Vandermade Keeps Game in Perspective

No matter how well defending champion Long Beach Poly plays in tonight’s Southern Section Division I title game at Edison Field, there is nothing the Jackrabbits can do to discourage Mater Dei tackle Lenny Vandermade.

You see, Vandermade has already endured an experience that has given him a new perspective on what’s important in life.

On Sept. 21, Vandermade and his family were among 30 families displaced when a water tank ruptured and sent 5 million gallons pouring into the streets of their Westminster neighborhood.

Vandermade was asleep when the tank gave way. “It felt like an earthquake,” he said. “I tried to go back to sleep, but my brother Paul looked out the window and said, ‘Oh, jeez.’ I yelled at him to be quiet, and he said the water tower broke.”

Nearly all the Vandermade family--mother Salome, father David, grandmother Fa’oso, Lenny and Paul--were upstairs. Another brother, Alfred, was sleeping downstairs when the six-foot wall of water entered their home. Alfred managed to get upstairs to safety.

Within minutes, the downstairs and garage were flooded. The electricity and phone lines were knocked out. The Vandermades had to wait more than an hour before firefighters arrived to help them to safety.

After spending that evening with relatives, the family moved into a Huntington Beach hotel until they were able to relocate to another house in Santa Ana just before Thanksgiving. In addition to losing their home, the Vandermades lost three cars, all their downstairs furniture and kitchen appliances. The Vandermades and the other families whose homes were flooded are waiting for the city of Westminster to decide whether to demolish or rebuild them.

For Vandermade, who thought his only worry that September day was to start preparing for Mater Dei’s football game against Concord De La Salle, it was a quick lesson in perspective.

“You’ve got to be thankful for what you’ve got,” said Vandermade, a 6-foot-4, 270-pound senior. “You never know when something like that will happen.”

A three-year starter for the Monarchs, Vandermade had never missed a game or a practice. He would miss that Monday’s practice to help his family salvage what they could.

On Tuesday, he went to Rollinson’s office and apologized for missing practice.

Rollinson was dumbfounded.

“I knew he was serious,” Rollinson said. “We wanted to give him the whole week off, feeling he could still play well on Saturday. I asked him if he needed to talk about it. He just said, ‘Where’s the scouting report?’ ”

Vandermade said it wasn’t difficult to return to the football field.

“It could have been worse,” he said. “If someone had gotten hurt, it would have been a lot different. But it was easy to concentrate on football once everyone was fine.”

The school rallied behind the Vandermades, holding fund-raisers to help them replace items lost in the flood, which caused a total of $30 million in damages, city officials estimated.

On the Mater Dei football team, Vandermade is the weakside offensive tackle. His primary job is to guard quarterback Scott Lukash’s blindside on pass plays. Vandermade has handled that duty flawlessly. The Monarchs have given up only 10 sacks this season, and Vandermade has not been responsible for one.

“On the line it’s a head game,” Vandermade said. “Whatever happens on a play, you have to bounce back. You can’t be too happy if you [block successfully], and you can’t be too down if they beat you.”

Vandermade said he expects a battle against Poly’s Justin Johnson. He has memories of last year’s 28-25 loss to Poly that serve as inspiration.

“I remember we were beaten up in front offensively,” Vandermade said. “They changed things real well--used speed one time then muscle another time. They kept us guessing and created mismatches.

“This time we’ll have to work harder and take advantage of situations.”

After tonight’s finale, Vandermade is expected to choose between UCLA and USC. He leaves behind an impressive legacy at Mater Dei.

“He has emerged as the guy that, like [linebacker] Kevin Mitchell, has set a standard at his position and everybody else has to meet it,” Rollinson said.