Bottom’s Up for Fab Five

They are bottom feeders, healthy and happy but far removed from the light of day.

Five unbeaten football teams, each 4-0 and getting along swimmingly. Yet they prosper well below the big fish, the area teams typically ranked one through 10.

It’s time to peer into the deep with 20-20 vision, as in 20 games played, 20 victories:

Rio Mesa, Calabasas, Nordhoff, Valencia, Monroe.

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With tailback Donavan Calhoun gaining great gobs of yardage, Valencia has defeated the same four teams that last season put the Vikings in an 0-4 hole.

Amazing what a difference seniors make.

Valencia, a third-year school, went 2-8 last season with all underclassmen in its first year of varsity competition. Coach Brian Stiman, protege of Harry Welch during Canyon’s glory years in the 1980s, has quickly built a solid program.

“We are making progress as a program every week, that’s all I’m concerned with,” Stiman said.

Calhoun, the lone running back in the Vikings’ four-receiver set, rushed for 1,411 yards last season, and already has 594 yards this year.

“He’s only about 80% because of a hyperextended knee, but he’s always been one of the best backs in the area,” Stiman said.

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These Vikings don’t need seniors. The entire Monroe offense is made up of juniors, including running back Vinny Walker, who has back-to-back 200-yard rushing efforts and has 747 yards this season.

And although junior is their class, it’s a strange word to describe the following linemen: tackles Pedro Lomeli (6 feet 6, 352 pounds) and Jose Gurolla (6-1, 320), and guards Eric Beltran (6-0, 285) and Gerardo Barajas (6-4, 318).

Center Rocco Cuccia, at 5-11, 250, is the only lineman less than enormous, and he’s the son of Coach Fred Cuccia.

“Those kids on the line have stepped up greatly,” Fred Cuccia said. “They’ve all played well.”

With victories over Hoover, L.A. Wilson, Eagle Rock and Canoga Park, Monroe still has the most challenging portion of its schedule ahead.

“We play North Hollywood next week, that should tell us a lot,” Cuccia said.

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Best known as the team that gave up 619 rushing yards to Hueneme’s Ronney Jenkins in last season’s finale, Rio Mesa has given the bum’s rush to its first four opponents for the first time since 1976.

“These kids weren’t even born then,” Coach George Contreras said.

The Spartans have outscored their opponents, 168-46, after scoring 183 points all last season. They allowed 351 points a year ago, but defense has keyed the resurgence.

Safety Scott Fujita, tackle Richard Almanza and cornerback Jeff Edwards have stood out, but the stars are aligned differently than before.

“We changed from an eight-man front to a 4-3 because so many of our opponents run one-back offenses,” said Contreras, who along with his staff spent a week at Colorado State learning the defense from Coach Sonny Lubick.

Contreras, who set the alarm on his watch to go off every day at 6:19 p.m. during the off-season, fully appreciates the victories.

“We have a group of unselfish kids and great team chemistry,” he said. “But we know that humility is 619 yards away.”

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Cliff Farrar has had outstanding seasons in his 10 years at Nordhoff, but never before have the Rangers opened 4-0. Victories over Santa Ynez and St. Bonaventure, the closest Nordhoff has to traditional rivals, have been especially gratifying.

“Santa Ynez played a very emotional game, then to turn around and beat St. Bonaventure, which is sort of our cross-town rival, that shows me this team can win big games,” Farrar said.

The Rangers will have to do it again this week: They play unbeaten Bishop Diego. And at the risk of getting too far ahead, the Frontier League showdown with Calabasas looms down the road.

Farrar’s best player is his son, Russell, a running back/linebacker/kicker who has rushed for 407 yards and is the team’s leading tackler. As good as Nordhoff has played, however, Farrar is realistic about how his team stacks up against large schools.

“The population of your school dictates how many good athletes you’ll have,” he said. “About one out of every 100 will be a very good athlete. So at a small school like ours (Nordhoff has 1,100 students), if we lose somebody to an injury, we can’t replace him with a good athlete.”

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Lack of depth is all that keeps Calabasas from competing nose-to-nose with large schools, assistant Wayne Quigley believes.

“I think we could play with Marmonte League schools, but they have quality substitutes and our guys would run out of gas,” he said. “We have more players going two ways.”

Certainly tailback Robby Coppola, who has rushed for 698 yards in 60 carries, would be welcome at any school. A junior, he bulked up from 170 pounds to 190 during the off-season.

Alas, he also must play linebacker, leaving him winded at times.

Playing mistake-free football has helped the Coyotes go 4-0 for the first time since 1985. Quarterback Scott Quigley, Wayne’s son, has thrown 10 touchdown passes and no interceptions.

As for cracking the Top 10?

“As coaches, we are hoping that sometime in our lives we might,” Quigley said.