September 2008 Archives

West Torrance took care of North Torrance in four games on Tuesday, rallying after dropping the first game.

Lindsey Walsh had another big game, but the Warriors spread it around a little more than they did in a five-game comeback over Torrance last week.

West improved to 8-2 on the season, including big victories over crosstown rivals North Torrance and Torrance of the Pioneer League.

In almost any other league, West might be considered a league favorite. Unfortunately it has to battle it out in arguably the state's toughest league with Mira Costa, Redondo, Peninsula and Palos Verdes, where even making the playoffs is a remarkable feat.

But at least they are building momentum for a run at a league playoff berth.

The Daily Breeze is going to start running stat leaders this coming week. Coaches, please get your stats to the Breeze by Tuesday at noon.

If you are updating your stats on maxpreps.com, we can get those from the Web site. But if your team isn't updating on maxpreps, then we need you to either fax your stats to 310-540-6272 or email to tony.ciniglio@dailybreeze.com. Please provide rushing, passing, receiving, sacks and interceptions and make sure all the sub-categories are covered (ie carries, TDs, XX-for-XX passing, INTs, catches).

Players and parents, please make sure the coaches at your school are aware of this request so your team can be part of our stats package.

OK, when the football schedules came out, who else thought the Banning-San Pedro football game on Halloween Night was going to be an issue?

Apparently the San Pedro High administration.

The Pirates have decided to move the game to Thursday, Oct. 30 at San Pedro due to "safety" concerns, according to the San Pedro administration.

Was this a good move by San Pedro? Would there be issues if this game was on Halloween? Or do you think there will still be issues on Oct. 30? Discuss.

Week 3 is in the books, and the South Bay football scene is starting to shape up. Here's the latest take on South Bay football.

Biggest statement: Narbonne. The Gauchos went up against a good Mira Costa team coming off a road win at Esperanza and made them look, well, like Hamilton. The Gaucho defense, the backbone of this team, was too much for Mira Costa, and quarterback Josh Moten made all the right plays. Narbonne won, 38-14, this time not letting Mira Costa make its usual second-half comeback.

Biggest surprise: Kudos to South Torrance, which surprised Palos Verdes in overtime in a battle of winless teams. Running back John White had a huge game, scoring five touchdowns (three rushing, two receiving), including the game-winner in overtime in a 41-35 win. The good news for Palos Verdes is that it finally scored, but an 0-3 start should be alarming for this would-be Bay League title contender.

Biggest bounceback: West Torrance reasserted its authority with a 30-6 shellacking of previously unbeaten Bishop Montgomery (yeah, that's a strange description of the Knights). West picked off Bishop quarterback Brian Cabanas four times and was not about to let Bishop go 3-0 at its expense.

Honorable mention goes to Peninsula, which averted an 0-3 start with a 21-20 win at Palisades, giving co-coaches Adam Boyd and Kevin Moen their first win. But a one-point victory at Palisades shows the Panthers have a lot of work still ahead of them.

Strong Marine League showing: In addition to Narbonne's one-sided victory, San Pedro and Banning beat quality L.A. City Section opponents in Garfield and San Fernando. Carson held its own against powerhouse Long Beach Poly in a 14-0 loss, and even Gardena nearly pulled a stunner in a 21-20 loss to unbeaten Culver City. And don't forget dangerous Washington pulled out an 8-7 win at Westchester.

High-flying Lawndale: Yes, those mighty Cardinals were at it again, scoring 55 points in another easy victory over Firebaugh. It's fun watching Lawndale put up a ton of points, but be aware that the Cardinals went 0-for-the-Pioner League after posting impressive scores in a 4-1 start last year.

Top to bottom: Serra, Narbonne, San Pedro, Torrance, North Torrance and Lawndale are among the area's unbeatens. Palos Verdes is the lone winless team in the South Bay after several programs (West, South Torrance, Peninsula, St. Bernard in particular) posted their first wins. Who would've thought that?

NONLEAGUE

Narbonne 38, Mira Costa 14
Long Beach Poly 14, Carson 0
San Pedro 24, Garfield 3
Serra 48, Redondo 28
Torrance 49, Hawthorne 0
Peninsula 22, Palisades 21
West Torrance 30, Bishop Montgomery 6
Lawndale 55, Firebaugh 6
El Segundo 53, Mary Star 10
Culver City 21, Gardena 20
Leuzinger 46, Antelope Valley 8
South Torrance 41, Palos Verdes 35, OT
Washington 8, Westchester 7
St. Bernard 34, Brentwood 21
Morningside 51, Panorama 0

Narbonne 38, Mira Costa 14
Long Beach Poly 14, Carson 0
San Pedro 24, Garfield 3
Serra 48, Redondo 28
Torrance 49, Hawthorne 0
Peninsula 22, Palisades 21
Lawndale 55, Firebaugh 6
El Segundo 53, Mary Star 10
Culver City 21, Gardena 20
Leuzinger 46, Antelope Valley 8
South Torrance 41, Palos Verdes 35, OT

Carson and Long Beach Poly are in a scoreless tie at halftime ...

Narbonne is shutting out Mira Costa, 17-0 ... Robin Anicete has a pair of sacks, Sean Parker has a fumble recovery that set up a field goal, Bryan Douglas has an interception.

In a notable girls volleyball match, South Torrance won at Redondo, 17-25, 25-21, 26-24, 25-23.

Facing a hostile road environment, the Mira Costa girls volleyball team held on for a 25-13, 25-22, 16-25, 16-26, 15-12 nonleague victory at Los Alamitos on Thursday, beating the Griffins for the second time in five days.

Falyn Fonoimoana had 27 kills, 13 digs, two aces and some key blocks in the fifth game for Mira Costa. Sheridan Taylor added 11 kills and five digs. Alyssa Anderson had 50 assists, four kills and nine digs, Andi Zbojniewicz added 25 digs and Alex McBride had four kills and three digs.

