The Upper Echelon Is Not Dominating Yet

Not that we’re advocating running up the score, but ...

There doesn’t appear to be a truly dominant football team in the Southland this year.

Los Alamitos, Mission Viejo, Riverside North and Westlake Village Westlake are all undefeated -- and, yes, Mission Viejo is riding a 31-game winning streak -- but after Week 3, no team has established itself as head and shoulders above all others.

“There’s an upper echelon of teams, and then everyone else,” said Newhall Hart Coach Mike Herrington, whose team has played No. 1 Los Alamitos, No. 6 Westlake and No. 7 Ventura St. Bonaventure and lost by a combined 11 points. “But of those upper-echelon teams, anyone could beat anyone.”

Los Alamitos is the top-ranked team in the Southland and one of the most highly regarded teams in the nation this year. Yet, it defeated Hart in its opener by only three points, and that was a game in which Hart’s quarterback, Sean Norton, didn’t play in the second half because of an injury.

Last week, Los Alamitos defeated Brea Olinda, 24-14. Brea Olinda is 1-2 and unranked in the Southern Section Division VI coaches’ poll.

The other team that seems most capable of claiming “dominant” stature is second-ranked Mission Viejo.

The Diablos defeated Fountain Valley in the first week by only one point, 14-13, when they stopped the Barons’ two-point conversion attempt at the end of the game.

Mission Viejo was more impressive in Week 2 against Santa Ana Mater Dei in a 22-11 victory. Yet, twice the Monarchs (0-3) were in good position to possibly end the Diablos’ streak.

“I think the talent level has increased and the quality of football is better, which has created better games,” said Corona Centennial Coach Matt Logan, whose team lost to Clovis West, 44-40, Friday in a game pitting two teams ranked in the state’s top 20.

“It used to be that Division I was the best, but I think the top teams from each division could compete with each other,” Logan said. “I don’t think the gap is as big as it used to be.”

That theory could explain some of the scores put up by No. 8 Orange Lutheran, a Division VI school.

The Lancers defeated Mater Dei more convincingly than either two-time Division II champion Mission Viejo or Division V power North. The Lancers also beat Santa Paula by a larger margin -- 49 points to 42 -- than Division IV finalist Westlake.

Is there really that much difference between the top teams, and a team ranked No. 17, such as Fountain Valley, or a winless team, such as No. 25 Mater Dei?

No.

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A two-point conversion with 41 seconds left that gave Westlake its 25-24 victory over Hart on Thursday has created some controversy.

Hart coaches believe a television replay from Fox Sports Net shows the knee of Tahj Mowry touching the ground before the ball crosses the goal line. The official, perfectly aligned to view the play at the goal line, ruled Mowry scored before his knee hit the turf.

Game referee Bill McCabe, who has been an NFL replay official for five years, said it wouldn’t have mattered if Herrington, Hart’s coach, had been able to throw a red flag to challenge the play because the replay was inconclusive.

“I looked at it on TV and that was a tough call,” McCabe said. “In our replay world, we couldn’t have done anything with it because of the camera angle.”

Said Herrington: “If the referee said it would have been a tough call on replay, that means there is doubt. That means he viewed it and there’s doubt that he scored.”

Fox Sports Net had five cameras at the game. A typical Monday night NFL game has 29 cameras.

“I would guarantee [Westlake Coach] Jim Benkert would have been equally upset [if the call went against him],” McCabe said.

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Ryan Mole is out about six weeks because of a broken collarbone for No. 20 Santa Maria Righetti (4-0). His replacement, Mark Melangko, rushed 22 times for 252 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-13 victory over Morro Bay (2-1).

Melangko needed only 12 seconds to end Morro Bay’s shutout streak after two games, scoring on a 58-yard run. The Pirates had outscored their previous three opponents, 79-0.

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For the second time this season, the Morton twins have delivered a touchdown on Riverside North’s first offensive play.

Against perennial power Mater Dei on Friday, Damon Morton, who was double-covered most of the night, was inexplicably alone, and his brother, Dion Morton, connected with him on a 45-yard scoring pass in a 28-10 victory.

The duo also delivered in the season opener on a double-reverse pass.

