City Slickers Win the Battle in Section War

Close the polls. Take the tally.

After an unprecedented 17 intersectional games involving teams from the region, the winner by a whisker is the City Section with nine victories.

All of which is absolute, indisputable proof . . . of nothing in particular.

But it’s more than a little surprising.

Cleveland’s 49-12 drubbing of Calabasas and Crenshaw’s 33-6 defeat of Crespi on Friday pushed the City past the Southern Section, 9-8. No more intersectional games are scheduled because league play begins this week in the City.

Once as rare as 50-yard field goals, intersectional games are gaining popularity. One reason is that City leagues shrunk from eight to six teams this year, leaving room for five nonleague games instead of three.

“We played Calabasas because we need to fill our schedule,” Coach Bill Paden of Cleveland said. “But it’s good for us to play a Southern Section team.

“A lot of people think of City football as second tier. If we want that perception to change, we have to play these teams.”

City victories included El Camino Real over Chaminade, Kennedy over Palmdale and Sylmar over Antelope Valley. Monroe beat two Southern Section teams, Hoover and Pasadena Blair, by a combined score of 69-0.

However, no City teams were in The Times’ regional top 10 last week for a reason. The best Southern Section teams remain better than the top City teams.

Granada Hills has beaten four City teams, yet lost to Royal of the Southern Section. Royal is 1-4.

Other City teams to falter against solid Southern Section competition include Chatsworth (one-sided losses to Alemany and Valencia), El Camino Real (31-10 loss to Westlake) and North Hollywood (27-0 loss to Harvard-Westlake.

The factors that give many Southern Section programs a clear advantage haven’t changed. Facilities and equipment are better, booster support is greater, coaching staffs are larger.

Taft Coach Troy Starr seeks out the best City competition, scheduling Dorsey and Banning for nonleague games. But he won’t play a Southern Section team.

“If they ever level the playing field, I’d be glad to schedule a [Southern Section team],” Starr said.

Starr points out obstacles that keep City squads from preparing as quickly as Southern Section teams.

“We have kids bused in from Pacoima to South Central L.A.,” he said. “It’s very difficult to practice in August. We don’t have the structure we want until school starts.”

Despite the handicaps, Coach Jeff Engilman of Sylmar decided several years ago to open against Southern Section powers. This season the Spartans lost to Notre Dame, beat Antelope Valley and lost to Hart.

“The kids enjoyed playing those games,” he said. “It makes us tougher when we get into our league and there’s a lot of excitement surrounding the games.”

Engilman was surprised City teams won more than half of this year’s intersectional games.

“That’s unusual,” he said. “City football seems to be down. Maybe the talent is spread around.”

Sylmar’s contracts with Notre Dame and Hart have expired. Will they be renewed?

“I don’t know,” Engilman said. “We want some variety, but we want to play Southern Section teams in our area. We want them to want to play us.”

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The kick flew between the uprights with six seconds to play, giving Sylmar a 30-27 victory over Chatsworth, but none of the Spartans mobbed kicker David Contreras.

Nobody hugged him. Nobody slapped his back.

Contreras had separated his shoulder moments earlier. A team physician popped it back into place and Contreras, who also rushed 29 times for 125 yards, convinced Engilman he could make the kick.

“The doctor said he could go in for the kick,” Engilman said. “That was good, since he’s my only kicker.”

The separation is mild and Contreras plans to play next week against unbeaten Monroe.

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James Bethea only hopes he scored as well Saturday as he did Friday night.

The morning after dashing for touchdowns of 78, 60, 59 and eight yards in Cleveland’s 49-12 victory over Calabasas, Bethea was in a classroom taking the SAT.

The 279 yards he gained against Calabasas give him 900 this season. The same score on the SAT will make him an NCAA qualifier because his grade-point average is above average.

Bethea has other numbers in place as well. He runs 10.7 seconds in the 100 meters, 4.5 in the 40 and 48.6 in the 400, making him the fastest City running back in the region.

Cleveland’s young offensive line has improved steadily. James Ortiz, the only returning starter, is solid and juniors Leo Clark and James Thaemart played well Friday.

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Besides not playing particularly well, Taft (1-4) has been saddled with injuries.

Kicker Anthony Ploesch did not play in a 25-20 loss to San Fernando on Friday because of a separated shoulder suffered in an automobile accident.

Ploesch, who has made all 11 of his extra-point attempts and his only field-goal try, will probably return this week.

Gregg Guenther, Taft’s 6-foot-8 tight end, could return after missing three games because of a shoulder injury. Defensive lineman David Canton sprained a knee against San Fernando and is questionable.