Wish Comes True, Unfortunately

Brent Newcomb, Antelope Valley High’s football coach, didn’t know his handwritten note would be writing on the wall.

Newcomb sent a letter to Jason Thomas, the USC-bound quarterback at Compton Dominguez, wishing him a speedy recovery after the All-American broke an ankle against the Antelopes in an Oct. 3 game won by Dominguez, 28-10.

“I told him to get better, that I wanted to play him again,” Newcomb said.

Newcomb’s wish is coming true.

His Antelopes (7-3) host No. 2-seeded Dominguez (10-1) Friday night in a Division II quarterfinal, and Thomas is expected to be in the lineup after playing sparingly in a 21-0 victory over North Torrance last week, his first appearance in seven weeks.

The game Friday will mark the fourth time in two seasons and the fifth time in three years that the teams have met. Three of the four games were played at Antelope Valley but Dominguez holds a 3-1 lead in the series.

“It’s gotten to a point where we just get in our bus, put it on automatic pilot and it drives itself to Antelope Valley,” said Willie Donerson, a Dominguez assistant.

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Fistful of dollars: At 25 cents per infraction, Sylmar High Coach Jeff Engilman has collected fists full of coins from players who use foul language or forget to wear all of their protective gear to practice.

But he’s having a tough time holding on to it.

After the Spartans’ 51-8 rout of Canoga Park on Friday night, Sylmar players crowded into the coaching office to use the school phone to secure rides home.

Engilman fished out the team’s kitty, handed each player a quarter and ordered them to use a pay phone.

Apparently, one quarter was not enough for one player, who asked Engilman if he could have more.

“You can only make one call,” Engilman barked, “just like at the county jail.”

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Knight-mare II: It will take a long time for L.A. Baptist High to get over its 51-45 loss to Riverside Banning in the Division XI playoffs last Friday night at Alemany.

“I don’t think we left [Alemany] until after 12:30 [a.m.],” said Tim Curlee, L.A. Baptist’s defensive coordinator. “We were just sitting there in disbelief.”

It was the second consecutive season that the Knights entered the playoffs as the No. 1-seeded team, only to lose in the first round.

Many of the team’s key players suffered the same fate last year, losing to Serrano by a point. Curlee said it took about three months to get over that loss, but the loss to Banning hit harder because the majority of the L.A. Baptist players are seniors.

“This was the worst team for this to happen to,” Curlee said. “All they talked about since last year was this game. The one thing we said was that we needed to win this game to erase that bad memory.”

Unfortunately for the Knights, it was replaced by a worse one.

“It was gruesome,” Curlee said. “Guys were crying and hugging harder than I’ve ever seen. I don’t ever want to be in that situation again. I’m sort of dreading the banquet because of this.”

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Seraphs in shock: St. Bonaventure High is still in shock.

The top-seeded Seraphs, who lost to Calabasas, 30-14, in the first round of the playoffs last Saturday, envisioned another run at a Division X title.

Instead, they were run over by Calabasas, which was seeded No. 16 because of losses during a rash of injuries. The Coyotes (7-4) were fully recovered for the game against St. Bonaventure (9-2).

“We thought we’d be playing for four more weeks,” said Jon Mack, St. Bonaventure’s coach. “I think if we played anybody else in the first round, we’d be playing for at least another week. When they’re healthy, they can beat anybody in the division.”

The St. Bonaventure players aren’t taking the loss well.

“Many of them are absent [from school],” Mack said Monday. “You don’t recover from something like this that quickly.”

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Frontier honors: Moorpark High quarterback Chad Willis was selected Frontier League offensive player of the year. Moorpark linebacker David Oviedo and Nordhoff defensive end Mike Sedlak shared the award for the top player on defense.

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Round Two

A look at this week’s football playoff games involving area teams:

CITY SECTION

Quarterfinals

Wednesday, 7 p.m.

4-A Division

* Palisades at Taft

* Franklin at Sylmar

3-A Division

* Chatsworth at Garfield

* Monroe vs. El Camino Real (at Canoga Park High)

SOUTHERN SECTION

Quarterfinals

Friday, 7:30 p.m

Division II

* Hart at Palmdale

* Dominguez at Antelope Valley

Division III

* Notre Dame at Oxnard

* Westlake at Righetti

Division IX

* Beverly Hills at La Canada

Division X

* Moorpark at St. Bernard

Division XII

* Flintridge Prep at Arrowhead Christian

Saturday, 7:30 p.m.

Division X

* Calabasas vs. St. Monica (at St. Bernard High)

Saturday, 1 p.m.

Division XI:

* Paraclete vs. Big Bear (at Big Bear Middle School)

8-MAN CHAMPIONSHIP

Saturday, 1 p.m.

Large Division

* Santa Maria Valley Christian at Lancaster Bethel Christian