Anderson and Zbojniewicz served tough in the fifth game to help Mira Costa (8-2) get over the hump.

"They had a nice crowd, and to get behind and give up momentum in the middle of the match is tough," Mira Costa coach Lisa Zimmerman said. "It was a big win to pull together, to believe in each other and to make the big plays when we needed too."

OK, so Palos Verdes freshman Rebecca Mehra won the rated race at the Woodbridge Invitaitonal in Irvine last Saturday, so she wasn't going to sneak up on anyone.

But that didn't make her performance at Thursday's opening Bay League meet any less impressive.

Mehra rallied past Redondo's Chloe Curtis and secured a second-place finish in 19 minutes, 46 seconds on the Palos Verdes course, 20 seconds behind Mira Costa's Savannah Pio. It was particularly impressive since Mehra said she is battling tendonitis in both her hips.

"My team put me at the front of the (starting) line because I won the rated race at Woodbridge, but I didn't know how I'd do," Mehra said. "It was pretty fun to race against fast people like Savannah and Chloe. I was really happy with how I did."

Leuzinger's Jose Lezama may be the reigning Daily Breeze Runner of the Year, but there was a chance that Leuzinger's cross country program was not going to take off this year.

The Centinela Valley Unified School District had canceled all non-football fall sports in its high schools, but Coach Erich Tucker and Lezama found a way to continue competing this year by raising their own funds to compete.

Tucker took the job on a volunteer basis, and Lezama received a major boost from one of his old P.E. teachers to keep him running.

Jesus Mejia, a P.E. teacher at Roosevelt Elementary School in Lawndale, was Lezama's biggest contributor, donating $100 to the Keep Lezama running fund.

Lezama took third at the opening Bay League meet Thursday in 17 minutes, 3 seconds at the rugged three-mile Palos Verdes course, finishing behind Redondo twins Cody Schmidt (16:12) and Simon Schmidt (16:32).

"They ran a good race, and now I know I need to start working even harder," Lezama said.

We have a new fan-friendly feature on the prep portion of the Daily Breeze Web site: a prep football schedule/results for all South Bay varsity programs, searchable by school, week or league. Go ahead and try it out ...

www.dailybreeze.com/prepschedule

Don't look now, but Harbor College is back in the limelight in men's soccer.

The Seahawks are 10-1 after a 5-1 nonconference win at Citrus on Wednesday, and they already have more wins than last season. Harbor is gearing up for its South Coast Conference showdown on Oct. 3 against Mt. San Antonio College.

Little Animo High from Inglewood has made a major impact for Harbor. Tiburcio Casillas scored twice against Citrus and has six goals on the season. Johnny Aleman has also been a big factor.

Maybe that's the secret for Harbor College allowing Animo's football and soccer teams to use the college's sparkling new facilities.

Palos Verdes has established itself as the South Bay's top team so far this year, racing to a 3-0 start with quality wins over Harvard-Westlake, Campbell Hall, and Wednesday's 13-5 win over CAMS.

Kathryn Webb and Brooke Schweyer are simply electric in singles, and the No. 1 doubles team of Alex Scotten, pictured on the right, and Charlotte Newell is quite formidable as well.

The scary part? Palos Verdes isn't even playing at full strength yet. Tiffany Jue and Austin Ruth have both been sidelined by injuries and are expected to return soon.

"So far, so good for the preseason," PV coach Danny Moscovici said. "We're still looking to get better and better as the season goes along. When (Jue and Ruth) join the team, we should be fully healthy and in full force."

Come on South Bay fans, let's hear it. Is PV the team to beat in the South Bay? Can they be stopped?

The Hangar Basketball Association will host some of the best boys and girls boys basketball teams in Southern California at its facility in Hawthorne.

And North Torrance is among the teams participating.

Every weekend for the next eight weeks, teams will convene at the Hangar Athletic Xchange (3203 Jack Northrop Ave.) in Hawthorne in what is being described as an NCAA-style tournament. The league will hand out weekly MVP prizes and host all-star games at the end of the tournament.

The list of teams includes a veritable Who's Who from Southern California, including Compton, Windward, Taft, San Diego, Dorsey, Pasadena, West Valley, Compton/Centennial, Villa Park, LB Jordan, San Bernardino, Dominguez, Pasadena Muir, La Verne Lutheran, Riverside/King, Corona/Centennial, Hamilton, and Foothill among others.

Schedules of all the games will be posted at www.HAXLA.com. Maybe this will give North the push it needs for another run at another Pioneer League title.

Westchester's football game against Washington on Friday has been turned into a home game of sorts.

In response to a shooting that wounded two people after Washington's home game against University last week, L.A. City Section officials decided to move this week's game to Westchester, though it will still start at 3 p.m.

Westchester is 1-1 on the season, having swamped Manual Arts before getting the same treatment from Taft last week. Washington is 1-1 as well, having bounced back from a season-opening loss to Hamilton by throttling University last week.

Don't worry: extra security will be in place, according to L.A. City officials.

For all those looking forward to the girls volleyball showdown between Redondo and South Torrance on Thursday, it looks like you'll have to wait a day.

Redondo moved the match to Friday at 4:30 p.m. to accomodate Back to School Night on Thursday.

Unfortunately this match is now competing with Friday night football, but it should still be one of the better nonleague matches of the season between two of the area's top programs.

South took fifth place in the Gahr Tournament while Redondo took ninth place, so expect an intense match. South's Jackie Landers and Redondo's Lara Dykstra are without a doubt two of the best players in the South Bay.

Rolling Hills Prep has hired Ryan Silver as its new basketball coach, Athletic Director Brian Knigin said Monday.

Silver, a Malibu High graduate, served as an assistant coach at Newport Harbor, El Segundo and Lawndale and is taking on his first head coaching position.

Knigin, the school's former basketball coach, said he loves Silver's energy and enthusiasm.

