Lake Balboa Birmingham Undergoes a Crash Course

A few years ago, wins proved relatively hollow at Lake Balboa Birmingham. Sure, the Patriots had 10 victories in each of their first two seasons under Coach Ed Croson, but they also lost early in the playoffs. “We weren’t ready to play that physical level of teams,” he said.

So Croson began bolstering Birmingham’s nonleague schedule by calling his buddies: Kevin Rooney at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, Mike Herrington at Newhall Hart and Brian Stiman at Valencia.

“My friends,” Croson said, “so they gave us the opportunity.” Today, the Patriots (0-1) have what is arguably the toughest nonleague schedule in either the City or Southern sections.

Four of their five opponents are ranked by The Times and the fifth is a defending Southern Section champion.

To open the season, Birmingham faces No. 4 Notre Dame, No. 9 Valencia, Encino Crespi, No. 17 Hart and No. 15 Dorsey. Notre Dame and Crespi each won a title last season, Valencia and Dorsey were runners-up.

“These guys give us a great picture of disciplined football.... People are in the right position, and it looks like it’s supposed to look when you’re well-coached,” said Croson, adding that by playing such opponents, it makes it easier for his players to reach that level.

Birmingham won the City title in 2002, the first year it added heavyweight Notre Dame to its schedule. It also won the title last season with a 10-4 record -- no other section champion in the Southland lost more than three games -- against opponents who combined to win a state-best 127 games.

Absent 26 graduated seniors and a few juniors who didn’t pan out, Birmingham started six sophomores on defense and two on offense in its 27-22 loss Friday to Notre Dame, a three-time Southern Section Division III champion. Among the sophomores was Milton Knox, who rushed for 130 yards and two touchdowns. Another score came on junior James Beloff’s 46-yard pass to junior Kevin Armstead.

“We played hard and we played clean football, and we were fairly technically sound,” Croson said. “They played like a team that’s not a City school: under control, didn’t give up.”

The difference was Notre Dame’s Kai Forbath, who kicked field goals of 42 and 57 yards, both in the final 22 seconds of the first half.

“High school isn’t a lifetime sport, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime sport,” said Croson, whose team must contend Friday with Valencia quarterback Michael Herrick. “The exposure you get in front of a big crowd when you play good teams, it’s a big thing. I’m not paid by my record.”

Another City school that isn’t ranked but could be before the season is over is Los Angeles Crenshaw. The Cougars also have one of the Southland’s toughest schedules. They opened the season with a 35-34 loss to No. 21 Woodland Hills Taft, and play at No. 20 Compton Dominguez on Friday before meeting No. 18 Colton, No. 10 Orange Lutheran and Oakland McClymonds.

Long Beach Poly used two quarterbacks against Corona Centennial, passer Millicent Olawale and runner Gabriel Thomas.

Olawale, who was a backup at Concord De La Salle last season, completed seven of 13 passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns, and Thomas completed one of four passes for 37 yards and ran once for a 35-yard touchdown in a 49-27 victory.

“They [provide] two dimensions,” Jackrabbit Coach Raul Lara said, “and now Bellevue has to deal with both dimensions. Not just Bellevue, but everybody that has to play us.”

Poly, ranked No. 2 by The Times and No. 8 nationally by Student Sports, will play Friday at Qwest Field in Seattle against Bellevue, Wash., the No. 7 team in the country. Bellevue, which ended De La Salle’s 151-game winning streak in its first game last season, is on a 24-game winning streak of its own.

Colton had 725 yards of offense -- 455 on the ground -- in a 52-37 win over Vista Rancho Buena Vista on Friday.

The Cal-Hi Sports state record book for single-game yardage includes only four performances ranging from 784 to 912 yards and none are by Southland teams. Though the Southern Section record book doesn’t have a category for total offense, the record for single-game rushing is 736 yards by Life Christian against Twin Pines in 1992.

Shareece Wright rushed eight times for 277 yards, including scores of 57, 56 and 80 yards for No. 18 Colton.

Colton scored on every possession except one, when Bradford ran 35 yards only to fumble at the three-yard line. Wright also had two apparent scores negated by penalties, an 80-yard punt return and a 78-yard run.

Despite those impressive numbers, it was quarterback Brad Sorenson’s seven-for-10 passing performance for 270 yards that evoked the most show of optimism from Coach Harold Strauss.

“I was hoping that would be the area we would improve most on this year,” Strauss said of the passing game. “I think that will make our running game more potent. The trouble is, we gave up 444 yards.”

Whose stock is up? West Covina made a strong case that it will return to the Southern Section Division VII championship game, which it won last season by beating San Antonio League rival West Covina South Hills.

A year ago, West Covina and Pomona Diamond Ranch tied, 7-7, but on Thursday, the Bulldogs scored a 28-12 victory over the Division VIII semifinalist that is supposed to be better than last season.

London Richmond rushed 12 times for 103 yards and three touchdowns, and Tyler Hockenhull carried 10 times for 105 yards as the team ran for 366 yards.

On Friday, West Covina plays host to Monrovia.

Whose stock is down? Hart is 1-0, but a 7-6 victory over Moorpark doesn’t support the kind of preseason expectations most had for the Indians. Either that, or Moorpark’s stock is way up.

Hart quarterback Tyler Lyon was sacked six times, and Coach Herrington said he could think of only two times in 17 seasons that the offense had been so inefficient.

“It was a combination of a lot of different things, nothing major, but nothing was clicking,” he said. “Our offense has to improve a lot over one week.”

The Indians play No. 8 Ventura St. Bonaventure Friday at Ventura High.

Three dots and a cloud of dust: Simi Valley Royal quarterback Kevin Harrington, a senior, broke his non-throwing arm in a 17-12 victory over West Hills Chaminade but is out for the season.... Mission Viejo played twice in five days, following up a 55-36 victory over Issaquah, Wash., in Seattle on Sept. 5 with a 69-17 win at Long Beach Jordan on Friday. Halftime scores were 48-0 and 49-3. Chane Moline has 10 carries for 151 yards and six rushing touchdowns for the Diablos.... Dominguez Coach Willie Donerson is taking no chances of having one of his assistant coaches, ejected in a 39-6 victory over Bloomington, into the facility or even viewing the Dons’ clash Friday against Crenshaw. Said Donerson: “We’ve instructed him to go to the next county.”