Hart Lineman Can’t Cast Spell

Injured Hart High offensive lineman Nathan Rasmussen believed he put a hex on Hart’s previous two playoff opponents by writing “Go Hart, beat. . .” on the cast used for his broken right foot.

No such hex was available Friday night against Peninsula.

Rasmussen, who checked off each opponent and wrote the final score of the game after Hart defeated Torrance and Palmdale in the first two rounds, had his cast removed Wednesday.

“We still had time to write Peninsula on there before I had it taken off,” Rasmussen said.

Think again: It never hurts to be prepared. Unless, of course, you guess wrong.

Paraclete, figuring it had a football team capable of advancing deep into the Southern Section Division XI playoffs, moved the game times in the final round today of its girls’ basketball tournament to allow school supporters to attend the tournament and a possible football semifinal game.

The Spirits never considered the section would schedule their playoff game against Yucca Valley for Friday.

“We thought for sure they would have us playing on a Saturday,” said Margaret Neill, Paraclete’s athletic director.

Sideshow: John Wilson, a Ventura County Sheriff’s Dept. deputy, was one of 12 law-enforcement officers patrolling the Carpinteria-Moorpark game Friday night.

But on Thursday he performed a different role during the Musketeers’ practice.

Wilson, who played at Moorpark College in 1982 and 1983, fielded kickoffs and zipped passes back and forth with some of the players.

He was in full Sheriff’s attire, badge and utility belt included.

“This is great, just being in the football atmosphere again,” said Wilson, a nine-year member of the force.

Moorpark Coach Ron Wilford, who watched the display, shrugged and explained it all with four words:

“Must be Carp Week,” he said.

Historical perspective: Here’s what has happened since Carpinteria High began its 51-game winning streak over Moorpark:

* 1935 (Victory No. 1)--Franklin Delano Roosevelt is in his second year of first term as U.S. president.

* 1949 (Victory No. 10)--U.S. troops are withdrawn from Korea . . . William Faulkner wins Nobel Prize for literature.

* 1960 (Victory No. 20)--Vice president Richard M. Nixon and Sen. John F. Kennedy square off on Sept. 26 in the first of a series of televised presidential campaign debates.

* 1970 (Victory No. 30)--Four students are killed by National Guardsmen at Kent State during an anti-Vietnam War demonstration . . . Jim Plunkett, Stanford quarterback, wins the Heisman Trophy.

* 1980 (Victory No. 40)--The United States leads boycott of Moscow Olympics . . . Ronald Reagan is elected 40th U.S. president . . . John Lennon is shot to death in New York.

* 1990 (Victory No. 50)--Mikhail Gorbachev is awarded Nobel Peace Prize.

Surprise, surprise: What was supposed to be the shortest road trip of Chatsworth High’s playoff run turned out to be the longest.

The Chancellors, whose previous playoff games were at South Gate and Garfield, expected an easier trip to Gardena High on Friday night for their City Section 3-A Division semifinal against Carson. Because of the weather and traffic problems, however, Chatsworth arrived at 6:40 p.m., only 20 minutes before kickoff.

The Chancellors finished warming up on the sidelines as the Carson band played the national anthem.