"He's ready to rock and roll," Knigin said. "We know it's a rebuilding year, and it's kind of like (Rick) Neuheisel at UCLA -- not a lot left in the cupboard for this year. But I think Ryan will help build us back up pretty quickly."

BEST OF WEEK 2: Leuzinger posted perhaps the biggest surprise of the night, knocking off Banning, 26-20. Leuzinger was absolutely destroyed in Week 1 by Santa Monica, but took down one of the Marine League's ferocious four teams to show its resiliency. The 1-2 punch of Raynard Westbrook and Johnny Davis delivered in the backfield for Leuzinger, which showed once again it plans on contending for the Bay League title.

Honorable mention goes to Mira Costa, which went on the road and beat Esperanza, 14-9, behind an impressive defensive effort. This gives the resurgent Mustangs some firepower heading into next week's showdown with Narbonne. The Bay League certainly came back strong after an abyssmal Week 1, though three Bay League teams are still winless.

MOST DRAMATIC: Carson winning its first game on 30-yard touchdown from Daniel Torres to Austin Doston with 10 seconds left, helping the Colts avert an unimaginable 0-3 start. Torres led an impressive 75-yard drive in the final 1:39. Every Carson game has come down to the wire this time, and it's nice to see the Colts finally deliver.

ANOTHER BOUNCEBACK: Redondo got into the win column by overwhelming Millikan of the all mighty Moore League. Redondo has been plagued by injuries, but Coach Gene Simon always has the Sea Hawks prepared for anything. And quarterback Chris Mares has certainly been impressive after taking over for the injured Erik Wilson.

STANDING TALL: Torrance certainly brought West Torrance to its knees. After getting absolutely demolished in the last two years by West, Torrance delivered the knockout blow this year behind Michael Andrews, who had two long TD runs. And with North at 3-0 after romping Hawthorne, look out for what should be an exciting Pioneer League race.

TENACIOUS D: San Pedro certainly bullied Palos Verdes' offense. Alonzo Lefridge made four sacks, and the Pirates controlled the game with their stellar defense. And when isn't Robert Franco in on a play for the Pirates?

POINT TAKEN: OK, Lawndale, we get it. You guys can score, at least against 0-3 Sierra Vista. Lawndale's wing-T attack racked up 74 yards in what easily is the South Bay high of the season, a distinction they will likely hold for the rest of the year. Carlton Calloway absolutely loves Sierra Vista.

TOP TO BOTTOM: North Torrance, Torrance, San Pedro, Narbonne, Bishop Montgomery and Culver City are all unbeaten after the first two weeks of the season. Hawthorne, Palos Verdes, West Torrance, Peninsula, South Torrance and St. Bernard are the winless wonders so far.

INTERSECTIONAL

Nonleague
San Pedro 12, Palos Verdes 0
Leuzinger 26, Banning 20
Carson 20, Redlands 13
Grant 26, Morningside 21

L.A. CITY SECTION
Nonleague
Narbonne 33, Hamilton 0
Marshall 18, Gardena 7
Taft 49, Westchester 19

CIF SOUTHERN SECTION
Nonleague

Torrance 13, West Torrance 12
North Torrance 50, Hawthorne 14
Culver City 33, Peninsula 14
Cathedral 41, El Segundo 21
Serra 53, San Gabriel 0
Burroughs/Burbank 30, South Torrance 7
Mira Costa 14, Esperanza 9
Redondo 31, Millikan 16
Bishop Montgomery 44, Santa Ana Valley 14
Lawndale 74, Sierra Vista 21
Valley Christian/Cerritos 20, St. Bernard 14
Inglewood 33, Kilpatrick 8

Torrance 13, West Torrance 12
Lawndale 74, Sierra Vista 21
North Torrance 50, Hawthorne 14
Grant 26, Morningside 21

NONLEAGUE
San Pedro 12, Palos Verdes 0
Carson 20, Redlands 13 (Colts score on a TD in final minute for win)
Narbonne 33, Hamilton 0
Mira Costa 14, Esperanza 9
Inglewood 33, Kilpatrick 8
Burroughs/Burbank 30, South Torrance 7

Leuzinger, looking to bounce back from last week's debacle against Santa Monica, took a 13-0 lead over Banning and currently leads the Pilots, 13-7 at the half.

Bishop Montgomery, trying for a surprising 2-0 start, stormed out to a 31-7 halftime lead over Santa Ana Valley at the half.

It appears that Mira Costa has an edge on Esperanza, leading 14-3 at halftime at Placentia High.

Inglewood is holding a slim 7-0 lead over Kilpatrick at halftime.

Narbonne defensive back Sean Parker, already offered by Stanford earlier in the week, received an offer from Colorado.

Sure looks like Parker is going to have a nice selection of schools to choose from before this recruiting process is over.

Parker and the Gauchos host Hamilton in a nonleague game tonight as a primer for their showdown against Mira Costa next week.

On "International Talk Like a Pirate Day" ... The San Pedro Pirates batten down the hatches and make the PV Sea Kings walk the plank, 12-0 ...

Congratulations to former Narbonne High standout Ebony Hoffman, who was honored as the WNBA's Most Improved Player on Friday, earning 31 of the 44 votes from a national media panel.

Hoffman, a 6-foot-2 forward who starred at USC before being drafted by the Indiana Fever, received the trophy from league president Donna Orender on Friday before the Eastern Conference semifinal against Detroit.

Chicago's Jia Perkins finished second with five votes and New York's Shameka Christon
was third with two votes.

"This is a big moment for me," said Hoffman, who averaged career highs this season in
points (10.4), rebounds (7.8), assists (1.8), steals (1.4), field goal percentage
(46.5) and 3-point percentage (45.6).

Hoffman is the fifth player in league history, and first in four seasons, to finish among the top
five players in rebounds per game and 3-point percentage in the same season.

"My husband (Ronald Cass) told me if I just dug a little deeper and a little harder this year,
every dream I have will come true," said Hoffman, who was drafted ninth overall by Indiana
in 2004.

