Alemany, Crespi Face Uphill Road

The Alemany High football team is starting over. Crespi might as well be. And both figure to remain near the bottom of the Del Rey League barrel when the 1997 season ends.

Jim Bonds, an offensive-minded coach, is in his first year at Alemany and inherits a team that last season scored less than half the points it gave up.

Despite that statistic and the fact that his team plays in one of Southern California’s toughest leagues, Bonds is not lacking in enthusiasm.

“I think a winning season is realistic, but only if we play our butts off and get really lucky in league [play],” he said.

At Crespi, Tim Lins begins his ninth campaign, but after going winless in league play last season and with only three returning offensive starters, the Celts face an uphill battle.

“We have a lot of question marks and a lot of inexperience,” Lins said. “What are our new people going to do in the heat of battle? But in 1990, we had a team like this and went 8-2 with some players who surprised us. We need that this year.”

Traditional league powers Loyola and Bishop Amat are No. 3 and No. 4 in the Southern Section Division I preseason rankings and figure to tussle for Del Rey supremacy again this year. St. John Bosco, ranked No. 7, could challenge for the title and St. Paul returns seven starters on offense and hopes to battle for third place.

Loyola last year ended Bishop Amat’s 11-year hold on the league title with a 5-0 record and moved on to make its fourth Southern Section championship game appearance in the 1990s.

Seniors Wesley Willard and Stephen Faulk return as starting running backs and defensive backs for the Cubs, and offensive tackle William Barondess, 6 feet 3 and 276 pounds, is a standout. Only three defensive starters return but two of them are standout senior linebackers Sloane Joseph and Derrigan Sheedy.

Inexperienced Bishop Amat is led by junior receiver-defensive back Dennis Wyrick, an all-league selection last season. The Lancers could start as many as nine underclassmen on defense and six on offense.

St. John Bosco returns leading rusher Eric Ayers, leading receiver Jamal Montgomery and six other offensive starters, but has only three returnees on defense.

Despite the competition, Crespi’s Lins insists his team has high expectations.

“We’re shooting to win the league,” Lins said. “We struggled last season but we feel a lot of games could have easily gone the other way.”

Lins has a point. Thirteen of them, in fact. That’s the combined total by which the Celts (3-7 overall, 0-5 in league play) lost to Bishop Amat, Alemany and Mission League teams Notre Dame and St. Paul.

Unfortunately, Crespi returns only three offensive starters: senior linemen Roger Mendez (6-2, 270) and Eric Nelson (6-0, 210), and senior running back Howard Johnson.

Senior quarterback Kevin Cork, who saw no action last season, is this year’s starter. He possesses good speed and throws well.

Long known for its power rushing attack, the Celts have switched to a multiple-back attack that features Johnson and juniors Blake Tibbetts and Joel Garcia.

Defensively, the Celts may start as many as nine juniors but Lins says he is relying on the “character of our seniors” to pull the unit through.

At Alemany, Bonds plans to live up to his penchant for wide-open offensive schemes while being sure to utilize the talents of senior tailback Miguel Fletcher, who has committed to USC.

Casey Clausen (6-3, 184), a sophomore transfer from La Canada, is the likely starter at quarterback and the top receivers are Colin Hayashi, John Walker and Chris Mayte. The three seniors also are defensive backs.

Bonds plans to frequently deploy a four-receiver formation with freshman standout Deandre Scott at slotback. However, giving Clausen enough protection to run the scheme is a concern.

“Our weakness is on the line,” Bonds said. “Some of our big guys haven’t played football in a while and could turn out to be big pillows.

“We’ll try to do some quick passing and trapping and spring people into the secondary,” he added.

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AT A GLANCE

* THE PROVEN: Alemany senior running back Miguel Fletcher rushed for 1,239 yards and eight touchdowns last year. Returning wide receivers Chris Mayte and John Walker combined for only 17 catches. Crespi’s top returnees are senior linemen Roger Mendez (6-2, 270) and Eric Nelson (6-0, 210). Joe Lack returns as a starting linebacker and Howard Johnson as a running back. Both are seniors. Loyola returns running backs-defensive backs Wesley Willard and Stephen Faulk, who each rushed for more than 1,000 yards in 1996. Cub linebackers Sloane Joseph and Derrigan Sheedy are two of the region’s best. Wide receiver-defensive back Dennis Wyrick is the standout at Bishop Amat. At St. John Bosco, Eric Ayers rushed for 993 yards and Jamal Montgomery caught 23 passes last season. St. Paul features senior quarterback Chris Willis and wide receiver-defensive back Marcell Allmond.

* THE PROMISING: Alemany sophomore quarterback Casey Clausen transferred from La Canada with junior two-way lineman Chad Dyslin. Both are likely impact players. Freshman Deandre Scott will see considerable time at slotback. Crespi senior quarterback Kevin Cork has not played a down in varsity. Junior running backs Blake Tibbetts and Joel Garcia will see playing time. Junior quarterback Chris Peterson and sophomore running back-defensive back Taylor Williams bear watching at Loyola.

* FAST FACT: Loyola last season broke Bishop Amat’s 11-year hold on the league title.

* 1996 STANDINGS: 1. Loyola, 5-0 (conference), 12-2 (overall); 2. St. John Bosco, 4-1, 9-1-1; 3. Bishop Amat, 3-2, 8-3; 4. St. Paul, 2-3, 6-4; 5. Alemany, 1-4, 1-9; 6. Crespi, 0-5, 3-7.