The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 141

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1997 C15 LOS ANGELES TIMES Hefferman Jumps Ship in Ventura I 1 if Will? In iLLy uyllllil Glen Hefferman, who said Wednesday he likely would leave Ventura if the program was unsuccessful in appealing a two-year probation imposed by the Western State Conference, appears to have done just that. Hefferman, 31, who was hired in August, has not been heard from since Thursday and is believed to be headed for his hometown of Chicago, where he moved his wife and three children three weeks ago. "Glen's gone," said Dick James, Ventura's athletic coordinator. "I went to his Basketball: Coach of troubled Pirate men's team clears out of apartment and might be headed for Chicago. By VINCE KOWALICK TIMES STAFF WRITER VENTURA-The coach of the troubled Ventura College men's basketball team has made a fast break.

apartment and it was cleaned out. I talked to him for 20 minutes Thursday and I got a message Friday morning saying that he called in sick. He just ran out on everybody." A WSC hearing board Wednesday voted unanimously to uphold sanctions that include, forfeiture of Ventura's 1996 and '97 conference titles, and the formation of an athletic oversight committee responsible for reporting to the WSC. In addition, the board this week declared six players ineligible for allegedly receiv ing illegal meal subsidies last season. Sanctions were levied Oct.

8 after the findings of a five-month investigation revealed numerous violations of state rules by coaches and boosters during the two-year reign of former Coach Virgil Watson. The hearing board released its decision via fax late Friday. But by that time, James said, rumors that Ventura would lose its appeal were circulating on campus. Sophomore guard Ben Tryk, among eight players who addressed the board Wednesday at Santa Monica College, said Hefferman repeatedly gave the indication he would not be staying. Hefferman hinted as much after relocating his family.

"We kinda knew," Tryk said. "He kept saying he wouldn't coach a team on probation." Forward Danny Herrera said Hefferman made no remarks this week about leaving town for any reason. "It's just a rumor going around that he went back home," Herrera said. "I guess he didn't want to talk to anyone about it." Please see HEFFERMAN, C16 7 I i 4 is, 1 v4 I jf A Jl Li 0 Paul Sauter (58) of Cal State Northridge Off stops Montana's Greg Fitzgerald after the linebacker's third interception in the first quarter. Target Three Interceptions Seal Northridge's Sampson Effect in Reverse i A smorgasbord of notes, quotes and opinions from across the San Fernando Valley and its surrounding communities: What does it take to improve speed? In the SONDKEIMER .5 receiver xoaa Fenton, perhaps a trip to the barber made all the difference.

"I think he gained a step after he cut his hair," Notre Dame assistant coach Joe McNab said. Last year, Fenton's nickname on the sophomore team was "Fabio" because his long blond hair almost stretched to his shirt collar. He'd spend 45 minutes every morning blow-drying his hair. Then, last spring, off came his locks, i "I decided it was hot, no- body liked it, so I cut it," Fenton said. Todd Fenton This season, in his varsity debut, the 15-year-old Fenton has scored on touchdown receptions of 75 and 71 yards and returned a kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown.

He might be the Knights' fastest player next to Justin Fargas. He has no second thoughts about cutting his hair. "It's nice to sleep instead of having to do my hair," he said. By next summer, Westlake junior tight end Mike Seldman is going to need a top-of-the-line answering machine to deal with the large number of calls from college recruiters. At 6 feet 5 and 225 pounds, with massive hands and great coordination, Seidman is easy to spot on the field.

He also has a 3.7 grade-point average. "Seidman is a can't-miss Division I guy," Westlake Coach Jim Benkert said. "He's the best tight end I've seen since Crespi's Christian Faurla." Even more impressive about Seidman is he has recovered from a torn anterior cruciate ligament that forced him to miss his sophomore season. He had 10 catches for 141 yards against Camarillo Friday night If Seidman receives a college scholarship, he hopes his parents give him the money they've been saving for his college education. "That's in my dream," he said.

Hold off ordering that Ferrari, Mike. Most parents don't give kids their college money, scholarship or not. Former Chaminade tight end Peter Foy has caught 11 passes for 170 yards and two touchdowns as a sophomore starter for NCAA Division I-AA Liberty University (6-1) in Lynchburg, Va. Sylmar and Hart will play league football games in 1998 and 1999 at College of the Canyons. It will be a terrific City vs.

Southern Section matchup. But does Sylmar Coach Jeff Engilman realize Hart will be the region's No. 1 team next season? Cal State Northridge opens its men's basketball season Monday night in a 7:05 exhibition game against the California All-Stars at Matador Gymnasium. Keep your eye on former Canyon guard Greg Minor, who will make his Matador debut. No one has worked harder for his first NCAA Division I season.

Coach Bobby Braiwell sometimes found Minor practicing his shooting in the gym Please tee SONDHEIMER, C16 Grady's Bunch in aRout Del Rey: Loyola gives coach 200th victory of his career by rolling past Crespi, 38-0. By DAVID WHARTON TIMES STAFF WRITER GLENDALE Loyola High threw a party on Saturday night to celebrate Coach Steve Grady's 200th career victory. Crespi was cordially invited. Like any good party, there was plenty of dancing as Loyola waltzed to a 38-0 victory in a Del Rey League game at Glendale High. The Cubs (8-0, 3-0 in league play) were simply too steady with Wesley Willard carrying 21 times for 147 yards and two touchdowns.