Actually, the Mortons scored on the first play of all three games for North this season, but a penalty nullified a 67-yard touchdown pass play against Fontana Kaiser two weeks ago.

“The Morton twins,” Coach Lou Randall said, “are just amazing kids.”

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The Morton twins aren’t the only brother combination that scored on their first play from scrimmage this weekend. Corona del Mar’s tandem of quarterback Thomas Welch and receiver Kevin Welch connected on a 76-yarder in the Sea Kings’ 29-14 loss to Newport Harbor on Friday. They later connected on a two-yard score.

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Two weeks ago, Corona Centennial ran only 22 offensive plays in its 70-8 victory over Los Angeles Manual Arts.

On Friday, Centennial rank 20 plays in the first quarter of its 44-40 loss to Clovis West.

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Thousand Oaks added the fumblerooski to its repertoire on Thursday, then ran it twice for touchdowns in a 35-33 victory over Camarillo on Friday.

Jesse Border, a guard for the Lancers, twice scored from 27 yards. The first gave Thousand Oaks a 14-7 halftime lead, and the second was the decisive touchdown with 6:58 left, providing a 35-26 lead.

“At some level you put it in because it’s fun for the kids, they love running it in practice with teammates,” Lancer Coach Mike Sanders said. “It’s not something I put in because I think it’s a guaranteed touchdown. It’s not that kind of play.

“Jesse’s a good athlete, a good football player and he can run. Even my staff was shocked, I think, when we got the turnover in the second half and I said, ‘We need to try that again.’ ”

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Three coaches won the 100th game of their careers over the weekend: Jim Kunau of Orange Lutheran, Myron Miller of Tustin and George Hurley of Newbury Park.

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Hoping to avoid its 11th consecutive loss, Rialto looked primed for an upset of Division VIII power Fontana Kaiser on Friday as it scored 12 points before running an offensive play.

Ryan Grice-Mullins returned the opening kickoff 85 yards, then Jerriman Cole recovered a fumble on Kaiser’s first offensive play and returned it for a 40-yard score.

After that, it was all Kaiser, which won, 48-20.

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After its 58-12 loss to Upland, Moreno Valley Canyon Springs coaches were upset because they felt Upland had run up the score. They didn’t shake hands after the game, but they did exchange words.

The problem: Upland attempted a squib kick with a 45-0 lead in the final minute of the first half. The ball bounced off one of Canyon Springs’ up men and Upland recovered. Because Upland Coach Tim Salter noticed that a Canyon Springs cornerback had come up limping on the kickoff return, he instructed his quarterback to throw a pass in his direction.

“Now that I think about it, we didn’t need to do that up by 45 points,” Salter said. “You pick on a guy if you think he’s hurt, and in the first half we’re not going to hold back. But in hindsight, I probably made a mistake there. If it was the pass play that caused them to feel that way, I’m sorry about it.”

Salter said he wasn’t happy with the short kickoff by his kicker. “He usually kicks it 20-30 yards downfield on a squib. I told him it worked out this time because we recovered, but if we hadn’t gotten the ball back, they would have had the ball at midfield.”

In the second half, Upland’s starting defense was on the field for only one play, Salter said.

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Despite his team’s three-game losing streak, Mater Dei Coach Bruce Rollinson said he was pleased with the Monarchs’ progress against North on Friday.

“We’re ineffective in the red zone right now, and that’s frustrating,” he said. “But overall, I was pleased with our effort. We made some nice plays, and I choose to believe that if we continue to work hard, good things will happen.”

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Three dots and a cloud of dust: Riverside Ramona’s 10-6 victory over Riverside Arlington ended a nine-game losing streak to the Lions dating to 1994.... Running back Jared Duren of Lynwood suffered a hyperextended knee in his team’s 44-0 victory over Compton.... Lawndale Leuzinger rushed for 531 yards in its 44-21 victory over Alta Loma. Jaycen Taylor had 187 yards and three touchdowns in 21 carries, Tory Morgan had 113 yards in 12 carries, and Gerard Armstrong had 104 yards and two touchdowns in eight carries.

Times staff writers Eric Sondheimer, Lauren Peterson and Eric Maddy contributed to this report.