since 1989 and Panther assistant since 1981, is ready and willing to take over his own program. And he already has plenty of experience as a head coach, having headed the Newbury Park baseball program for nine years until resigning after the ’95 season to focus on football.

Fabricius applied for football openings at Agoura and Thousand Oaks the past two seasons, but both schools hired assistants from within their programs.

“I do want to be a head coach, but this year, deep down I was thinking, ‘I like where I’m at,’ ” Fabricius said. “If something comes up, that’s great, but I am happy anyway.”

No wonder. If no head coaching job is offered, he’ll again be calling the plays for Panther quarterback Chris Czernek, who passed for 4,362 yards and 45 touchdowns this season as a junior.

UCLA-bound: Lately, there has been more animosity than usual between the football programs at Burbank and Burroughs highs, but Dan Cotti is someone who has benefited at least partly from the rivalry.

Cotti, 6 feet 6 and 280 pounds, recently completed two stellar seasons at offensive tackle for Valley College and has committed to play at UCLA next season.

This is where the connection between the two high schools comes in. Cotti played at Burbank and was recruited to Westwood by Bruin assistant Gary Bernardi, who coached Burroughs in 1993 and noticed Cotti.

The chance to play for the Bruins, Cotti said, is a dream come true.

“I’ve always been a UCLA fan,” he said. “It’s great for my family. I play for my family. Now they can go to the Rose Bowl and watch me play.”

Home and away: No one was happier than Tom McCollum to see a game at UC Santa Barbara on the Cal State Northridge basketball schedule.

McCollum, a Northridge assistant, lives in Santa Barbara, making a 180-mile round trip each day. McCollum, who bought a house in the area when he was an assistant at UC Santa Barbara in the mid-1980s, has made the commute for six years, putting 55,000 miles a year on his car.

“It’s a beautiful drive,” he said, “if it’s not dark when you make it.”

But it usually is. McCollum wakes up at 3:30 a.m. so he can get to Northridge by 6, an hour before his first class. The earliest he gets home during the season is 8 p.m. He’s asleep by 9:30.

Northridge’s other full-time assistant, Mike Johnson, is still amazed by McCollum.

“I live a mile away,” he said, “and I don’t get here that early.”

Costly prank: The Canyon High girls’ soccer team continued its traditional “kidnapping” prank last month--with one casualty.

For the past five seasons the team has initiated its first-year members by plucking them from their beds at 5 a.m., dressing them up in silly outfits and taking them to brunch. The rookies, caked in make-up and wearing signs, must go through classes dressed that way.

Last month, the team tore its targets from their beds, blindfolded them and piled them into a sport utility vehicle. But disaster struck when senior victim Joyce Williamson tripped over the vehicle’s bumper while climbing out of the back and broke three toes.

“We said, ‘Look out, it’s a big step down,’ and she just jumped,” Coach Michele Braceros said. “We felt awful but she took it well.”

Despite the injury, Braceros said, the prank--which inspires some rookies to go to bed fully clothed or to wake up at 4 a.m.--is likely to continue next season.

“It brings the team closer together and it’s something we can laugh about through the season,” Braceros said. “We call the parents to let them know we’re coming and lots of them bring out the video cameras. Everyone gets a laugh out of it and there are no hard feelings.”

Quotebook

“I don’t ever want to go back to Utah again, unless I’m playing professionally and playing against the Jazz, then that would be OK.”

--Cal State Northridge forward Damion Morbley, whose team lost twice in the Brigham Young tournament.

Contributing: Fernando Dominguez, Jeff Fletcher, Steve Henson, Tris Wykes.