They were too explosive with quarterback Chris Peterson scrambling 30 yards for one touchdown and passing 42 yards to Sean Currin for another. By the end of the night, Grady had the chance to ponder what it means to accumulate 200 victories. "It means I've been here a long time," said the coach, who is in his 22nd season at Loyola. Then, in a more serious vein: "Sure, when you sit down and think, it's nice. The years go by.

You do the best you can." Grady's first victory came in 1976 when Loyola upset a highly ranked Banning team with a last-second field goal. This one was not as close, though Crespi showed flashes of effectiveness. The Celts (4-4, 0-3) used their wing-T offense to move into scoring position several times, with Blake Tibbetts rushing for 100 yards in 16 carries. But Crespi was stung by a missed 39-yard field-goal attempt by Evan Driedger in the second quarter and, minutes later, a clipping penalty that nullified a touchdown pass. In the final seconds of the game, Crespi moved to the Loyola five only to fumble.

"We drove the ball 80 yards," Tibbetts said. "We had their number but we couldn't put it through." Please see CRESPI, C18 BRIAN VANDER BRUG hat Angela Timet LA'S Raymont Skaggs after interception. cepted in the first quarter by linebacker Greg Fitzgerald, with two leading to Montana touchdowns that sent the 16,775 at Washington-Grizzly Stadium into a frenzy. The Matadors (4-5, 2-3 in the Big Sky Conference) most likely dropped out of the picture for an invitation to the Division I-AA playoffs. Montana (5-3, 3-2), the two-time defending Big Sky champion, remains in the chase.

Northridge, after playing poorly on defense and special teams the previous few games, improved markedly in those areas but sputtered in the last place anyone expected. On the first play from scrimmage, at the Northridge 20, Flowers looked for receiver Drew Hill but his pass was intercepted by Fitzgerald, a senior who entered the game with one interception this season and two in his career. The Grizzlies took three plays to score on a four-yard pass from Brian Ah Yat to Josh Paf fhausen for a 7-0 lead 26 seconds into the game. Please see CSUN, C17 By FERNANDO DOMINGUEZ TIMES STAFF WRITER MISSOULA, it isn't one thing, it's another. For Cal State Northridge, the breakdown Saturday in a 21-13 loss at Montana was the early misfiring by Aaron Flowers, a normally reliable quarterback who endured perhaps his most forgettable quarter of football at any level.

Flowers, a senior who owns several Northridge passing records, had three passes inter ABaocialed Fate Montana 21, Northridge 13 Big Sfcy Results Montana State 28 Weber State 14 Idaho State 41 Northern Arizona 24 Portland State 27 Cal State Sacramento 13 Eastern Washington 24 Idaho 21 (nonconference) Big Sky Roundup, C17 Moorpark's Michael Boyd is stopped by West 1 Presi Durfee Rescues Moorpark Football: His interception with 50 seconds left secures Raiders' 23-22 victory over West LA. By VINCE KOWLICK TIMES STAFF WRITER MOORPARK-Bryant Durfee's interception with 50 seconds to play sealed a 23-22 victory for Moorpark College over West L. A. in a heated Western State Conference Southern Division football game Saturday night at Moorpark. Durfee, a sophomore cornerback from Royal High, picked off Bryan Paul's pass over the middle at the Moorpark 26-yard line to stop a potential game-winning drive that began at the West L.A.

19 with 3:38 to play. Paul, a former standout at Moorpark High, completed two passes and scrambled for three crucial gains on the drive as West L.A. (5-2, 1-1 in division play) attempted to take the lead for the first time since early in the first quarter. Paul's pass from the Moorpark 45 seemed headed for Durfee from the moment of release. Moorpark (3-4, 1-1), which lost, 18-17, to Southwest last week, ran out the clock.

"Bad throw," Paul said. "I made a After the game, a skirmish developed between the teams during the exchange of handshakes, but players quickly were separated. Tempers flared near the end of the first half, when West L.A. coaches argued that Moorpark quarterback George Jones had dropped to one knee before spiking the ball. Moorpark's Shawn Nakamuru then kicked a field goal with four seconds to play to give the Raiders a 16-10 lead.

"He didn't take a knee," Moorpark Coach Jim Bittner said. "He spiked it and then took a knee. "They're a very talented team. They felt they had a championship team and we beat them. About time we won a close one." West L.A.

pulled to within 16-13 on a 31 -yard field goal by Greg Debolt in the third quarter. But Moorpark countered with a two-yard touchdown run by Carl Richardson in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter. Debolt added a 28-yard field goal to cut Moorpark's lead to 23-16, and Paul pulled the Oilers to within a point with a 30-yard touchdown pass to Tony Griffin. Paul was stopped short while attempting to run for a two-point conversion. Emory Holmes, who rushed for 203 yards in 18 carries, ran 73 yards for a touchdown on the first play following a West L.A.

field goal to give Moorpark a 6-3 lead with seven seconds to play in the first quarter. I A.