Cleveland to Play Football Under the Sun

Cleveland High is switching most of its home football games to daytime in an attempt to save money, Cavalier Coach Joe Santellano said.

“A lot of things add up, the extra security, the extra hours for school personnel,” said Santellano, who agreed to a one-year experiment with the day games.

The season opener against Eagle Rock and the final against San Fernando are scheduled for 7 p.m. The other games will start at 2:15 or 3 p.m.

Holiday observance: In an unusual starting time and date, St. Bonaventure High’s football team will play at Harvard-Westlake at 3 p.m. on Oct. 9.

The Wolverines, whose field does not have lights, will not play on Oct. 10 in observance of Yom Kippur, a Jewish holiday in which participants fast from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.

Seraph Coach Jon Mack has no objection to the Thursday kickoff, but had a plan in the works should the game have been played on the afternoon of Oct. 10.

“We would have thrown on every down and burned all our timeouts in the first quarter,” Mack said, jokingly. “Anything to extend the game until sundown.”

Not seeing the light: For the past few years, the Taft High football field has earned a reputation for having one of the poorest lighting systems in the region.

Don’t expect any improvement soon.

“They tried testing [the lights] the other day,” Taft quarterback K.C. Bounds said. “One side didn’t even work.”

Anyone got a helmet?: The United Parcel Service strike may be over, but football equipment and uniform orders are still backed up.

The situation has left Littlerock players scratching their heads, a task made easier since the Lobos have yet to receive their helmets.

“This UPS strike is killing us,” Lobo coach Jim Bauer said Tuesday. “We haven’t issued any gear because we don’t have our helmets.”

Things aren’t much better at Golden League rival Palmdale.

“We don’t have any footballs,” said Coach Jeff Williams, whose team has been working out with four used footballs from last season.