Francola Will Dress Up for Showdown With Taft

In Kennedy High’s football opener at Quartz Hill on Sept. 13, the Golden Cougars faced unexpected cold temperatures in the 50s and gusty 30-mile-an-hour winds. So unexpected were the conditions, Kennedy Coach Bob Francola chartered an air conditioned bus and wore nothing more than shorts and a T-shirt.

Quarterback Calvin Zinck completed just six of 16 passes for 135 yards, and the Golden Cougars lost, 26-19.

So when the winds flared up and temperatures dropped last week, Francola altered his game plan against El Camino Real.

With Zinck limited--he completed six of 13 for 78 yards--the Kennedy rushing attack (176 yards and two touchdowns in 32 carries) took over in a 17-3 victory.

“Yeah, I learned about passing in the wind from [the Quartz Hill] game,” Francola said in a cold wind and slight drizzle after the El Camino Real game. “But I’m still wearing shorts.”

Francola said he will don long pants for the first time this season Friday night when his team plays Taft.

*

The next generation: Who’s going to replace running back Donavan Calhoun? Who will step up and help Valencia (5-2, 1-1 in league) stay in contention in the Foothill League now that the player who rushed for 100 yards in 13 consecutive games suffered a season-ending shoulder injury?

How about Manuel White, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound freshman? Could he be the next Calhoun?

White has rushed for more than 1,500 yards and 19 touchdowns in seven games for the freshman team.

“He has a lot of potential,” Coach Brian Stiman said. “The problem is he’s never played a varsity football game and our offense is a lot more complicated. We are not going to put the burden on him. He just has to be himself.”

*

Grin and bear it: Quartz Hill Hill senior Kenya Corley, a basketball forward, has orally committed to California.

Corley averaged 15.1 points and 9.7 rebounds for Antelope Valley last year before transferring to Quartz Hill at the start of this school year.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Football Top 10

Rankings of Valley-area high schools by sportswriters of The Times:

*--*

RK LW TEAM (LEAGUE) REC. 1 1 Taft (Northwest Valley 7-0 2 3 Antelope Valley (Golden) 5-1 3 4 Thousand Oaks (Marmonte) 6-0-1 4 6 Hart (Foothill) 5-2 5 7 Notre Dame (Mission) 6-1 6 8 Newbury Park (Marmonte) 6-1 7 2 Oxnard (Channel) 5-0-2 8 9 Palmdale (Golden) 6-1 9 NR Rio Mesa (Channel) 6-1 10 NR Sylmar (Valley) 5-2

*--*