It Takes Tough Dove to Put Taft in Finals

Here’s all you need to know about quarterback Cary Dove of Woodland Hills Taft High, one of the most gifted college prospects in Southern California.

A year ago, he had Taft on the verge of winning the City Championship at the Coliseum. All the Toreadors had to do was get off a punt. On the game’s final play, the punt was blocked and the ball was recovered by Dorsey’s Henry Madge in the end zone for a touchdown. Taft lost, 19-14.

The next morning, Dove was on crutches from an ankle injury. He spent three hours in an emergency room after the game, getting home at 4 a.m. He felt miserable that his team had lost and would have preferred to stay home and sleep.

Instead, he got up at 7 a.m. to appear on a cable television show because he had promised to, win or lose. His father has taught him to honor commitments, and the sight of a groggy, disappointed Dove sitting through a rehashing of his most disheartening athletic moment provided a compelling glimpse into his character.

Teammate Noah Smith has known Dove since kindergarten and is never surprised by Dove’s resiliency or toughness.

“You can never look at Cary and feel depressed because he always picks you up,” he said.

Smith remembers the time when they were 11 and playing football barefooted on a grass field. Dove broke his toe on a sprinkler but refused to leave the game.

“That’s how competitive he is,” Smith said.

Dove’s development into a 6-foot-3, 175-pound All-City quarterback who has committed to California has helped make Taft (13-0) a strong favorite to defeat West Valley League rival Lake Balboa Birmingham (10-3) in the City Championship game Friday night at the Coliseum.

Dove has passed for 3,071 yards and 30 touchdowns.

Before his junior season, Dove was so lightly regarded that most Taft observers were predicting someone would transfer in to take over the quarterback duties. Coach Troy Starr hardly offered a ringing endorsement of Dove’s skills.

“We didn’t think he could do it,” Starr said. “He struggled with everything.”

Dove was convinced he’d be able to learn the position.

“There was never a doubt in my mind,” he said. “I had to focus on what I wanted to do. I didn’t have any give-up in me.”

Starr expected perfection, and there were some loud, emotional face-to-face encounters.

“It makes you tougher mentally,” Dove said. “The only thing he’s trying to do is make you better. He makes you understand you can’t slip by. I don’t take it personally. My dad always says, ‘If I’m not around and if there’s an adult supervising you, they’re your father.’ ”

Last season, Dove wasn’t strong enough or fast enough to scramble out of the pocket. This season, with 15 added pounds, he gained the ability to pick up yardage with his legs. In a league game against Birmingham, he carried a Patriot lineman clinging to his leg into the end zone for a touchdown. That never could have happened last season.

“I feel everything is easier than last year,” Dove said. “Before games, I get nervous but not as nervous. I’m not racking my brain because I know what to do.”

The most excited person should be California Coach Jeff Tedford, who offered Dove a scholarship last summer when few others were willing to pull the trigger. Dove is scheduled to graduate early so he can arrive in Berkeley next month.

“They’d be all over him,” Starr said of college recruiters if Dove were still available. “He’s throwing 70-yard balls right now. What’s he going to do when he’s 6-4, 200 pounds? His upside potential is frightening. That’s what has people drooling.”

Dove, though, understands where he fits in the scheme of things.

“I’ve done everything I need to do,” he said. “I don’t have to prove anything. All I need to do is go to college, do good, get a degree.”

His parents are divorced, but they have raised him with values that he never forgets.

“I’m just so glad I have a father so supportive of me,” he said. “A lot of kids out here don’t have fathers. I’m just very appreciative both [my parents] taught me good morals, and I feel happy I have two parents behind my back.”

*

The only way Santa Ana Mater Dei could have toppled Long Beach Poly last week in a Division I semifinal was for 16-year-old sophomore quarterback Jason Forcier to hang tough in the face of adversity.

Forcier had completed only one pass in eight attempts until he connected with Corey Boudreaux for an 80-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter that delivered a 21-20 victory.

“You could see it in his eyes,” Mater Dei Coach Bruce Rollinson said. “He wanted it so bad. That’s the separator from a kid who’s going to be good to a kid who’s going to be great. He’s been growing up every week.”

Forcier used to live in San Diego and was commuting to Mater Dei via train before moving to Orange County. He will start at quarterback in the Division I final against Los Alamitos on Saturday at Edison Field.

Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.