During the news conference, Hoffman became emotional and started to cry.

"This is the Ebony you won't see on the court tonight," she joked.

Hoffman wasn't the only former South Bay hoops standout to earn an award on Friday.

L.A. Sparks center Lisa Leslie, a former Morningside High standout, was named the Defensive Player of the Year. Leslie picked up her fourth Olympic gold medal last month in Beijing.

No surprise: Carson-Banning by a considerable margin. It has the history, the proximity and just the right amount of bitterness to make all the other South Bay rivalries pale in comparison.

These teams were the class of the L.A. City Section in the 1970s and 1980s, combining for 14 titles between Carson coach Gene Vollnogle and Banning coach Chris Ferragamo, who's in his second tour of duty with the Pilots. The rivals met 10 times for the City title, and both teams had future college and NFL stars. At times, they were even fighting for a mythical national title.

The games would be moved to El Camino College, East L.A. College or Long Beach Veteran's Stadium, and the coaches reminisce about how 20,000 people used to pack the stadiums to watch these two powerhouses

Though both programs still clamor for a return to the glory days, the Carson-Banning rivalry is still as strong as ever. Carson leads the overall rivalry, 36-22, having won the last eight games since Banning's stunning 26-10 victory over Carson in the 2000 City title game. But it should be noted that most of the games come down to the wire and are rarely one-sided. Carson travels to Banning this year on Nov. 7.

Just the mere mention of Carson-Banning is enough to light up the message boards, if last year's fight over the location of the quarterfinal game is any indication. And there wasn't an empty seat to be found at Carson.

For this poll, the Daily Breeze message boards were filled with the usual Carson-Banning fans, coming out to defend their team's honor in colorful terms. A poster identified as pilotfan1 wrote the most succinct and accurate portrayal of the rivalry:

"Banning vs. Carson most definitely. Not just because of the 70's and 80's either. Ever since then, it doesn't mattter who's more talented of a team. When these two play, it's always a close game coming down to the wire."

Just to show how much the Carson-Banning rivalry means to its fans, Banning gets offended if anyone considers the Banning-San Pedro matchup - the No. 4 rivalry according to South Bay voters - a rivalry. As poster TFK so eloquently states:

"Banning vs. San Pedro! NO. I went to Banning. We never thought of San Pedro as a rival, only a stepping stone! Our true rival is Carson!"

It even has the respect of people who graduated from other schools. Self-described Narbonne, Bishop Montgomery and West Torrance fans admitted that they make sure to watch the Carson-Banning game every year.

My favorite: A poster identified as NinaNani of Lomita wrote:

"I'm an alumnus of Narbonne High School, but the biggest game to see was Banning vs. Carson most definitely! It was exciting, and I always looked forward to seeing the games at Long Beach Veterans Stadium. My aunts and uncles would bring in their spiked coffee to watch the games. It brings back a lot of fun memories."

A poster identified as USC Steve said:

"I went to Bishop Montgomery and made sure I went to that Carson-Banning game every year. Bishop Montgomery football is brutal to watch"

Another poster who identified himself as a West Torrance graduate added:

"You see a lot more players being looked at by college scouts playing on one of those teams compared to playing on some second-rate Torrance team."

Even the homepage for the Carson football team calls the rivalry "legendary" and added this snippet, showing the rivalry doesn't stop when the whistle blows.

A word from the loyal opposition: a Carson citizen who went to Banning High asked me to point out, that in her opinion, "at halftime of the football games, no matter what the score on the board is, Banning's band always wins the battle of the bands and spirit."

And what would a Carson-Banning game be without the "So proud to be a Pilot" or "So proud to be a Colt" songs.

The biggest surprise here was the second biggest rivalry: Leuzinger vs. Hawthorne. This has to be based on tradition because this game has been extremely one-sided in recent years due to Hawthorne's demise. But this rivalry has something that none of the other South Bay rivalries have: a trophy. The prestigious Mayor's Cup gives this an almost college football rivalry feel and something for the players to strive for year after year.

The Mira Costa-Redondo rivalry ranked third, but none of the voters had much to say about these schools. It's an understated rivalry that lets the close games and the high-intensity of their matchups speak for them. And it's two well-coached programs that seem to get the most out of their players and abilities.

After the San Pedro-Banning rivalry, the biggest one for San Pedro, the budding Peninsula-Palos Verdes rival placed fifth, showing that mere proximity is a major determining factor in rivalries.

Any time the Torrance schools get together, it makes for a good game, but the rest of the rivalries listed did not draw much excitement from our readers.

Narbonne's timing couldn't have been any better.

The Gauchos hired Mat Paz as their new girls tennis coach, and he was with the team during its season opener on Thursday against Westchester.

Narbonne was forced to scramble to find a new girls tennis coach after Darryl O'Dell was released from his duties during the first week of school.

"Our new coach fits the needs of our school much better," Narbonne athletic director Melissa Miller said.

In the end, Narbonne may have gotten exactly what it wanted, but the Gauchos certainly took it down to the wire.

The buzz in the running community over the summer was about the future of two South Bay runners. Is Leuzinger's Jose Lezama, the reigning Daily Breeze Runner of the Year, coming back this year? And what about Mira Costa star runner Kevyn Murphy, a two-time Runner of the Year?

Lezama is indeed back, and maybe the bigger surprise is that he's still at Leuzinger. The Centinela Valley School District decided to drop all non-football fall sports, so there was talk Lezama might end up at another Bay League school and that he had been running with Redondo over the summer. But Leuzinger coach Erich Tucker decided to stay on in a volunteer position, meaning the Olympians will run for another year and Lezama is primed to defend his Bay League title.

