HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK

Joel Schaeffer, last man standing.

Don’t bother the longtime Reseda coach with the small detail that his team is playing in the City Invitational playoffs, which did not include the top 16 teams.

“I told our kids that you can look north, south, east and west, and nobody in the Valley is practicing this week except us,” he said.

Indeed, Reseda (9-3) is the only City Section team from the Valley in the semifinals of either the City Championship or Invitational playoffs. The Regents will face Banning on Friday night at Huntington Park High.

“Our kids have believed in themselves from the start,” Schaeffer said. “I may have doubted them early, but they never doubted themselves.”

The starters don’t have time to second-guess anything because they rarely leave the field.

Reseda has nine two-way players, including the backfield trio of tailback Eddie Robinson (1,285 yards), fullback Allen Johnson (658) and wingback Jason Wagner (680 rushing, 568 receiving). Robinson plays cornerback and Johnson and Wagner are linebackers.

Other two-way starters include tight end-linebacker Darius Heathington, receiver-defensive back Danny Sandoval, guard-linebacker Jesse Pizarro and linemen Lee Williams, Esdras Renderos and Eric Ochoa.

The double-duty extends to the coaches. Schaeffer’s only assistant for 22 seasons has been Mike Stone. Schaeffer calls the offensive plays and defensive alignments.

“It’s a thrill for us to look across the sidelines and see 14 coaches,” Schaeffer said. “Too many cooks spoil the soup. We handle it well. We’ve had the same regimen for years and it works out great.”