West L.A. Put Valley in a State of Alert

A few random thoughts bouncing around the cranial walls . . .

That gust of wind you felt late Saturday afternoon was a collective sigh of relief from the Valley College football coaches and players after the Monarchs escaped with a 35-34 victory over traditional patsy West L.A.

The Monarchs still are ranked fourth in the state but they obviously need to improve if they expect to knock off No. 2 Bakersfield in a rare Friday night game Sept. 27 at Memorial Stadium.

Valley dumped the Renegades on the same field last year, 33-30, and the Bakersfield faithful surely don’t take kindly to losing. They’ll be ready, for sure . . .

Some junior college water polo coaches might want to blame it on the bossa nova, but Ventura’s Larry Baratte can’t find fault with his Brazilian imports.

For the fourth consecutive season, Baratte has top-notch Brazilians playing for the Pirates (6-3-1), ranked fourth in the state.

This year they are sophomore Paulo Teixeira, whom Baratte calls the finest goalie in the state, and freshmen Nure Saad and Rodrigo Fernandes. All are from Sao Paulo and all have played on the Brazilian national team . . .

Word is that people have avoided Cal State Northridge wide receiver Drew Hill after the Matadors’ 56-31 nonconference victory over UC Davis on Saturday.

Out of superstition, Hill claims not to change socks or shirts when the team is on a winning streak.

Yo, Drew, try eating chicken every day or something like that . . .

Hill’s habit is one of a peculiar few by Matador players.

Jesse Rafanan, a senior tight end, gets psyched up for games by reading the Bible. Teammate Ryan Mitulski, a freshman offensive lineman, tries to accomplish the same results by slamming his head into a locker.

Aspirin salesmen love the guy . . .

Antelope Valley’s 43-6 loss to Palomar on Saturday didn’t do much to sweeten the Marauders’ golden football anniversary.

The Marauders played their first game in 1940 under Coach George Bishop, beating Ventura, 7-0.

World War II then broke out and new Coach Ward Myers canceled every season from 1941 through 1947 for “lack of material.” . . .

There are a whole lot of “eights” coming up for the Northridge-Portland State women’s volleyball match tonight at Portland and they don’t bode well for the Matadors.

Such as: Northridge is 0-8 this season; Portland State is 8-3. Portland State holds an 8-3 series edge against the Matadors.

Hopefully, for Northridge, under third-year Coach Lian Lu, eight is enough . . .

You can bet Glendale football coaches don’t want to see opponents cross the Vaquero Mendoza Line.

Mario Mendoza, a freshman from Crescenta Valley High, is a backup safety for Glendale . . .

Will Moorpark’s trio of 300-plus-pound offensive linemen be invited to the traditional team barbecues after shutouts?

Only if they agree to BYOB--Bring Your Own Beef.

Then again, who has the nerve to tell tackles Donovan Roy (6 feet 6, 315 pounds) and John Raymond (6-8, 320) and guard Guillermo Lopez (6-3, 350) to stay home? . . .

Former Moorpark running back Freddie Bradley, who this year made the San Diego Chargers as a longshot out of Sonoma State, still holds national junior college career records in scoring with 318 points, touchdowns with 52 and rushing touchdowns with 48.

Bradley played at Moorpark in 1989 and 1990 . . .

Speaking of records, Jim Harper’s 60-yard field goal for Valley in a 30-20 victory over Harbor on Oct. 8, 1988, remains a state junior college mark.

Harper shares the record with Henry Castellanos of El Camino, who connected against Bakersfield on Oct. 23, 1982. Harper played at Hart High and Colorado.