The bad news is that Murphy has decided to sit out her senior season. This is a sad situation for both parties. Murphy misses out on a chance to shine in her senior season after an injury-plagued junior campaign, and a deep, talented Mira Costa team loses one of the Southland's top runners. Not that her presence would have made much of a difference with Saugus moving down to Division II, essentially squashing Mira Costa's hopes of a CIF or state title. Mira Costa's still got the deepest girls team in the area, bar none, with Shadeh Tabatabai, Savannah Pio, Aryn Foland and Aleyna LeCroix providing a fearsome foursome, but it would have been nice to add Murphy to the mix.

Woodbridge is this weekend, and the Bay League season kicks off next Thursday at the Palos Verdes course.

With Palos Verdes set to host its first football game on its renovated field, the Sea Kings wanted to hold a ceremony to kick off this week's festivities.

Palos Verdes will host a field dedication on Wednesday at 4 p.m. Guest speakers likely will include Coach Pat Fresch, principal Chris Bowles and the superintendent among many dignitaries. It will also be the first time that the Sea Kings will take the field as a team.

"We didn't want to hold it Friday," Bowles said. "We wanted the focus on the game on Friday. But we wanted to emphasize the major improvements we have done to the field."

Palos Verdes added field turf and a surrounding all-weather track and is the third local school this season to open a renovated field, following Banning and Narbonne. Look for the Sea Kings to be inspired Friday against San Pedro.

The Narbonne recruiting machine continues to churn out high-caliber college prospects.

Sources say that Narbonne safety Sean Parker received an offer from Stanford.

No word on whether Parker has accepted the offer, but it goes to show that Parker is surely in high demand and that he could be joining USC-bound teammate Byron Moore in the Pac-10.

Redondo coach Gene Simon said that the prognosis for linebacker Andrew Caldwell looked good after an injury scare Friday night.

Simon, reached Sunday night, said Caldwell was taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center after being injured during a first-quarter play. An MRI has been scheduled for Monday.

"He had a shooting pain down his spine and it might be a disc problem, but he's going to be fine," Simon said. "He's going to walk again and everything's going to be all right, but he may not play football for awhile."

Simon did not rule out Caldwell returning this season.

It's the second major injury for Redondo, which lost returning quarterback Erik Wilson to a broken collarbone a week before the season started. Wilson's expected to return possibly by Bay League play.

"It's kind of been the way our season has been going," Simon said. "It's definitely been an unusual beginning. It's like we walked under a ladder or something."

Caldwell had been fairly new to football, having been in the basketball program at Redondo for most of his high school career. Simon said they convinced him to come out last season and said Caldwell was making great early-season strides before the injury.

Caldwell was making a tackle on a Mission Viejo running back who caught a quick pass on the flat. He made the tackle, but three other players rolled over the top of them, and one hit Caldwell in the head, pinning the head on the ground.

Caldwell tried walking off the field, but Simon said he complained about dizziness. The referee asked him if he could walk, and he responded that he didn't think so, so the referee told him to lay down. Medical personnel attended to him, and he was taken away by ambulance 35 minutes later.

"We went out to check on him, and he was having tingly feelings on one side, so we knew he wasn't paralyzed," Simon said. "Even the doctors on the Mission Viejo sideline thought he was going to be OK. We didn't think it was a catastrophic injury, but we never like to see any player get injured.

"I'm glad it's going to work out for him. It's the first time this has happened with us. You coach long enough and you're going to see it, but this was a real eye-opener."

North improves to 2-0 with a 28-19 victory over Verbum Dei ...

Mary Star overwhelms St. Monica, 20-7 ...

and Palos Verdes ran into a Loyola team that may be among the better squads in the CIF Southern Section ... and lost, 34-0.

Nonetheless, gotta like what Palos Verdes coach Pat Fresch and so many of his Bay League peers have been doing in recent years ... taking on some of the region's giants (Loyola is a six-time CIF-SS Division I champion) with the hope that, regardless of the result, it pays dividends down the road for their young players.

"I wanted to step out of the box a little bit," Fresch said of scheduling the respected Cubs. "We're doing what other teams in our league did. Mira Costa played them last week. Redondo played Mission Viejo.

"At the very least, we've got nowhere to go but up, at least on the offensive side of the ball right now. It definitely doesn't give us a false sense of confidence (like playing a weaker team might)."

Well-said, Coach. A 3-2 or 2-3 team is often more well-prepared for league play than a 4-1 or 5-0 team that beat up on lesser foes, which is why records can be so deceptive the first half of the season ...

And yes, to answer a frequent question, you will see us take strength of schedule into account in our weekly Daily Breeze rankings. Teams don't often make a major leap up the ladder for winning games they were supposed to win (that's called taking care of business) ...

Yes, there is such a thing as a quality loss.  If you think you won't see Carson in this week's Top 10 because the Colts are 0-2 with losses to Mater Dei and Serra, guess again. ... and coaches know those quality losses can be steppingstones to league titles or deep postseason runs down the road.

El Camino College tops Long Beach City College, 41-21 ...

Bishop Montgomery won at Bosco Tech, 12-7, in an afternoon game ...

Defending Pioneer League champion Torrance routed Burbank, 35-0 ... four rushing touchdowns and a fumble return for a TD ...

Harbor College defeated Citrus, 30-20 ...

Don't forget, you can read more details about all of these games and check out photo galleries from several of them on the prep portion of our Web site ... dailybreeze.com/preps

Serra 21, Carson 19

Narbonne 34, Inglewood 13

Banning 33, Los Angeles 0

San Pedro 48, Santee 3

Gardena 31, Jefferson 8

Westchester 48, Manual Arts 0

Mira Costa 40, South Torrance 14

El Segundo 3, West Torrance 0

Santa Monica 31, Leuzinger 6

Mission Viejo 58, Redondo 20

Lakewood 37, Peninsula 10

Culver City 42, St. Bernard 28

Morningside 25, Centennial 19 (OT)

Lawndale 36, Hawthorne 12

Sage Hill 24, Animo 8

8-man: Rolling Hills Prep 40, Upland Christian 13

It may be only Week 1, but there were quite a few surprises. And we are beginning to see the 2008 picture come into focus a bit. Here are some Week 1 observations:

The big winner: Serra. Showing it can compete with the bigger and more physical Carson Colts, the Cavaliers registered a surprise 21-19 victory, showing that it might indeed be the best team in the South Bay at this point. Kudos to the Cavaliers' line, and that line must get inspired blocking for a running back like Carl Winston.

