Quarterback Sudol Works on Run Game

Last year, his first as coach at Riverside La Sierra, Tony Barile mandated his skill players participate on the school’s track team in the spring. Sean Sudol didn’t stop there. The junior quarterback is running this fall with the junior varsity cross-country team.

Bored with football over the summer, and having a girlfriend on the cross-country team, Sudol ran “two or three times a week,” Barile said.

“It’s just his competitive nature, wanting to do something different. The cross-country coach told me he could have been one of the top 10 guys if that’s what he focused on.”

On Wednesday, Sudol finished 17th among 40 runners on a three-mile course, then attended football practice. On Friday, he passed for five touchdowns in the first half of a 50-14 victory over Chino Don Lugo.

The Eagles, 2-8 last season and 1-9 each of the previous nine years, are 3-0.

“He has always been a heady quarterback, always scrambled well, but this year there’s a complete difference in strength and speed,” Barile said. “He’s not going down with first contact, makes some nice moves, and runs so much stronger. It’s night and day.”

*

Brandis Dew of Hemet is on pace to rewrite the record book. Dew passed for eight touchdowns, five in the first half, in a 55-13 victory over San Bernardino. The state record is 10.

The section’s season record is 63 touchdowns in 1999 by Robert De La Cruz of Los Angeles Cathedral. He also had 61 touchdown passes in 1998, when Kyle Boller of Newhall Hart threw 59.

With 19 touchdown passes in three games -- he completed 19 of 27 passes for 448 yards against the Cardinals -- Dew is on pace to match the record without the benefit of playoff games.

*

The 54 passes by Mike Anderson of Irvine Woodbridge was the seventh-most in a Southern Section game. He completed 30 for 412 yards but had only one touchdown in a 28-23 loss to Irvine University.

Anderson’s counterpart, Steve Crooks, completed 12 of 33 passes for 294 yards and four touchdowns.

The section record for pass attempts is 59 by Pat Haden of La Puente Bishop Amat in 1970 and Nick Czernek of Newbury Park in 1998.

*

Three dots and a cloud of dust: Mission Viejo’s Mark Sanchez was nine for nine for 203 yards and a touchdown in a 50-0 victory over Huntington Beach Marina.... Emerging as one of the best two-way starters in the City Section is Eddie Gomez of Woodland Hills El Camino Real (2-1). He has rushed for 621 yards, scored five touchdowns and has contributed as a pass defender.... Steve Anderson of Aliso Niguel had five sacks in a 21-10 win over Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley.

Agoura was beginning to look like one of the better teams in the Southland, but quarterback Cory Smits was sacked nine times and the Chargers lost to Oxnard Rio Mesa, 36-16. Smits still passed for 322 yards. Rio Mesa is 3-0 for the first time since 1997.... After its 31-13 victory over Crescenta Valley, Saugus is 3-0. In each of the last two seasons, the Centurions won two games.... Thousand Oaks is 3-0 for the first time in 13 years after its 24-8 victory over Camarillo; its defense has allowed 21 points.

Marc Tyler, a sophomore running back, scored touchdowns four different ways for Westlake Village Oaks Christian in a 66-36 victory over Burbank. He had a 60-yard reception, a 28-yard run, a 50-yard fumble recovery return and an 86-yard kickoff return.

Times staff writer Eric Sondheimer contributed to this report.

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Aerial Pursuit

Brandis Dew of Hemet completed eight touchdown passes Friday night to tie nine others for third on the state’s single-game list:

*--* Player, School TD Opp., Score Yr. David Koral, Palisades 10 Kilpatrick, 69-44 1999 Robert de la Cruz, Cathedral 9 St. Genevieve, 67-38 1998 John Paye, Atherton Menlo 8 Santa Cruz Marello, 58-12 1982 Mike Smith, Los Altos 8 Rowland, 56-0 1982 Kevin Tinney, Sac. Kennedy 8 Rancho Cordova, 55-21 1987 Jim McKinley, Atherton Menlo 8 Calistoga, 56-28 1988 Dave Barr, Concord 8 Pleasant Hill College Park, 1989 60-0 Santiago Alvarez, L.A. 8 Verdugo Hills, 57-0 1989 Franklin Robert de la Cruz, Cathedral 8 Murphy, 58-34 1998 David Koral, Palisades 8 Fairfax. 61-6 1999 Jake Santos, S.D. St. 8 S.D. Scripps Ranch, 62-10 2003 Augustine Brandis Hew, Hemet 8 San Bernardino, 55-13 2004

*--*