Recently in Football Category

Two days after news broke about former Crespi High of Encino standout tight end Joe Fauria being suspended for his upcoming sophomore season at University of Notre Dame, Fauria has been granted a requested release from the Fighting Irish with plans to transfer to another major-college football program.

"I just want everyone to know that I'm not transferring for football reasons. Notre Dame has always been good to me," Fauria said. "I was supposed to be the No. 2 tight end, which means I wasn't going to be the starter, but I was still going to play a lot."

Fauria, a 6-foot-7, 245-pounder who was among the nation's top recruits prior to last season, admitted he was being punished for a disciplinary infraction several months ago but did not elaborate.

"I don't want to go into great detail, but the truth was I was mistreated. The punishment did not fit the crime," Fauria said. "Anyone who knows me knows I'm a funloving guy. ... I'm going to miss my teammates and my friends. I worked hard and I battled (alongside) those guys."

As a freshman, Fauria played sparingly, appearing in three games without catching a pass.

In Notre Dame's annual spring scrimmage this past April, he caught two passes for 17 yards.

Fauria, who said he has a 3.0 grade-point average, is hoping to land at a Pacific-10 university, but nothing is certain.

"I don't know where I'm going to end up," he said.

One thing for sure is Fauria has strong bloodlines. His uncle, Christian, played 13 NFL seasons. Two other uncles, Lance and Quinn, played college football, and his mother, Julie, was a top women's basketball player at College of the Canyons.

At Crespi, Fauria caught 35 passes for 518 yards and five touchdowns and recorded five sacks as a senior. He was also standout in basketball, volleyball and track.

-- Gerry Gittelson

Crespi of Encino football player Blake Stanton is concentrating on football this summer but was at Fairfax High Wednesday night supporting his basketball teamates.

Stanton told me he is taking a trip to Arizona next week and lists Arizona, Oregon, Washington, UCLA and Boise St. as his top five. He also said UNLV is in the mix.

Stay tuned............

Joe Frank, a returning 6-4, 290-pound offensive lineman from Moorpark High, has committed to Air Force.

-- Gerry Gittelson

It's been a good couple of days for local quarterbacks. Moorpark's Brian Blechen committed to Utah today one day after Crespi's Bryan Bennett committed to Oregon.

-- Gerry Gittelson

Bryan Bennett, a Crespi senior who is among the area's top returning quarterbacks, has committed to Oregon. Bennett, 6-foot-3, has passed for more than 1,000 yards in each of first two seasons.

-- Gerry Gittelson

Lance Martin, who coached foootball at Calabasas last season, has been named to the same position at Simi Valley.

Martin replaces Todd Borowski, who left to take the athletic director position at Chamiande of West Hills.

After considering more than 14 colleges and visitng a dozen or so, Oaks Christian of Westlake Village quarterback Nick Montana has settled on one.

Montana committed to the University of Washington and its new coach Steve Sarkissian.

Montana's pledge comes on the heels of a visit he took last weekend.

Bill Redell, coach at Oaks Christian, weighed in on Montana's decision.

"I think (Steve) Sarkissian being there was the most influencing factor, Redell said. "He (Nick) was impressed with the coaching staff, facilities and the committment to bringing in top players."

Montana had many programs coming after him, including Georgia, Ohio St., Florida, LSU and Alabama to name a few.

"Washington has been down the last couple years and it is a situation where they need to bounce back but Nick can go in there and comeopete right away," Redell said.

Montana will team with Malcolm Jones, Zac Stout, Cassius Marsh, Erik Kohler and a host of other talented Oaks Christian teammates this upcoming season to try and go after the schools seventh consecutive section championship.

Expect a breakout performance Sunday from Saugus running back Ryan Zirbel in the 13th annual Daily News East-West All-Star Football Game at Birmingham High in Lake Balboa. Kickoff is 3:30 p.m.

After rushing for more than 5,200 yards and scoring 79 touchdowns in his three-year career, Zirbel should be the dominant player for the East team based on his performance Tuesday in a practice scrimmage.

"Ryan was unbelievable. He looked really good," said East coach Dean Herrington of Alemany of Mission Hills. "He's a pretty impressive player. On one play, he scored on a 60-yard touchdown and was weaving across the field."

Perhaps Zirbel has a chip on his shoulder, too. The 5-foot-10, 190-pounder turned down his only scholarship offer to Portland State, partly because he expected more offers. But none came, so he plans to play JC football at College of the Canyons in Valencia and has been working out there the past few weeks with the Cougars.

For the West, among those who have impressed are quarterbacks Jordan Adamczyk (Canyon) and Morey Croson (Birmingham), running backs Trevion Johnson(North Hollywood) and Nick Bruce (Taft), receiver Ronald McCrory (Chaminade), offensive linemen Japeth Gordon (Canyon), Chris Costello (Crespi) and Andres Alvarez (Crespi), linebacker Chris Carter (Crespi), defensive back Oliver Johnson (Taft) and defensive lineman Timote Tonga (Birmingham).

Trevion Johnson, who is slated to start at running back for the West, could be an X factor. He's just 5-foot-4 and weighs 160 pounds but rushed for nearly 2,000 yards and scored 25 touchdowns this past season for the Huskies - including 377 yards in one game - but never received much publicity because North Hollywood won just three games and failed to make the City playoffs despite participating in one of the Valley area's weakest leagues.

"Trevion is just a little guy but he can really play. I like him a lot," said West coach Ed Croson of Chaminade.

-- Gerry Gittelson

Three of Crespi's top returning players received scholarship offers today from Wyoming -- quarterback Bryan Bennett, defensive lineman Hroniss Grasu and tight end Pierce Richardson.

-- Gerry Gittelson

Trajuan Briggs,a junior at Birmingham of Lake Balboa who is among the area's top returning running backs, has committed to USC.

-- Gerry Gittelson