Game Day / A Look at Today’s Key Matchups

HIGH SCHOOL

* LITTLEROCK (7-0, 2-0) vs. LANCASTER (6-1, 2-0)

At Lancaster High, 7:30 p.m.

These teams are the only members of the Golden League without a league football title, but that should change for the winner of this game. Statistically, they couldn’t be more evenly matched. Lancaster, ranked No. 5 in the region by The Times, is averaging 265.4 yards and is yielding 170.7 yards per game. Littlerock is averaging 264.6 yards and allowing 177.7. Both rely heavily on the run. Rodney Woods of Littlerock has rushed for 815 yards and 12 touchdowns, and teammate Keith Williams has run for 643 yards. Seven Lancaster players have rushed for touchdowns and three have gained more than 200 yards. Danny Pagnella leads Lancaster with 532 yards and five touchdowns. This game will feature some of the region’s top linebackers. Mike Arvizo and Adam Fabela of Littlerock set school records for tackles last season. Donald Forshee of Lancaster has 7 1/2 sacks and is averaging more than 13 tackles a game. Littlerock won last year, 21-0.

* EL CAMINO REAL (4-2-1, 3-1) vs. GRANADA HILLS (7-0, 4-0)

At Granada Hills High, 7 p.m.

Granada Hills continues a treacherous second-half schedule against the run-oriented Conquistadores. El Camino Real can be explosive--the Conquistadores scored 63 points against San Fernando--but only if the running game is working. After alternating with Devontra Hargrove much of the season, DeAngelo Nedd split time at running back with Justin Graham in a 29-20 victory over Cleveland. Nedd leads El Camino Real with 552 yards rushing, and Hargrove has 512. They will face a Highlander defense that allows 81.4 yards rushing a game, best in the Northwest Valley Conference. Robert Garcia, Adrian Padilla and Gerald Jones lead the Granada Hills defense. Jason Winn has thrown 14 touchdown passes for Granada Hills, tied for the conference lead with Matt Cassel of Chatsworth.

* TAFT (6-1, 4-0) vs. CHATSWORTH (5-2, 2-2)

At Chatsworth High, 7 p.m.

Chatsworth’s timing is not good. Taft will be at full strength for the first time in a month, including the return of receiver Lawrence Wallace, who has recovered from a broken hand. Wallace’s absence allowed for the emergence of Ronald Andrews, who has caught 24 passes for 300 yards. Marquis Brignac of Taft ranks fifth in the region in rushing with 949 yards. Chatsworth is coming off a 14-10 loss to San Fernando that knocked the Chancellors out of title contention, but they could still play the role of spoiler behind a dynamic offense. Matt Cassel has passed for 1,589 yards and 14 touchdowns, and five receivers have caught at least eight passes. Reggie Lee leads the conference with 662 yards receiving and has scored eight touchdowns. The Chancellors will face a Taft defense that has recorded three shutouts in five games.

* ST. FRANCIS (4-3) vs. CRESPI (5-2)

At Crespi High, 7:30 p.m.

In a Mission League opener, Coach Bill Redell of St. Francis returns to Crespi, where he coached the Celts to a Southern Section championship in 1986. Redell resigned from Crespi in 1988 and returned to coaching in 1994 at St. Francis. The Golden Knights were competitive last week against powerful Bishop Amat, trailing by a touchdown at halftime before losing, 28-7. Sophomore John Sciarra has passed for seven touchdowns for St. Francis, with 10 interceptions. Crespi is looking to rebound from consecutive losses to Notre Dame and Serra. Four Celts comprise a balanced running game, with Ken Turner at 272 yards, Blake Tibbetts at 242, Joel Garcia at 228 and Jimmy Guardino at 198. Defensive end Gregg Guenther of Crespi, a 6-foot-7, 240-pound junior, is out for the season because of a stress fracture in his foot.

* NOTRE DAME (7-0) vs. BISHOP AMAT (7-0)

At Bishop Amat High, 7:30 p.m.

