Some Teams Don’t Quit When Behind

For the record, overall records are overrated.

Camarillo and Antelope Valley highs are proving that.

Through four weeks, neither team had won a game. Now each is atop its respective league with a 2-0 record.

Improved defenses and an unwavering belief in themselves are common denominators.

“We knew deep down we weren’t that bad,” said linebacker Scott Korell, whose Camarillo team was 0-4-1 and statistically had Ventura County’s worst defense through five games.

“All you can do is keep your head up and try to get better each week.”

Camarillo (2-4-1) was allowing 37.2 points per game through five weeks. An air-it-out meeting among defensive players led to a 20-19 victory over defending Pacific View League champion Hueneme two weeks ago and a 17-14 victory over Oxnard on Friday.

Antelope Valley’s problem wasn’t so much an underachieving defense as it was an overmatched one.

The undersized Antelopes (3-4) lost competitive games to traditional powers Bakersfield, Sylmar, Bishop Amat and Dominguez to fall to 0-4, but have regrouped to average 40.3 points in three victories.

“We knew we were a good team and that we were in every ballgame,” offensive coordinator Brandon Newcomb said. “We’re pleased with the way our kids have come back.”

Taft is another late-bloomer, starting West Valley League play 2-0 after going 1-4 in nonleague games. The Toreadors, Scorpions and Antelopes are the latest to prove that a slow start doesn’t necessarily mean a total demise.

Last season, Kilpatrick was 5-5 in the regular season and advanced to the Division XII final.

The flip side is also true. A flashy record doesn’t guarantee postseason success.

Just ask Littlerock, 10-0 last season entering the Division III playoffs. The Lobos lost to 5-5 Crespi.

Newbury Park and Crescenta Valley were 10-0 in 1997 before first-round exits, and L.A. Baptist was dumped in the opening round in both 1996 and ’97 after being seeded No. 1.

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It would be difficult to find a more appropriate poster boy for Camarillo’s resiliency than Mark Cardella.

Wearing extra padding to protect a rib he broke last week against Hueneme, Cardella returned to kick a 30-yard field goal in the fourth quarter for the winning points in a 17-14 victory over Oxnard.

Cardella, a junior who also plays defensive back, must avoid contact for at least two more weeks and is restricted to kicking.

That posed a problem against Oxnard.

“I’d kick off and they’d send somebody after me,” he said. “There I was, running around the field, trying not to get hit. It was pretty embarrassing.”

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Paraclete is another team rebounding from a slow start.

On Friday night, the Spirits looked more like the team seeking a third consecutive section title and less like the one which lost three of its first five games.

Paraclete (4-3) rallied to defeat previously unbeaten Montclair Prep, 30-22, in a nonleague game between Division XII powers.

Three weeks ago, Montclair Prep rallied for a 43-42 victory over Kilpatrick, expected to be Paraclete’s top challenger in the Alpha League. Paraclete and Kilpatrick meet Nov. 5 at Antelope Valley College in a rematch of last season’s division final, won by the Spirits.

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Only two weeks ago, Crescenta Valley frustrated its coaches by allowing 473 yards to a Burroughs team that is now 2-5.

The Falcons (6-1, 2-0) regrouped nicely, limiting Pacific League power Muir to 155 yards, more than 200 below its average.

What’s the difference?

Simple, says defensive back Jared Salisbury, who preserved the 14-13 victory with a late interception. “We’re getting a lot more disciplined,” he said.

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The two top passers in the region spent much of Friday handing off.

Kyle Matter of Hart and Casey Clausen of Alemany combined for more than 3,400 yards passing through six weeks, but yielded the spotlight to running backs.

Faced with a Burroughs defense that featured eight players in pass coverage, Hart abandoned the passing game and fed the ball to sophomore Tim Gregory, who responded with 172 yards and four touchdowns in 17 carries to spark a 41-18 victory.

Matter, who had thrown for region-bests of 1,762 yards and 26 touchdowns, passed for 163 yards against Burroughs.

Clausen, who had thrown for 1,643 yards and 20 touchdowns, attempted only 11 passes and threw for 142 yards in a 42-28 victory over Santa Margarita. De’Andre Scott was the major beneficiary, getting 31 carries for 353 yards and five touchdowns.

One team that stuck with its season-long plan was Valencia, which again rode the legs of Manuel White, at least for a half.

White rushed 14 times for 274 yards and a school-record seven touchdowns in a 70-7 rout of Burbank. All seven of White’s scores came in the first half, when he accounted for all but two of his carries.

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Valencia (6-1, 2-0) and Hart (7-0, 2-0) will meet Thursday night in one of several interesting matchups next week.

On Friday night, Sylmar (5-2, 2-0) will risk its state-record 69-game league winning streak when it visits Kennedy (4-3, 1-1) for a Valley Mission League game.

Westlake (6-1, 3-0) faces its last real test in the Marmonte League when it plays at Moorpark (3-4, 3-1).

St. Francis (7-0) and Coach Bill Redell, who coached Crespi to a section title in 1986, hosts the Celts (1-6) in a Mission League opener.

Alemany (6-1) opens Del Rey League play Saturday night against Division I power Loyola at Glendale High.

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Here’s three clips that won’t make Monroe’s postseason highlight tape:

The Vikings (5-2, 0-2) had three touchdowns called back because of clipping penalties during a 56-20 loss to Kennedy.