Opponents Can Feel His Pain

Fred Matua rarely acknowledges the physical punishment he absorbs playing offensive and defensive line for the Wilmington Banning High football team.

Ever-present emotional pain is harder to ignore.

Matua, a 6-foot-3, 278-pound senior, lost his father to cancer when he was 6 months old. His mother is currently battling breast cancer.

“They just inspire me to keep on playing,” Matua said of his parents. “I take that pain and frustration that’s inside of me onto the field. Football is a way to get rid of it. I honor them by playing as hard as I can.”

Matua’s dominant all-around play last season helped Banning win its 11th City Section championship, its first since 1985. He is regarded among the best defensive linemen in the nation.

Matua’s ascent to that status is no surprise to Banning Coach Ed Lalau, who is also Matua’s uncle.

Lalau, 32, said Matua prepped for his high school career by playing street ball and pickup games at the park with Lalau and other relatives. Most had played at Banning and were 15 to 30 years older than Matua.

“He learned how to get tough at an early age,” Lalau said.

Said Matua: “Those guys told me, ‘If you want to play, we’re going to hit you hard.’ They didn’t lie.”

Matua’s strength and football ability were evident when he arrived at Banning. Had he not been 14 as a freshman, Lalau said, Matua would have played for the varsity.

In 1999, Matua helped Banning win the section’s Invitational championship. Last year, he played guard and tackle on offense and tackle on defense as the Pilots won the City title.

“He’s been around the game for a long time and last year he started putting all that knowledge and background to use,” Lalau said.

Matua and his teammates persevered through one of the toughest nonleague schedules in the state and started to come together after a defeat by San Pedro in a Marine League opener dropped the Pilots to 1-5. Banning earned an at-large berth in the playoffs and advanced to the championship game against rival and defending champion Carson, which had defeated the Pilots, 48-18, in the regular-season finale.

Carson outscored its first three playoff opponents, 101-15, but the Colts struggled against Matua and the Pilots. Twice in the first half, Banning stopped Carson when the Colts had first-and-goal situations.

Banning shut out the Colts in the second half en route to a 26-10 victory.

“Matua never takes a play off,” Carson Coach John Aguirre said. “He’s one of those guys who’s in the middle of everything.”

Matua, an honors student, is the centerpiece of Banning’s offensive and defensive fronts and is expected to lead the Pilots back to the championship game. He also is the conscience of the team, an enforcer who does not tolerate tardiness or lack of effort.

“I would hate to be one of the players on the team that messes up,” Lalau said. “We don’t have to punish anyone because he takes care of that. He makes sure everyone is doing what they are supposed to be doing.”

Matua attended a regional scouting combine at Stanford in May and was rated the top defensive lineman. He has received scholarship offers from USC, UCLA, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Miami, Alabama and others.

Matua spent the summer working out to increase his strength and trim his weight from the 300 pounds he carried last season.

“What you do on the field is more important than what you do at a combine,” he said. “The combines don’t show what you have in your mind and in your heart. That only comes out when you play in a real game against the best.”

Banning will play its typical rigorous preleague schedule, opening against three-time defending Southern Section Division III champion Newhall Hart. The Pilots then play two-time defending Southern Section Division I champion Long Beach Poly, City Section semifinalist Crenshaw, Santa Fe Springs St. Paul and Southern Section Division I runner-up Loyola.

“Playing against those teams gets you pumped up to practice harder,” Matua said. “It’s a chance to prove how good I really can be.”