Starting strong out of the gate: the Marine League. It's clear the Marine League has four top-notch teams, though San Pedro, Banning and Narbonne each played creampuffs. But they did what they were supposed to do against that kind of competition. Carson might be 0-2 (one of the biggest surprises thus far), but the Colts lost a triple-OT game to Mater Dei and a nail-biter to an impressive Serra team. And congratulations to Gardena and Coach Marshall Jones, who broke a 12-game losing streak and started the season strong with a win over Jefferson. Expect Gardena to be 2-0 next week after playing Marshall.

Eye opener: Not only did El Segundo beat West Torrance, but it was the way the Eagles did it. In a 3-0 game. Normally when one thinks of El Segundo, it's a pass-heavy team that puts a ton of points on the board. To shut out a team, let alone West, shows maybe the Eagles are in store for a strong year.

What happened? The Bay League has not had a good showing so far. West Torrance threw up a big fat zero against El Segundo. Leuzinger was absolutely demolished by Santa Monica. Peninsula was manhandled by Lakewood (while there is no shame in losing to a top team like that, the Panthers were less than impressive). Redondo is 0-2 and has not looked good. The good news is that Mira Costa bounced back strong against South Torrance, and defending champion Palos Verdes could salvage the week by beating Loyola on Saturday night.

We'll find out more about the Pioneer League after Saturday with North Torrance and Torrance playing road games. Stay tuned. This could be a memorable football season.

El Segundo 3, West Torrance 0

Banning 33, Los Angeles 0

Westchester 48, Manual Arts 0

Morningside 25, Centennial 19, OT

San Pedro crushes Santee, 48-3

 

Narbonne was leading Inglewood by a touchdown but the game was running slow ... lots of injuries.

It's a final score ... Serra improves to 2-0 ... Colts drop to 0-2.

Carson running back Ezekial Graham scored on a 7-yard run with 2:13 left in the first half, but he was stopped short on the two-point conversion, giving Carson a 12-7 lead. The game is at halftime.

Carson's Morrell Presley has had a spectacular game, with four catches for 94 yards, three of them qualifying as "amazing." ... Daniel Torres is 8-for-10 for 114 yards for Carson, most of that to Presley. ... Carson blocked a 35-yard field-goal attempt with 3:43 left in the opening half ...

The parking lot was full and then some tonight, with people parking down several neighboring streets. ... Great, festive atmosphere -- the kind you'd expect for a big game ... Both sides have their share of the grandstands near capacity ... that's it for now.

With 5:40 left in the second quarter, Serra leads Carson, 7-6, in the South Bay's game of the night ... Serra running back Carl Winston rushed for 101 yards in the first quarter alone, including a 3-yard touchdown run ... And in what can't please Coach Mike Christensen, Carson's special teams struggles have carried over from the opener against Mater Dei ... A bad snap resulted in another failed PAT following the Colts' touchdown ...

The first two South Bay results of the day are in ... Gardena snaps a 12-game losing streak with a 31-8 rout of Jefferson ... and Lakewood routs Peninsula on the Hill, 37-10.

Randall Carroll is committed to USC and might be the defending state champion in the 100 and 200 meters, but here's a fact that not many people might know about the running back from Cathedral High in Los Angeles.

Carroll hails from Inglewood, meaning he is in the heart of Daily Breeze territory.

Carroll has several games against local teams this year, inclding Sept. 19 at El Segundo, Oct. 10 at Morningside and Del Rey League games at St. Bernard on Oct. 24 and against Serra at home on Nov. 14.

The game against Serra might decide the Del Rey League title in the regular-season finale, and it will give South Bay fans a chance to check out Cathedral's brand-new stadium that has field turf and a color video scoreboard, making Cathedral one of the few schools in the state to be able to offer fans replays.

Keep an eye out for Carroll this season.

When Narbonne opens its revamped stadium on Friday night, there will be a marquee matchup within the Narbonne-Inglewood game.

Highly touted Inglewood receiver Shaquelle Evans will be locking in against USC-bound defensive back Byron Moore of Narbonne.

While it figures to be a fierce battle, Moore admitted he has an alterior motivation in this game.

"I'm going to be working on Shaq Evans to come to USC with me," Moore said.

Not a bad plan.

Powerhouse Mira Costa opens the girls volleyball season as the No. 9 team in the PrepVolleyball.com Century Club Top 100 national poll.

That means Mira Costa should be in for another banner season. The Mustangs begin their second season under Coach Lisa Zimmerman.

California earned five of the top 11 spots in the poll, including No. 2 Archbishop Mitty, No. 6 Lakewood and No. 11 Long Beach Wilson.

The El Camino College women's soccer team learned some humbling news recently: midfielder Stephanie Hall from West Torrance is out for the season due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

It's a big blow to a team expecting to challenge for the South Coast Conference  title.

Hall injured herself while scoring a goal against Fullerton on Aug. 29. The team only recently discovered the severity of the injury.

El Camino is 3-1-2 this season and hosts Canyon on Wednesday at 4 p.m.

Freshman Jacqueline Cootes led the Palos Verdes girls golf team to his best round ever with a strong debut.

Cootes shot a 5-over-par 41 at Los Verdes Golf Course on Monday, leading Palos Verdes to a 239-258 nonleague victory over host South Torrance.

Cootes had four pars and five bogeys, and Coach Ray Rivera called Cootes' performance the best debut he's seen from his team in his three years at Palos Verdes.

"I'm impressed," Rivera said. "For a freshman to shoot a 41 in her first high school match, that's pretty good.  Her course management is good. She concentrates, and she doesn't go through the motions."

