WHITE KNIGHT

By PAIGE A. LEECH

Aug. 26, 1999 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

VALENCIA —

If Manuel White of Valencia High can rush for nearly 2,000 yards in a junior season riddled with injuries and illness, just how good will he be as a healthy senior?

Viking opponents are about to find out.

“Right now he’s about as healthy and strong as I’ve ever seen him,” Valencia Coach Brian Stiman said.

Stiman has seen plenty of White, who is embarking on his third season as the starting tailback for the Vikings and is poised to make his mark among the region’s most prolific rushers.

The 6-foot-3, 218-pound bruiser needs 1,758 yards to join the region’s 6,000-yard rushers’ club, which includes George Keiaho of Buena at 6,615 and Justin Fargas of Notre Dame at 6,352.

While some running backs might use the mark as a personal goal or for motivation, White is content to remain the consummate team player.

“My main goal is to show leadership on the field and off it,” White said. “If I do that, the yards will come.”

The yards have come in bunches the last two seasons. He has rushed for 200 or more yards 10 times and averages a staggering 7.5 yards per carry.

But White, who will also start at free safety this season, doesn’t hang his helmet on those numbers.

“I don’t think [the statistics are] important to him,” Stiman said. “It’s how the team does.”

Valencia, which is ranked No. 20 in the state in a Cal-Hi Sports preseason poll, has fallen short of the Foothill League title the last two seasons. Beating perennial champion Hart proved too arduous a task.

Although White rushed for 1,925 yards and 20 touchdowns last season, it was somewhat of a letdown, a disappointment to White for one reason: “I don’t think I played one game healthy last year,” he said.

Nagging ankle, groin, thigh and knee injuries and a debilitating viral infection plagued White from preseason practice to the Vikings’ 49-19 loss to St. Paul in a Southern Section Division III semifinal.

“A lot of people may pass judgment because of the injuries,” Stiman said. “But to endure all of the injuries that he has had to endure . . . and he still rushed for [1,925] yards. He did it in an injury-prone year. That just shows you the kind of kid he is.”

White, who sat out only one game last season, has worked hard in the off-season to stay healthy. Weight training and speed work have helped White get into the best shape of his life.

In the spring, he won the 100 meters in 11.0 seconds in the Foothill League track championships.

“He’s physically stronger than any running back you’ll ever come across,” Stiman said.

Still, while White is the most recruited running back in the region, curiously he is not high on national scouting lists.

He was not mentioned in Cal-Hi Sports’ national Hot 100 list in the spring.

The only California running backs listed among the top 100 recruits were Albert Hollis of Sacramento Christian Brothers and Chris Howard of Wilmington Banning.

Hollis, who has committed to UCLA, and Howard were also ranked among the nation’s top seven running back recruits by SuperPrep Magazine, while White was relegated to the 34th best overall prospect in California, Hawaii and Nevada.

“I don’t put a lot of stock in [recruiting magazines],” Stiman said. “I would take him over anybody as a running back, any time.”

It’s no secret why White is continually listed among also-rans.

Critics say he is too big and too slow to be an effective tailback at a major Division I university. He seems better suited for fullback or tight end.

His 40-yard time is in the 4.6 range, Stiman said.

“I think a lot of it is [college coaches] think you have to be a 4.4 or a 4.5, and [White’s] not that,” Stiman said. “But he has some other things, some God-given abilities that compensate for that. He’s pretty special at what he does, and that’s carry the football.”

Coaches from four Pacific 10 Conference schools agree. White has planned recruiting trips to USC, UCLA, Washington and Arizona State.

He won’t even discuss converting to another position.

“[Recruiters] know I don’t want to hear that,” White said.

While his success in college remains to be seen, White has proven himself virtually unstoppable at the high school level. He is a wrecking ball of a runner with excellent vision and a knack for keeping his engine in gear.

“No matter where he’s going . . . he seems able to maintain his speed in any direction,” Stiman said. “[And] he has very deceptive speed. If he breaks in the open, he’s going to be difficult to catch.”

There’s another intangible that makes White elusive this season.

“It’s my senior year,” White said, “and I want to end it with a bang.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Ranking the Region’s Top Running Backs Rank Player School Ht. Wt. Yr.

With comment

1. Manuel White Valencia 6-3 222 Sr.

* Will bulldoze his way to 2,000 yards

2. Rodney Woods Littlerock 5-11 175 Sr.

* All-around athlete with terrific acceleration

3. Julian Lambert Westlake 5-9 185 Sr.

* Watch his explosiveness going through holes

4. De’Andre Scott Alemany 5-10 185 Jr.