Westlake Star Has Off Night

There will be a time when Zac Wasserman looks back on the California-Texas Shrine All-Star Classic and chuckles.

Growing pains, he’ll think to himself. Not much fun, but you’ve got to go through them.

On Saturday night, Wasserman completed three of 12 passes for 89 yards for the California team, which defeated Texas, 29-27, at Cerritos College.

Wasserman, who has signed with Penn State, started slowly--four attempts, four incompletions in the first quarter--and ended slowly, completing one of his last five passes.

In between, he fared better, hitting Tab Perry for a 63-yard touchdown with 9:50 left in the third quarter. On the play, cornerback Lawrence Richardson fell down, giving Perry room to run down the right side.

“When I came back to the sideline, I was upset because I thought it was a bad pass,” Wasserman said. “But Coach [Jim Benkert] said, ‘Hey, we scored on it. . . . don’t be mad.’

“I was like, ‘You’re right. I should be happy.’ ”

Wasserman also connected on a nine-yard pass to running back Jason Wright and a 17-yard pass to Perry late in the third quarter.

Wasserman, who split time with Fresno State-bound Nate Ray, was victimized by several dropped balls.

Chris Kluwe kicked a 53-yard field goal as time expired to give California its second consecutive last-second victory.

Other players from the region did not make much noise in the game, which was won by California for the sixth consecutive year.

Hart fullback Patrick Norton caught a seven-yard pass from Ray in the second quarter.

Known more for his hard-nosed blocking, Norton’s catch helped bring California within a yard of a first down. But running back Michael Williams was stuffed on the next play, a fourth-down dive to the right side, giving Texas the ball on the California 38 with 8:27 left in the second quarter.

Harvard-Westlake tight end Alex Holmes, playing in his first game in almost two years, did not catch a pass. Holmes, who signed with USC, recently completed a fifth year of high school, but had exhausted his athletic eligibility in the 1998-99 school year.

Jordan Lampos of Westlake saw extensive action at middle linebacker and had three tackles.

Offensive lineman Steve Nevarez of San Fernando played sparingly.

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DRAMATIC FINISH

Chris Kluwe’s last-second field goal lifts California, 29-27. Page 17