Sibling Rivalry Becomes Subplot

Sal and Richard Delgaudio are familiar with close quarters. The brothers share a bedroom, which gets cramped considering the two have a combined weight of 600 pounds.

But never will they be in tighter proximity than on Friday night when unbeaten San Fernando visits Sylmar with the Valley Mission League title at stake.

Sal is a 320-pound senior defensive left tackle for San Fernando.

Richard is a 280-pound junior offensive right guard who attends Sylmar through a magnet program.

Brotherly love will be interrupted by hellacious hits for a couple of hours.

“That’s going to be a heck of a war,” Coach Jeff Engilman of Sylmar said.

“I think I’ll just watch those two go at it and ignore the rest of the game.”

Although San Fernando and Sylmar haven’t met since 1991--a 31-7 playoff victory by Sylmar--a strong rivalry exists because of the schools’ proximity. The parents of several Sylmar players, including the father of quarterback John Valdez, attended San Fernando, and vice versa.

Interest is so great the game is already sold out. Sylmar gave San Fernando 1,000 tickets, and they were sold the same day.

“San Fernando suggested we move to a bigger site, and we would probably suggest the same thing if it was at their place, but we want to play at home,” Engilman said.

“This house is going to rock.”

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Dominating time of possession normally is a good thing. But when a team employs a run-and-shoot passing attack, it can also be a misleading statistic.

Witness Kennedy vs. Van Nuys last Friday night.

Van Nuys controlled the ball for all but 12 minutes, yet was defeated, 34-6.

The Wolves had 55 running plays and 11 passes, compared to nine running plays and 15 passes for Kennedy.

But four of the Golden Cougars’ passes went for touchdowns and tailback Mike Miles chewed up 113 yards in five carries.

Van Nuys’ 66 offensive plays resulted in only 157 yards rushing and 59 yards passing.

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The game figured to be close because neither team had won on the field this season, but Grant trounced Hollywood, 48-7, last week to escape the Sunset Six League cellar.

Running backs Matthew Clark and Perry Clayton each rushed for more than 100 yards and the Lancers scored five touchdowns on the ground.

Quarterback Alfonso Estrada, who has spent most of the season running for his life, completed seven of eight passes.

Even more impressive was Grant’s defense, which ranks last among area City Section teams by surrendering 380 yards a game. Hollywood gained 23 yards in 24 carries and completed seven of 17 passes for 98 yards.

Grant’s only other victory came by forfeit over Cleveland, which used an ineligible player.