Taft Pins Its Hopes on Retooled Line

Fourteen weeks ago, Taft High opened its season with a 41-13 loss to Banning.

“We played a team that flat out took [us] behind the woodshed,” Coach Troy Starr said.

Taft’s offensive line took the blunt of criticism. There was no protection for quarterback Brandon Hance. Several times, as soon as Hance handed off, a Banning defender was in the backfield.

“We were absolutely in shambles,” Starr said.

Changes were made, and the improvement in Taft’s line is a major reason the Toreadors are playing Banning at 8 p.m. Friday in the City Championship game at the Coliseum.

Chris Garlington has moved from center to guard. Tackle Sean Hubbard didn’t play against Banning, and it was the first varsity game for tackle Fransisco Magdaleno and guard Marvin Herrera.

Garlington, the veteran of the line, is playing in his third City final at the Coliseum.

“It’s like a second home for us,” he said.

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Reseda is playing Chatsworth in the City Division championship game at 5 p.m. Friday at the Coliseum because of its four senior linebackers--Raul Cardona, Joseph Looney, Bun Kaing and Skyler McKnight.

“Those four have a lot to do with our success,” Coach Joel Schaeffer of Reseda said. “They have speed and all four are good hitters.”

Cardona, Looney and Kaing have started since they were sophomores.

Reseda has won eight of nine games after starting 1-3.

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Youth is being served in the Paraclete backfield.

Freshman Curtis Brown and sophomore Michael Washington alternate at tailback and lead the Spirits in rushing. They’ll play big roles Saturday night against Kilpatrick in the Southern Section Division XII championship game at Antelope Valley College.

Brown, 14, was projected to play on the junior varsity team until Coach Steve Hagerty noticed the freshman was outperforming older running backs in preseason practice.

“I was unhappy with the effort of our [veteran] running backs,” Hagerty said. “I told them, ‘If you’re not going to work, we’re going to start this freshman.’ ”

Brown, 5 feet 10 and 150 pounds, started in the opener and has rushed for 1,027 yards and 11 touchdowns, averaging 6.1 yards per carry.

“He’s a real poised, mature kid,” Hagerty said. “It’s not his talent, it’s more his confidence. He’s a different type of freshman.”

Washington, who also plays wide receiver and defensive back, ranks second on the team in rushing with 575 yards, averaging 9.1 yards per carry.

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Hagerty, in his seventh season at Paraclete, is accustomed to working with talented running backs.

Before coming to Paraclete, he was the running backs coach for six years at Bishop Amat, his alma mater. He helped develop Eric Bienemy, who played for Colorado and is with the Cincinnati Bengals, and three backs who played for USC--Rodney Sermons, Mazio Royster and Scott Fields.

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Coach Sid Ware of Kilpatrick is somewhat anxious about the weather conditions Saturday for the Division XII final in Lancaster.

Ware said he placed calls to friends in the Antelope Valley twice in recent nights.

“They told me [it was] 16 degrees one night and 17 the next,” he said.

Ware said he hasn’t decided whether to arrange for portable heaters on the Kilpatrick sideline.

“We want to keep the kids comfortable, but we’re worried that they’ll be more concerned about getting off the field and back to the heaters than about football,” Ware said with a laugh.

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Kilpatrick, which switched to the wing-T offense after the fourth game, discovered wingback Kevin White shortly thereafter. White came out late for the team after begging Ware for a chance.

“He’s one of those kids you look at and decide there’s no way he can play,” Ware said.

White has rushed for 1,196 yards and 13 touchdowns, averaging 9.8 yards per carry.

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The City Section doubleheader Friday at the Coliseum, set for 5 and 8 p.m., will be televised live on KLCS, Channel 58, the Los Angeles Board of Education’s television station. . . .

The best friend of Chatsworth quarterback Matt Cassel should be tackle David Velasquez, a 6-0, 230-pound sophomore who has demonstrated excellent pass-blocking skills in his first varsity season.

Staff writers Rob Fernas, Eric Sondheimer and Tris Wykes contributed to this notebook.