Banning Pilots moving in right direction with 3-0 start

It has been 16 years since 12-time champion Banning High School last won a City Section football title. The Pilots had been replaced by Narbonne, San Pedro and Carson as the powers in the Marine League. But under fourth-year Coach John Aponte, there’s signs of a Banning comeback.

The Pilots are 3-0 after a 50-18 win Friday over Long Beach Millikan. Aponte, a former Marine, has brought discipline and stability to the Pilots’ program.

“We’re going to keep riding this wave,” he said. “Everything is preparation for league. We’re on the right track.”

Joe Villarreal scored three touchdowns and quarterback Myles Porter passed for three touchdowns on Friday night.

Banning has some huge games ahead, such as playing San Pedro on Oct. 22 at the Coliseum and facing Narbonne in its regular-season finale on Nov. 4.

Two other City Section teams are on the rise — Westchester (3-0) and Grant (3-0). Westchester’s record the last four seasons was 3-8, 2-8, 2-8, 2-8. But second-year Coach Wyatt Henderson sees a turnaround.

“I’ve always believed in this team,” he said after the Comets routed Sun Valley Poly, 62-7. “They bought in.”

Quarterback Jonathan Murphy had three touchdown passes and ran for one. Chayel Flowers returned a fumble for a touchdown.

Fight stops game: The game between Santa Fe Springs St. Paul and Riverside Notre Dame was halted in the third quarter with 7:35 left by the officials after a brawl erupted. St. Paul led, 17-0.

The Southern Section is waiting for the officials’ report to decide what happens next. St. Paul Athletic Director Mary Anderson said she was also waiting to see the report. Fans stayed off the field, she said.

City team in trouble: Los Angeles Dymally forfeited its scheduled game against Pasadena Poly on Friday, and the season will be canceled if the school can’t play its scheduled game against Manual Arts next week, City Section Commissioner John Aguirre said.

The third-year football program has had a problem getting players to participate, Aguirre said. Dymally’s head coach, Miguel Padilla, hired last May, said he resigned two weeks ago when he had only five players out for practice.

Matt who? Santa Ana Mater Dei has produced NFL quarterbacks Matt Barkley and Matt Leinart, but those two could be taking a backseat soon, considering the performances being turned in by sophomore J.T. Daniels.

In his latest effort, Daniels completed 30 of 37 passes for 403 yards and five touchdowns in a 48-0 win over La Mirada. He has 17 touchdown passes in three games.

Streak ends: Newbury Park quarterback Cameron Rising came into Friday’s game against Westlake Village Westlake having not thrown an interception in 341 pass attempts. On his second attempt, he was intercepted. He had three passes intercepted on the night.

But Rising is all about wins, and he helped the Panthers overcome a 20-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Warriors, 43-40. He passed for 210 yards and ran for 127 yards.

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

Twitter: latsondheimer