Inquiring Minds Get Answers

Two months of summer football workouts have started and here are five important questions to be answered:

Is Matt Barkley of Santa Ana Mater Dei the best Southland quarterback not named Jimmy Clausen?

As a freshman last season, Barkley started 12 of Mater Dei’s 13 games, and the Monarchs might have won the Southern Section Division I championship if he hadn’t been sidelined for the semifinals because of a broken collarbone.

USC fans were disappointed when Clausen of Westlake Village Oaks Christian chose Notre Dame instead of the Trojans as the college he’ll attend, but the 6-foot-2 Barkley could become more than an adequate consolation prize when he becomes available in 2009. Mater Dei Coach Bruce Rollinson plans to open up the offense to take advantage of Barkley’s ability, and the high school that produced Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart can’t wait to see how much Barkley improves.

“He’s really having a lot of fun,” Rollinson said. “When you have a 4.6 student that studies the game of football with the same passion, the sky’s the limit. We want to take the offense to a more sophisticated level and let him run the show from the football field.”

Barkley starts the summer behind Aaron Corp of Orange Lutheran and Samson Szakacsy of Camarillo -- two who have commited to USC -- in the competition for No. 2 quarterback in the Southland behind Clausen, but it would not be surprising to see Barkley rise to that level.

Who are the newcomers ready to make an impact at the varsity level?

Running back Johnathan Franklin of Los Angeles Dorsey was a backup to All-American Stafon Johnson as a sophomore last season. In his few opportunities, Franklin showed he knew how to break tackles and pick up yards.

Outside linebacker Michael Willis of Los Angeles Loyola is a 6-1, 205-pound junior who ran the 100 meters in 11.39 seconds.

Junior Kevin Walker arrives at Arcadia this month from Ashburn, Va. The son of new UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker, he’s a receiver-safety with good speed.

Sophomore Jordan Barrett, a 6-3, 215-pound linebacker, last season became the first freshman to start a varsity game for Westlake Village Westlake. Now he’s ready to take the next step and become a standout.

Sophomore Clark Evans, a 6-2 quarterback, is transferring from Santa Margarita to Los Alamitos, where Coach John Barnes is known for developing top passers.

Why would Jon Mack of Ventura St. Bonaventure and Ed Croson of Lake Balboa Birmingham act as if they wouldn’t mind adding the New England Patriots to their nonleague schedule?

When it comes to coaches who aren’t afraid of competition, Mack and Croson are in a class by themselves. Mack’s five nonleague games are against Southern Section Division II champion Canyon Country Canyon, Division II runner-up Newhall Hart, Santa Fe Springs St. Paul, Division XI champion Oaks Christian and Division X champion Encino Crespi.

Croson has nonleague games scheduled against Division I powerhouse Long Beach Poly, former Division III champion Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, Valencia, Crespi and Dorsey.

“We want to play in big games,” Croson said.

Added Mack: “Tell Ed I’ll trade schedules with him.”

Which first-year coach could produce the greatest improvement for a losing team?

Former Hart offensive coordinator Dean Herrington takes over at Mission Hills Alemany, which was 3-7. Former Woodland Hills Taft defensive coordinator Sean Pollard assumes the head coaching position at Woodland Hills El Camino Real, which was 5-8.

But the rookie coach who figures to pull off the biggest turnaround is former Lakewood coach Mike Christensen, who takes over a Carson program that was 3-8 last season.

Christensen, as Croson did at Birmingham, will bring a Southern Section mentality to the Colts, a longtime City Section power.

“They’ve kind of been beaten down and their expectation level isn’t where it should be,” Christensen said. “We can make the program as good as it could be.”

Is Oaks Christian overrated or underrated?

The Lions are ready to explode or implode on the national scene.

With nine seniors having been offered NCAA Division I-A scholarships, the Lions could be rated No. 1 in Southern California, if not the nation, even though they’ve played in Division XI and have yet to play a traditional powerhouse.

How the Lions perform in a Sept. 22 game against St. Bonaventure could give credibility to their program or result in many wondering whether all the hype is just that.

The big question for Coach Bill Redell is whether his players will be able to maintain focus on their high school goals or lose interest and start preparing for their college days.

It sets the stage for the Lions’ success or failure being one of the most intriguing football stories for 2006.