Ally Wilcox added a 48, and Ashley Merda shot a 49 for Palos Verdes, which also had its lowest total in Rivera's three years.

Banning High will host a stadium dedication for its revamped football field on Thursday at 5 p.m. in an event sponsored by the L.A. Unified School District.

"Many alumni will be present, and it's going to be a big deal," legendary coach Chris Ferragam said.

If history teaches us anything, it's that Banning knows how to throw a party.

If you happen to pass upon Banning, the field is now equipped with field turf and new visiting stands have been installed, transforming Banning's home field from laughingstock to one of the best in the South Bay.

Banning opens its season on Friday in a 7 p.m. game against Los Angeles High in what should be a romp in the opener. RB Josh Limosnero returns, and Ferragamo loves his defense.

Narbonne and Palos Verdes will also open new fields this season.

 

Mira Costa opened its football season without running back Chris Loatman last Friday in a 23-7 loss to Loyola, but Coach Don Morrow wasn't making any excuses.

"Loyola was a terrific defensive team," Morrow said.

Loatman missed the game due to an ankle injury, but Morrow said the senior running back should be back for Friday's game against South Torrance.

It won't get any easier from there for Mira Costa, which then follows with staunch tests against Esperanza, Narbonne and Newport Harbor.

Morrow said the encouraging sign for his team was that the defense was vastly improved, a point of emphasis in the offseason. Expect a tough Mira Costa squad come Bay League time.

It's time for the South Bay's two junior colleges lay their cards on the table and show what they've got in their openers.

El Camino hosts L.A. Southwest today at 6 p.m. in a nonconference game as El Camino hopes to overcome the loss of a stellar graduating class. Expect Coach John Featherstone to produce another strong season.

Harbor hosts Long Beach City in a nonconference game as it tries to step out of the shadows cast by El Camino. Coach Andrew Alvillar and his staff are working hard, and we'll see how that translates into the game in what should be the more intriguing of the two matchups.

Gardena football coach Marshall Jones will be in a unique position next weekend. He graduated from USC, but he is a lifetime Ohio State fan.

So after watching Ohio State eek out a close 26-14 victory over Ohio on Saturday, Jones caught his breath and began looking to next Saturday's Ohio State-USC showdown.

"My players will probably give me grief about this game today for a week, but I'm confident that we can rectify that next week," he said.

Jones said his sister graduated and works at USC, his mother retired from USC and his brother and sister-in-law also attended USC.

But Jones went to several Rose Bowls between Ohio State and USC and has remained a consistent Ohio State fan for life.

The Harbor College men's soccer team already looked like a contender in the South Coast Conference, but the Seahawks made a move to bolster their chances.

Former Animo High standout Antonio Iniguez transferred to Harbor from UC Irvine, upgrading Harbor at the goalkeeper position.

Harbor beat San Diego Mesa, 4-0, on Friday night to improve to 2-1.

USC football coach Pete Carroll made a few detours on his way back to his Palos Verdes Peninsula home from campus on Friday.

Carroll stopped to watch the Inglewood-Long Beach Wilson game at Coleman Stadium, where highly touted Inglewood receiver Shaquelle Evans surely caught his eye. It looks like his Westwood counterpart Rick Neuheisel was also in the house at Inglewood.

Then it was off to Manhattan Beach to check out the Mira Costa-Loyola game, where John Elway made a pregame speech to the Mira Costa players and a sizeable donation to the athletic department.

It looks like the Pac-10 continues to have the South Bay on its radar. I'm sure it won't be the last time we will see them or their coaching staffs at South Bay games this season.

It did not take long for Serra football coach Scott Altenberg to begin looking ahead to next week's massive showdown against Carson.

"Our guys are going to be fired up for that game," Altenberg said via phone during his long trip home from Victorville.

Carson took Mater Dei to triple-overtime before falling, 46-43, in a nationally televised season opener on Wednesday. Serra crushed Silverado, 56-21, with two kick returns and one punt return for touchdowns on Friday night.

Both have superb athletes. Both have high expectations. And both know this could be the Game of the Year in the South Bay in a game at Serra at 7 p.m.

"We were a little sloppy tonight, and we know we need to play better than that," Altenberg said. "We'll be ready next week. We even have some guys from Carson on our team, and our guys are looking definitely looking forward to it."

North Torrance 30, Redondo 7

Loyola 23, Mira Costa 7

Serra 56, Silverado 21

Long Beach Wilson 28, Inglewood 6

St. Anthony 47, Animo 7

Partial scores from tonight's Week Zero openers ... North Torrance was leading Redondo, 16-0, in the third quarter ... Mira Costa is losing, 17-7, to Loyola in the fourth quarter ... Serra is rolling on the road, leading, 49-14, against Silverado in Victor Valley. ... Animo avoided being shut out when it scored a late touchdown in a 47-7 loss to St. Anthony at Clark Field.

Get ready, Redondo-North fans! The Daily Breeze will make a brief radio spot to talk about the Redondo-North Torrance football game tonight. No timetable has been set, but it will probably be between 11 p.m. and midnight.

The ESPN 710 radio station is beginning a two-hour prep football show on Friday nights from 10 p.m. to midnight. The Breeze might be making weekly appearances on the show as well.

Cabrini College in Radnor, Penn., recorded a four-game victory over Misericordia University this week, and the big news is that former Bishop Montgomery standout Lindsay Martin made a major impact.

Martin had a match-high 21 digs in the backrow to a 25-16, 23-25, 25-13, 25-11 victory for Cabrini's first victory of the season.

Martin is a 5-foot-8 senior for Cabrini. 

The first wave of South Bay prep football games will take place this weekend with five games tonight and two on Saturday.

Redondo and North Torrance might be the most interesting local battle in a Bay vs. Pioneer League showdown.

