Starr Knows Dangers of Rematch

Logic says Lake Balboa Birmingham High has little chance against Woodland Hills Taft in the City Section championship game at 8 p.m. Friday in the Coliseum. Taft (13-0) easily handled the Patriots (10-3), 30-6, to win the West Valley League title less than a month ago.

But Taft Coach Troy Starr knows the title game doesn’t always follow form. He was a 24-year-old assistant at Carson in 1987 when the unthinkable happened.

“The thing I remember most is that our kids were so overconfident,” Starr said of the Colts’ game that year against Granada Hills. “We had 11 Division I players on that team. It was as much of a setting for an upset as you could possibly have.”

Ranked No. 2 in the nation, Carson had defeated Granada Hills, 42-14, earlier in the season. But in the championship game, Jeremy Leach threw three touchdown passes and the Highlanders won, 27-14, in one of the greatest upsets in City title-game history. The smallest margin of victory for Taft, The Times’ sixth-ranked team, has been 12 points this season. The Toreadors have trailed in only three games and only once in the fourth quarter.

But if history is an indicator, don’t count Birmingham out.

In three of the last four years, the team that has lost the regular-season contest has won the rematch in the title game. The last time a champion won both meetings was in 1995, when Dorsey defeated San Pedro, 35-28, during the season and, 10-8, in the title game.

Going back further, eight of the last 11 title games that were rematches have been won by the team that lost during the regular season.

Birmingham Coach Ed Croson said the pressure is all on Taft. His players, naturally, agree.

“Because they’ve been there before, they probably think they’re going to win,” linebacker Eric Ochoa said. “This is where it counts.”

The Patriots’ three losses have come to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, Newhall Hart and Taft -- teams playing for section titles this weekend. Only Taft controlled them from start to finish. That loss doesn’t sit well with Dennis Keyes, a senior running back who has been part of the renaissance at Birmingham in the three years Croson has been coach.

“We can play a lot better than what we showed that night,” Keyes said. “That wasn’t the real Birmingham team. We came out a little overconfident because we had beaten them the last two years.”

Starr said his players won’t have a problem with being too confident, saying they are “humbled every day” in practice. Besides, there are painful memories of last year’s heartbreaking loss to Dorsey to erase.

Some at the school might also remember that Taft won its only title in 1998 by defeating Banning, a team it had lost to, 41-13, during the season.

Banning Coach Ed Lalau has been on both sides of title-game rematches. He was an assistant for Banning’s 1998 team that lost, and he was in charge when the Pilots stunned Carson two years ago. They had lost to the Colts, 48-18, during the regular season.

“The biggest thing for me was to get the kids to believe they could” win the second game, Lalau said. “Pound for pound, we shouldn’t have won that game, but that night we shined at the right time.”

Granada Hills co-Coach Tom Harp said the memory of its 19-14 loss to Dorsey in the title game last year might help Taft not look past a team it has already defeated this year.

“When you win big, it’s hard to tell a team that this team you’re playing against and just got through beating is good,” Harp said. “But this game, it’s a different story for Taft because of last year.”

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The Taft-Birmingham matchup is the first City title game between two San Fernando Valley teams since Granada Hills defeated San Fernando, 38-28, in 1970.

“It’s really good for the Valley,” Sylmar Coach Jeff Engilman said. “The Valley has always taken second fiddle to the Marine League.”

Harp said there is more parity in the section and Birmingham’s ascent in the last three years is proof. The Marine and Coliseum leagues “aren’t the only show in town,” he added.

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Granada Hills (9-4) will play Harbor City Narbonne (5-8) at 5 p.m. Friday in the Coliseum in the championship game of the Invitational playoffs.

“Naturally we’re a little disappointed that we couldn’t make the Championship Division,” Harp said. “But this has given our young kids an opportunity to continue working on their game, and playing in the Coliseum is something the kids can look forward to.”

Narbonne assistant Josh Waybright said he wasn’t sure the Gauchos would qualify for the playoffs after a 2-8 record in the regular season. They are aiming for their second consecutive Invitational championship.

“It’s a second chance for us,” Waybright said. “To the kids’ credit, they kept battling.”