The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 64

"Hjt If y-y pp mi -T-nnTf-n(imi" njjir fn pr TW W1 1 "fPr ay i C14 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1994 LOS ANGELES alley 3 1)1 -y mM y--i-njpjyy iy Illy I Sports Moorpark Stuns No. 1 Bakersfiekl THE HIGH SCHOOLS MIKEHISERMAN Idle Time Becomes Mounties' Problem "It's one of the biggest victories ever for Moorpark," Bittner said. The victory ended a 17-game conference winning streak for the Renegades and most likely will drop them from the top spot in the state and the No. 2 ranking in the country by USA Today. It was the sixth home defeat for Bakersfield since 1988.

But Moorpark (3-1, 3-0 in conference play) had to hang on for the victory after taking a 23-3 halftime lead. to pull to within 23-20, butAhie. Moorpark defense held off other late rallies. Moorpark wasted little time taking a 6-0 lead when quarterback Damian Delfino connected with receiver Gregg Whitley dn a three-yard pass play to capa 74-yard drive on the first posses? sion. The Raiders increased the lead to 9-0 on a 42-yard field goal, by Steve Sabbe later in the fxrs quarter.

Defensive back Doyle Please see MOORPARK, C15 Backs Into Rout Bakersfield (4-1, 3-1) was driving for what appeared to be a touchdown with 34 seconds left when linebacker Robert Webb sacked Danny Henry near the Moorpark 20-yard line and forced a fumble. Linebacker Jeffery Maxey recovered to kill the threat. The Renegades closed the half-time deficit quickly in the third quarter, scoring on their first two possessions on runs of seven and 85 yards by George Jones. They added a 37-yard field goal by Robert Nycz midway through the quarter Associated Press 129 yards against Sonoma State. By FERNANDO DOMNGUEZ TIMES STAFF WRITER BAKERSFIELD In his 16 seasons coaching the Moorpark College football team, Jim Bittner has seen plenty of spectacular plays and games.

But few probably compare to what he saw Saturday night as the Raiders upset the state's top-ranked team, Bakersfield, 23-20, in a Western State Conference inter-divisional game before 8,000 at Memorial Stadium. CSUN running back Mark Harper yv A ') Jim Bittner: "It's one of the biggest victories ever for Moorpark." Offense: Substituting for a teammate in trouble with the law, Matador guard Eric Thomas holds up well in line of fire. By STEVE ELLING TIMES STAFF WRITER ROHNERT PARK, Calif. There's an invisible umbrella over the 88th Street Church of God In Christ in South Central Los Angeles. Eric Thomas believes it is something more ethereal.

Call it Providence, divine intervention. He calls it a blessing. No member of the congregation under the age of 25 has ever been killed, odds he considers astronomically long in light of the problems that plague the area. "There are so many young African American youths in trouble and we've never had a funeral for anybody under 25," Thomas said. "In South Central L.A., people get shot every day." He has the scars to prove it Thomas tested the church's good fortune five years ago when, as a bystander, he was shot in the back during the holdup of a fast-food outlet in the same neighborhood.

As fate would have it, violence played a peripheral role as Thomas started for the first time in a year in Saturday's 40-14 rout of Sonoma State. Thomas started at right guard in place of senior Jonathan Beauregard, who has been charged with two counts of attempted murder in San Bernardino. Beauregard, who was cleared to play by Northridge officials while awaiting a disposition of his case in court, suffered a broken finger during practice this week, opening the door for Thomas. Accused gunman and shooting victim. One picking up for the other.

The irony has not been lost on many who know the story of the pair. "Everyone keeps bringing it up," Thomas said. Thomas' story borders on the surreal. He was buying a hamburger on July 14, 1989, when Please see THOMAS, C17 Northridge (A 5. v.

i r. i i 1 7 A 7 A -X Vt, 4 Bye-bye Montclair Prep. Make that, bye-bye-bye-bye. See ya next month. At a point when most local high schools have hit the halfway point in their regular-season schedules, the Mounties are almost finished.

One game left, against Ganesha, on Nov. 11. Montclair Prep played its one and only game of October on Thursday, defeating Gladstone, 20-7, at Citrus College. They need not rush breaking down the film. Halloween is closer to Thanksgiving than the Mounties are to their next football game.

