The High Schools /Vince Kowalick : White Issues Challenge to Servite

The stage is set for the big rematch: Servite vs. Crespi. Tailback Derek Brown against tailback Russell White.

Brown outgained White, 312 yards to 81, in Servite’s 35-20 win over the Celts 7 weeks ago. Their teams will meet again Friday night at Birmingham High in the second round of the Southern Section Division I playoffs.

“It ain’t gonna be no 312 yards this time,” said White, who also plays his fair share at defensive back.

Brown rushed for 274 yards and 4 touchdowns Friday night as Servite defeated Eisenhower, 35-17. White rushed for 181 yards and 2 touchdowns the same evening as Crespi upset previously unbeaten Long Beach Poly, 26-23.

“Everybody looks at us beating Long Beach Poly like it was an upset--which it was,” Crespi Coach Bill Redell said. “But our coaching staff and kids felt we could beat them.”

The prospect of a rematch with Servite certainly fueled the Celts, especially White, who was faced with the possibility of an abrupt end to a magnificent high school career.

Said Redell: “I told him, ‘This is it. You’re gettin’ it whether you want it or not.’ He reached down deep.”

Said White, whose end zone interception on the game’s final play clinched the win: “It wasn’t just one man diggin’ deep. It was the whole team.”

Since losing to Servite and being outclassed by Brown, White’s mind has been set on one thing.

“I feel there’s been a lot of doubting and a lot of talking,” White said. “A lot of doubting by a lot of people and a lot of talking by Derek Brown.

“From all the little talk I hear, he sounds like he’s numero uno. After the game, he was like, ‘I’m the better back in California.’

“I just have this to say: He better not forget who’s the originator and whose the imitator. When he comes down to Birmingham High School, he better strap it on real good. Real good.”

Special guys: Big plays were a specialty of Pat Minooei and Pete Pistone on Friday night. And because of their special-teams play, El Camino Real is savoring a very special victory.

The Conquistadores defeated Hamilton, 13-3, for their first playoff win since 1980, a year in which El Camino Real played for the City Section 4-A Division championship.

Minooei blocked 2 punts and Pistone recovered one in the end zone for a touchdown. Pistone also sealed the win with a 68-yard punt that was downed on the Hamilton 2-yard line with 5 minutes to play.

“It was third and five and we punted,” El Camino Real co-Coach Mike Maio said. “That really put them in the hole.”

Said Pistone: “It was third down? I thought it was fourth. I just got off the good kick. I don’t know how I did it.

“I’ve had a few this year. It was a good snap--we were having a little trouble with that this year.”

As for Minooei, Maio said: “We saw in their films last week that they might be blocked from the right side. It was nothing fancy, we just sent him in. No one touched him.”

Take that!: Not only did Agoura defeat previously unbeaten El Segundo on Friday night, the visiting Chargers did it convincingly, 30-7.

Agoura (7-3-1), which finished third in the Frontier League, limited El Segundo to 184 yards while totaling 264. The Eagles (10-1) had scored more than 40 points 3 times and outscored their Santa Fe League competition, 273-54.

Upset?

“I don’t think so,” Agoura sophomore quarterback Josh Smaler said. “We just really prepared for it. We knew what we had to do.”

Smaler attempted only 6 passes but completed 4 for 109 yards. He also had 24 yards in 8 carries.

“Our offensive line just blew them off,” Smaler said. “They haven’t faced the teams that we’ve faced.”

True. But that wasn’t anything to brag about--until Friday night. The fact is, 3 Frontier League teams eliminated Santa Fe League teams. Santa Paula defeated St. Monica, 29-27, and Santa Clara defeated Mary Star, 38-7.

Another Frontier League team, Santa Ynez, the Division VIII at-large team, almost made it a clean sweep but lost to top-seeded Atascadero, 43-39, after holding an 18-point second-half lead.

“Our record wasn’t quite an indication of the team we are,” Agoura Coach Frank Greminger said. “We’re in a pretty good league.”

Said Smaler: “We proved it.”

Slip-sliding away: Cameron Smyth was just a few inches from the goal line. “In fact, I thought I broke the plane,” he said.

But quicker than you can say Keith Jackson. . . . fum - BULLLL .

“Omigod,” said Smyth, a senior wide receiver at Hart. “In fact, that’s what I said when it just kind of squirted away.”

And as the ball bounced away, so did Hart’s season. The Indians, wrapping up a forgettable 6-5 season that included a third-place finish in the Foothill League, were defeated by Paramount, 26-14, Friday in a Southern Section Division III playoff opener.

Had Smyth scored, Hart would have pulled to within a touchdown with 9:20 remaining. Instead, Paramount recovered the ball on the 2-yard line and drove 71 yards in 17 plays to run out the clock.

“It’s kind of ironic because I suggested the play,” said Smyth, who finished the season with 46 receptions for 653 yards and 8 touchdowns. “It was a slant pattern and a guy just hit me and separated my arms.”

King of Camarillo: It is small consolation for Mitch King, but he caught 8 passes for 175 yards in Camarillo’s 44-6 playoff loss to Canyon on Friday night.

“Their defensive backs were playing back,” King said. “We were running outs and curls all day long. They weren’t really covering it that well.”