Scouting, Touting Football Season

The opening kickoffs for the 1999 high school football season are scheduled for Thursday, but they can’t take place until insights are offered on this season’s trends, personalities and predicaments.

It’s time to get excited about the quarterback class from 2003: Keep track of five freshmen who aren’t old enough to drive, shave or see an R-rated movie. What they can do is throw a football so well that it’s only a matter of months, if not weeks, before the first college recruiting letters start arriving.

Watch 6-foot-2 1/2 Erik Vose of Chaminade, 6-2 Kenny Davies of St. Francis, 6-1 Clarence Simpson of Taft, 6-0 Richard Irvin of Harvard-Westlake and 6-1 Justin Cassel of Chatsworth. All except Cassel will start on freshman or sophomore teams and be groomed to play varsity next season.

Vose, in particular, deserves special attention. He has been receiving private quarterback tutoring for more than two years. He repeated the eighth grade to better prepare himself for high school. He lives in Agoura, down the street from quarterback Ryan McCann of UCLA, who offered this endorsement: “He’s going to be something.”

Added Coach Ed Croson of Chaminade: “He’s got a quick release, is tall and is polished. I haven’t seen a better freshman quarterback.”

Davies and Simpson displayed excellent passing skills in youth football.

Irvin is the younger brother of women’s tennis star Marissa Irvin of Stanford. “He’s the real deal,” Coach Dave Bennett of Harvard-Westlake said.

Cassel, at close to 195 pounds, is so big and physical he’ll likely start on the varsity at defensive end as soon as he turns 15 later this month. His brother, Matt, Chatsworth’s starting quarterback who’s bound for USC, is teaching him the position’s fundamentals, but baseball might be the younger Cassel’s best sport because of his pitching skills.

Finally, a defense in the Marmonte League: The defenses have been so bad in the Marmonte League that a rival coach concluded, “The Marmonte League thinks a good defense is when you give up less than 40 points.”

Enter Troy Thomas, the defensive coordinator for Crespi from 1992-95 when the Celts competed in Division I and made it to the semifinals in ’93. He’s now running Westlake’s defense and could be the most important coaching hire of 1999.

“We’re trying to toughen them Westlake boys up,” he said. “I think on defense, effort and toughness wins.”

Beware of St. Francis’ singing offensive guard: Dave Macauley, a 6-1, 250-pound senior, plans to sing the national anthem before St. Francis’ home opener on Sept. 17.

“I’ve been working on it with my opera teacher,” Macauley said.

Macauley was part of a choir group that performed the national anthem before a Dodger game last summer. He had the lead role in a school musical production of “Pippin.”

“I hope he can sing as well as he can play,” Coach Bill Redell said.

The coach who won’t rest until he beats his adversaries: With an eight-year record of 73-16-1, Troy Starr of Taft doesn’t need to fear anyone. But Starr is a perfectionist who will never feel satisfied until he figures out how to enjoy better success against two coaching nemeses.

Mike Walsh of San Pedro has beaten Starr’s Taft teams three times in City finals. Tom Harp of Granada Hills is 2-2 against Starr, including a victory in last season’s conference title decider. Taft plays at Granada Hills on Oct. 22 in the Toreadors’ game of the year.

Valencia could be a streak buster -- not: People in the Santa Clarita Valley actually think Hart’s 38-game Foothill League winning streak is in jeopardy, with Valencia the team to end it. Not so fast. If Hart figures out how to block Kaelen Jakes, how to tackle Manuel White and how to run away from Ray Cassaday, the streak lives.

Five players you’ve never heard of ready to make headlines: Junior receiver Joey Rodriguez of Granada Hills is one of the fastest players co-Coach Darryl Stroh has worked with. He scored nine touchdowns on the frosh-sophomore team last season.

Senior defensive back Chris Yates of Notre Dame was ineligible last season. He’s considered the fastest player on the No. 1-ranked team in the region.

Brandon Robinson of Kennedy is a 6-0, 230-pound sophomore middle linebacker who was the most valuable player for the Golden Cougars’ frosh-sophomore team.

L. Ray Hawkins of Newbury Park is a junior receiver with speed and big-play ability. He played on the sophomore team last season and is the younger brother of Washington receiver Dajuan Hawkins.

Greg Vandermade of Hart is a 6-3, 270-pound senior offensive lineman who rarely played last season because he was slow and uncoordinated. After a summer of hard work, he’s stronger, quicker, meaner and starting at left guard.

The next Bill Gates: Harvard-Westlake players were asked to list their career goals, and linebacker Evan Glucoft wrote, “To be a billionaire.”

Player who knows when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em: Defensive end Tucker Bennett of St. Bonaventure is considered a very good poker player, particularly when it comes to bluffing. He also knows how to bluff in football. “Sometimes you pretend you don’t know where they’re running, then you attack them,” he said.

Most underrated player: Camarillo linebacker Scott Korell comes off a junior season in which he had 87 unassisted tackles and returned two interceptions for touchdowns.

The next Adam Sandler: Linebacker Donnelly Pyle of Crespi, asked to list his famous relatives, put down, “Gomer Pyle.”

Teams that will win championships: Notre Dame in Division III, Westlake in Division IV, Paraclete in Division XII.

Most important decision facing players: The first game is over, the first party has begun and the first beer has been offered. Peer pressure is building. You don’t want to drink, but others are doing it.

Don’t give in. It’s OK to say, “No thanks.” Your parents, coaches and real friends will respect you more for having the courage to turn down alcohol. And you’ll wake up Saturday morning feeling a lot better.

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Eric Sondheimer’s local column appears Wednesday and Sunday. He can be reached at (818) 772-3422 or eric.sondheimer@latimes.com