An interesting Del Rey League opener features teams that have played only once--a 28-0 victory by Bishop Amat in a 1983 playoff game. Last week, Notre Dame scored 21 fourth-quarter points to defeat Crespi, 24-10. Chris Leon surpassed 100 yards rushing for the second consecutive game and has 351 yards in 52 carries this season. Todd Fenton of Notre Dame has tied the school record with 17 touchdown receptions in his career. Bishop Amat, a Division I powerhouse in La Puente, had trouble with St. Francis last week, trailing near the end of the first half, 7-6, before rallying for a 28-7 victory. Chris Rix, a 6-3, 200-pound junior, could be the next big-name quarterback to come out of Bishop Amat, joining Pat Haden, Paul McDonald and John Sciarra, father of the St. Francis quarterback. Rix rushed for two touchdowns last week, including a 51-yarder, and has six rushing touchdowns this season. He has completed 64 of 108 passes for 1,010 yards and 10 touchdowns, with three interceptions.

* MOORPARK (6-1, 3-1) vs. WESTLAKE (5-1-1, 1-1-1)

At Westlake High, 7 p.m.

These Marmonte League teams have something to prove. Moorpark spent the first half of the season feasting on opponents with losing records, then lost a showdown with league-leading Newbury Park last week. That ended the Musketeers’ winning streak at 19, a Ventura County record. Art Garcia, who has rushed for 796 yards in 123 carries, has played well but Moorpark has only 553 yards through the air, downright anemic in the pass-happy Marmonte. Westlake is reeling from a loss to Newbury Park and a tie against Thousand Oaks. Zac Wasserman of Westlake has passed for 1,645 yards and 17 touchdowns. But Westlake’s talented receiving corps, featuring Travis Campbell and Mike Seidman, has battled injuries. Both teams have steady, if unspectacular, defenses.

* SANTA BARBARA (5-2, 1-0) vs. BUENA (4-3, 2-0)

At Ventura High, 7:30 p.m.

The Channel League lead is at stake in this gamethat will feature revitalized Santa Barbara trying to wrest control from defending champion Buena, which is weakened by injury. The Bulldogs, who stumbled out of the gate to a 2-3 nonleague record, have shown signs of improvement in the last two weeks with road victories over San Marcos and Dos Pueblos. Six sophomores start for Buena, but one of them, tailback and cornerback Freddy Keiaho, is out for several weeks with a chipped bone in his ankle. Backfield mate D.J. Blackledge, who has rushed for 581 yards rushing and seven touchdowns, is questionable because of an ankle sprain. Jake Scott, a sophomore linebacker, is a key to an improving Buena defense. that has allowed a combined 42 points in its last two games after surrendering an average of 31 points in the Buena’s first five. Santa Barbara won the league title in 1995 but has a 2-12 league record in the last two years. Quarterback Nick Dominelli missed two games because of a disciplinary suspension but has passed for 318 yards and five touchdowns and rushed for 394 yards and three touchdowns. Joey Vega, doubtful because of several injuries, has 13 catches for 176 yards and four touchdowns.

In other games tonight:

City Section: Northern Conference, 7 p.m.--L.A. Wilson at Verdugo Hills. Northwest Valley Conference, 7 p.m.--Birmingham at Cleveland; Kennedy at San Fernando. Valley Pac-8 Conference, 7:30 p.m.--Van Nuys vs. Grant at Valley College; Poly at Monroe; Reseda at North Hollywood; Canoga Park at Sylmar.

Southern Section: Alpha League, 7:30 p.m. L.A. Baptist vs. Paraclete at Antelope Valley College. Foothill League, 7 p.m.--Burbank vs. Saugus at Canyon High; Canyon at Burroughs. Frontier League, 7 p.m.--Santa Paula at Calabasas; Malibu vs. Santa Clara at Channel Islands High. Golden League, 7:30 p.m.--Antelope Valley at Palmdale; Highland at Quartz Hill. High Desert League, 7:30 p.m.--Vasquez at Rosamond. Marmonte League, 7 p.m.--Royal at Thousand Oaks; Simi Valley at Agoura. Mission League, 7:30 p.m.--Alemany at St. Paul. Pacific League, 7:30 p.m.--Muir at Glendale; Hoover at Arcadia. Pacific View League, 7 p.m.--Channel Islands at Oxnard; Camarillo at Rio Mesa. Rio Hondo League, 7:30 p.m.--La Canada at Monrovia. San Fernando League, 7:30 p.m.--Serra at Chaminade. Santa Fe League, 7:30 p.m.--Daniel Murphy vs. St. Genevieve at Birmingham High. Nonleague, 7:30 p.m.--Nordhoff vs. Carpinteria at Carpinteria Middle School; Ventura at Hueneme.

Eight-man: Four Corners League, 7:30 p.m.--Lancaster Bethel Christian at Rio Hondo Prep. Heritage League, 3 p.m.--Windward at First Lutheran.