Mar Vista canceled a game that was to be played next Friday and Cerritos was forced to pull out from an agreement to play the week after that The following Fridays, Oct. 28 and Nov. 4, already were open. Greg Reece, Montclair Prep's beleaguered athletic director, has been working the phones. Right now, the class dweeb has a better chance of getting a date, Montclair Prep is a free-lance team, competing without league affiliation.

And for that, the school has only itself to blame. Before its football program was rocked by recruiting and grade-fixing scandals, Montclair Prep was a member of the Alpha League. Having been expelled, the Mounties are outcasts. Most other schools won't even meet them in a nonleague game. To fill in the blanks, Reece has been in touch with San Dimas, Sherman Indian and California School for the Deaf, among other possibilities.

Coach George Gianni -ni says the team's schedule might include another game or two by the end of the week. In the meantime, current Mountie players are feeling pinched by their predecessors. "We're being punished for things that happened before a lot of us even came to Montclair," linebacker Anwan Jones said. "We're paying the consequences of their actions, and it's not fair." I .0 On a roll: The last time Moorpark won its first five games in a season, the team played only five games in a season. The year was 1946.

Santa Clara next up on its schedule, Moorpark is a cinch to win its sixth consecutive game, matching the longest winning streak of its 70-year history. In their last 14 games dating back to last season, the Musketeers are 12-1-1 the only loss coming, against Atascadero in the secon-dround of the Southern Section Division IX playoffs. Moorpark's' recent success has caught the fancy of fans, who are showing up in record numbers. An estimated 5,000 watched the Musketeers down Oak Park, 35-34, on Friday. "There at the end, they were really loud," Moorpark Coach Rob Dearborn said.

"They were going crazy." Among those watching was former Dodger catcher Mike Scioscia, recently hired by his former club as an instructor. Scioscia is a friend and business partner of Luja Bo-desta, an orthopedic specialist who is Moorpark's team doctor. College football: Trio of ballcarriers hit stride in rotation as v. Matadors defeat Sonoma State, 40-14. By STEVE ELLING TIMES STAFF WRITER ROHNERT PARK, Calif.i Shaun Coleman is the breathing and for a moment, stumbling embodiment of what the Cal State Northridge backfield will look like the rest of the season.

With the clock winding down lit the fourth quarter Saturday, Coie- i man took a handoff, almost fell before he took his second then bounced outside. A moment later, Coleman sur" prised everybody by bolting down the left sideline for a 49-yard touchdown, one of three managed in the game. All thanks to fresh legs, he said. This from a burly of three players in the Matadors''1 reborn backfield rotation that hit its stride in a 40-14 nonconference rout of Sonoma State before 936' at'' Cossack Stadium. The prevailing theory about the backfield, after three games of treading water, is that Mark Harp-'! er, Darren Walton and are better collectively than indi- vidually.

It's hard to argue. North- ridge (3-2) rushed for 280 yards after rolling up 302 a week "I almost fell down, but I had the; strength to pull away," Coleman said of his final scoring run. have three good running backs that can run effectively out of both-backfield positions." The trio effectively ran Sonojna, State out of its shoes. Each carried i between seven and 17 times, ensuring that nobody was too beat up in the fourth quarter, as evidenced by Coleman's speedy jaunt around" the corner. "We'll rotate all three the restjpf the year as long as all three are-healthy," Northridge Coach, BobV Burt said.

For the first time this season, senior quarterback J.J. O'Laughlin wasn't much of a factor. He pleted seven of 16 passes for 114 Please see CSUN, C7" GEORGE WILHELM Los Angeles Times Notre Dam. See story, C17i gains some of his career-high to -Li) Murphy's Law: Getting knocked out by three neighborhood bullies is one thing. Being out-jabbed is another.

Kennedy has lost three football games by a total of four points. Close scores, big losses. "Any time you lose rivalries, those are big losses," Coach Bob Francola said. The first loss came against second-ranked Sylmar, 16-14. Then the Golden Cougars dropped a 7-6 decision to Granada Hills by missing a chip-shot field goal and having an extra-point attempt blocked.

Their latest setback was to San Fernando, 21-20. The linescore of the game showed Kennedy failed on three two-point conversion tries. The assumption is that Francola scrapped the kicking game altogether. Not so. Kennedy, which blew a 20-7 lead, tried a PAT after its first touchdown, but the liolder couldn't get the ball on the tee.

Please see HIGH SCHOOLS, C16 Preservlng vlctory-iAn end-zone interception by Kevirf Goldfein, left, enabled Harvard-Westlake celebrate 14-10 upset over No. 3)ranked.