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This Hollywood Script Nears a Happy Ending

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

It’s been 71 years since Hollywood High won its only City football championship, 20 years since the Sheiks had a winning season.

But on Friday, Hollywood took a major step toward leaving its losing past behind.

The Sheiks defeated Marshall, 28-0, in a Northern Conference game at Hollywood. The homecoming victory improved Hollywood’s record to 5-4 overall and 3-3 in conference play.

A victory next week against Lincoln (1-8, 1-5) would put Hollywood over .500 at the end of the regular season for the first time since 1978, the year the Sheiks won their last conference title. It would also virtually guarantee a spot in the City’s Division playoffs.

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“It’s what we’ve been thinking about since the start of the season,” said Hollywood senior Rene Andrade, who scored three touchdowns against Marshall (1-8, 0-6).

Second-year Coach Tim Lenderman and assistants Richard Steinmetz and Andre Batton have provided Hollywood’s program with stability. Before Lenderman moved from the frosh-soph level to the varsity last season, the school had three different varsity coaches in three years.

“With that much change, the players didn’t know up from down,” Lenderman said. “We haven’t done anything special as coaches. We’ve just given them direction.”

The players, almost none of whom played football before high school, have responded.

“These coaches have brought discipline,” said Andrade, who rushed for 80 yards in seven carries. “That helps because the players know what they’re expecting from us.”

Andrade scored on 75-yard punt return with 9:38 left in the first quarter that gave the Sheiks a lead that was never threatened.

Quarterback Chris Colon and running back Arlen Escarpeta connected on a 46-yard touchdown pass play with 9:06 left in the second quarter for a 14-0 lead.

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Andrade extended the margin when he intercepted a pass by Shawn Bailey and returned it nine yards for a score with 8:42 left in the third quarter. He completed the scoring by turning a broken play into a 26-yard scoring run six minutes later.

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