The view from the Insider

Varsity Times Insider is The Times’ newest blog and a source for observations, news and game coverage. It has been up and running since the season’s start and can be found at latimes.com/highschool.

Here are some excerpts we like to call “Best of the Blog”:

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FROM THE INLAND EMPIRE

I had a 10:30 p.m. deadline to get the Corona Centennial-Crespi game in the paper.

Luckily, it got over at 10:27.

Between the television timeouts and Centennial’s no-huddle offense, which actually slows down the game, it was a long one. But like a good three-hour movie, time flew by.

-- Dan Arritt

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FROM THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY / NORTH

It was probably the greatest catch in Saugus history and Coach Jason Bornn didn’t even see it.

“I saw Desi [Rodriguez] throw the ball up, but I couldn’t watch what would happen,” Bornn said. “I just waited for the crowd to react and when I heard something, I turned my head and saw the ref was holding his hands up. . . . I missed it, but what I did see will stay stuck in my mind.”

I’m sure Bornn is probably feeling a little regret for missing Chris Aaron’s game-winning, 46-yard TD catch with no time left on the clock, but at least he knows his guys are capable of challenging some of the area’s top teams with their 33-28 upset of perennial power Westlake Village Westlake.

The envy of all DI scouts, St. Bonaventure RB Darrell Scott, could only smile and laugh when the topic of his future came up after the No. 6 Seraphs’ 28-17 nonleague victory over No. 21 Canyon at Ventura High.

Mention USC and LSU, and Scott maintains a face as if he’s considering their offers seriously, but If you mention Florida to him . . . you know, the university located in the same state as his childhood hometown of Tallahassee, the 6-foot-2, 214-pound RB laughs like a schoolboy.

“I can’t say that’s where I’m going,” said Scott, while laughing. “You know, nothing’s official yet.”

-- Austin Knoblauch

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FROM THE L.A. CITY SECTION

Dominique Blackman will get a chance to regain the job he nearly threw away over the summer.

The Carson senior was set to be the Colts’ starting quarterback until he was suspended during the summer by Coach Michael Christensen for violating team rules.

Blackman missed Carson’s Sept. 7 season opener, a 14-0 loss to Aurora (Colo.) Grandview, but did play briefly Friday in the Colts’ 19-6 win over Redlands.

Carson will play Long Beach Poly on Friday at Veterans Stadium.

Yes, it is still frightfully early in the 2007 football season, but only two teams are being talked about as City Championship title contenders: Birmingham and Venice.

However, Dorsey has just entered the conversation in a big way after knocking off No. 14 Santa Margarita, 12-7, on Friday at home. . . .

“We’ve been under the radar, and nobody’s said a word about us,” Dons Coach Paul Knox said. “And we told the kids, ‘If you want to be mentioned in a championship run, here was an opportunity to step forward.’ ”

-- Mike Terry

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FROM L.A. COUNTY

Fox Sports Network hoped to televise Long Beach Poly’s intersectional game against visiting Carson on Friday, but Poly officials turned down the opportunity in hopes of drawing as large a crowd as possible to Veterans Stadium. . . .

All I can say is this: Touchdown!

In this day and age of highlight reels and overexposure, that was an inspired move, made for the benefit of a school doing its best to take advantage of a high-profile football matchup in the most positive and productive manner possible.

--Lauren Peterson

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FROM ORANGE COUNTY

What is up with Santa Margarita? The Eagles, you’ll remember, shut down St. Bonaventure’s Darrell Scott in the opener before blowing a 14-point lead in the final four minutes. So, as a frame of reference, they shut down one of the most highly prized running backs in the country, but . . . gave up 268 yards rushing -- including an 85-yard scoring run -- to Jonathan Franklin in a 12-7 loss to host Dorsey on Friday night.

-- Martin Henderson

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FROM THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY

In true T.J. Simers mode, today’s last word belongs to Tartan Fan of Glendora: “Jaime, top rated team in the SGV is Glendora . . . check out CalPreps. You need to check out this team, they look like a college team and may be about to have a monster year.”

We’ll see. I still think Los Altos is the top dog in the SGV right now. Both teams play Damien and Charter Oak during their seasons, so those games could provide the perfect tiebreaker.

--Jaime Cardenas

For more Varsity Times Insider, visit www.latimes.com/sports/highschool.