Mira Costa hosts Loyola tonight in a battle of schools trying to bounce back from uncharacterstic losing seasons, and the word is that John Elway will be on hand to make a presentation to the Mira Costa football program. Get the camera and autograph book ready!

Serra and its talent-laden team have a long haul to Victorville to take on Silverado, but the Cavaliers should prevail in a romp.

Inglewood and Animo also open their seasons tonight, and Mary Star and Rolling Hills Prep start play tomorrow.

Here is the schedule:

Friday

Redondo at North Torrance, 7 p.m.
Loyola at Mira Costa, 7 p.m.
Serra vs. Silverado, at Victor Valley High, 7 p.m.
Long Beach Wilson at Inglewood, 7 p.m.
Animo vs. St. Anthony, at Clark Field in Long Beach, 7 p.m.

Saturday

Mary Star at Santa Clara, 2 p.m.
Rolling Hills Prep at Lone Pine, 1 p.m.

This weekend might be a good time to catch up with former Bay League volleyball stars at the Holiday Inn L.A. City Center Trojan Invitational at USC.

Former Mira Costa stars Taylor Carico, Shelby Avol and Kendall Bateman play for USC, and former Redondo standout Taylor Moore will be competing with Hofstra in one of her rare Southern California appearances from the New York-based university.

Moore and Bateman were also teammates on the Southern California Volleyball Club coached by Carrie Haley, the wife of Trojan coach Mick Haley. That team took the bronze medal athe the Junior Olympics in Dallas over the summer.

Two matches have already taken place, but Oklahoma plays San Diego at 5 p.m., and USC meets Hofstra at 7:30 p.m. tonight.

On Saturday, Hofstra plays Oklahoma at 4 p.m. with the USC-San Diego match to follow.

It did not take new Harbor College women's soccer coach Terry Cassidy long to make an impact.

Harbor broke a 36-game winless streak by beating Imperial Valley, 2-0, in a nonconference game at Harbor on Thursday in Cassidy's third game with the Seahawks.

Nicole Esquibel scored off an assist from Lourdes Bernal, and Cindy Vera added a goal for Harbor. Amanda Diroll made four saves for the shutout.

"It's great for the program,"  Cassidy said. "We should get a lot more respect come conference time.

"Hopefully we can get a winning streak going and turn this program around."

The Centinela Unified School District has apparently dropped girls and boys volleyball at its three high schools -- Hawthorne, Leuzinger and Lawndale -- due to a lack of funding, Hawthorne athletic director James Swain said.

Swain said the district is not funding any sports right now. Students have to pay a participation fee, which is not uncommon, but the school is lacking money for even basics such as buses and other necessities.

Stay tuned for more on the continuing plight of athletics in this once-proud district.

The Harbor College baseball team is sending 16 sophomores to four-year colleges and universities. Here is a breakdown:

It appears that the 2008 prep football season will finally kick off in the South Bay.

Carson takes on Mater Dei tonight on ESPN2 at Long Beach Veterans Stadium at 6 p.m.

Not only is it a battle between two future USC players in Mater Dei quarterback Matt Barkley and Carson tight end Morrell Presley, but it is a battle between two proud programs.

Carson's line is beefier this season with RT Wade Yandall (6-4, 280), RG Christian Saole (6-0, 250), C Steven Dine (5-9, 205), LG Mackenzie Falo (6-2, 270) and LT Jeff Crowder (6-3, 330) and stars Presley. Quarterback Daniel Torres started three games last season as a sophomore, giving him valuable experience. Coach Mike Christensen said his backfield of RB Ezekial Graham and FB Dion Willis will be a surprise. Kicker Juan Sanchez could be an X-factor.

The Colts' defense is much more proven, with Falo leading a savvy line, AJ Ropati heading the linebackers and Antonio Crews anchoring the secondary.

"People might not know our names yet, but they will soon enough," Christensen said.

Barkley leads Mater Dei and is looking to build off last year's spectacular numbers. He threw for 3,560 yards, 35 TDs and just nine interceptions on 213-for-340 passing. But his top four receiving targets graduated.

Former Narbonne defensive back Nnamdi Asomugha may have received a big pay day, but the Oakland Raiders cornerback has not forgotten his roots.

Narbonne coach Manuel Douglas said Asomugha, who signed a one-year, $9.765 million deal in July, bought 80 pairs of cleats for the Narbonne football program.

"I'd just like to acknowledge how grateful we are to him," Douglas said.

Douglas added Asomugha was giving back to the program long before his recent windfall as one of the NFL's top shutdown corners in the league.

"He has always helped us out," Douglas said. "He was doing it long before this new deal."

When Carson football coach Mike Christensen ordered his team's practice jerseys, little did he realize just how much they resembled UCLA's uniform, particularly with gold pants and a powder-blue uniform top.

And with tight end Morrell Presley headed to USC, Christensen saw his chance for mischief.

Christensen took this picture of Presley in the blue and gold uniform and sent a photo message to USC linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr. with the message, "What the hell?"

So the reaction?

Norton reportedly asked Christensen a few days later, "That was YOU?"

To which Christensen replied, "Of course it was, dummy."

Apparently Christensen shook things up, however briefly, at USC as Presley remains firmly committed to the Trojans.

For more on Presley heading into his showdown with Mater Dei on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Long Beach Veterans Stadium, check out the Breeze preview.

It was not much of a surprise, but it was something that was long overdue.

The Pioneer League will move from Division V to Division IV in softball, rectifying a discrepancy that had the area's top softball teams facing teams about a third of their size in the playoffs.

The Pioneer League earned the top three seeds in the Division V playoffs last season and had an All-Pioneer League final between North Torrance and Torrance, meaning the league was running roughshod in the division.

North won the Division V title last season with a dramatic 3-2 win over Torrance, and North coach Howard Miller was looking forward to going against the likes of Bishop Montgomery and Santa Monica in Division IV.

"I expected it," Miller said. "I mean come on, we should've been that high to begin with when the league was formed."

Couldn't have been said any better.