THE BIG GAMEIt used to be that...

THE BIG GAME

It used to be that the big football rival in the minds of Dominguez High supporters was across the Long Beach Freeway in Lynwood. But in recent seasons, the big game in the San Gabriel Valley League has more often than not been the Dons’ annual clash with Paramount.

“For the last seven years or so at the start of the season the big question I get asked is, ‘Are you guys going to beat Paramount this year?’ ” Dominguez Coach Willie Donerson said.

The teams bring 6-0 records into their game at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Paramount. If the meeting follows past results, someone will win a thriller in the waning moments.

“I suspect it will be

the typical Paramount-Dominguez game,” said Paramount Coach Ken Sutch. “We have a history of playing each other tough.”

In 10 years at Dominguez, Donerson has won only three of nine meetings against Sutch, but he has enjoyed every one because they have been tightly contested, well-played, exciting games.

“This should be the game of the year,” he said.

Undefeated starts have surprised both coaches, although Sutch thinks his team, which went 5-4 last season, was underrated coming into this year.

“We are a sand-bagging team,” he said. “We thought we’d be better than most people thought we would be and we have been better than even we thought we’d be.”

The Pirates have several returning starters who are juniors. Foremost among those is quarterback Mike Fletcher, whom Sutch calls “a really good athlete and a fine player.”

Tailback Rafa Villasenor and fullback Scott Vaiagae also have performed well running out of the pro set.

Dominguez lost 38 players from last season’s 9-3 team. Although the Dons have an unblemished record, they have struggled. Against league opponent Gahr High of Cerritos two weeks ago, the Dons escaped with a 20-13 victory after rallying to take the lead in the final 2 1/2 minutes.

“The first four games we had, if you name it, we had it (go wrong),” Donerson said. “(Our backs) just couldn’t follow the flow of the offensive line.”

But last week the Dons got it together, downing Downey, 27-0. Quarterback Anthony Bilbo ran the offense, while wingbacks Zachary Swopshire and Robert Wester gained large chunks of ground.

Dominguez is throwing the ball more this year too. Receiver Alvarez Wynn has two touchdown catches. That may not seem like much, but “that’s more than we’ve had combined here in any season during the last decade,” Donerson said.

A NEW FORCE

Gahr High was also underrated when the season began. But based on past performances, it is no wonder. The Gladiators, who have had four football coaches in the past 12 seasons, were 1-9 last year. Only 28 players tried out for that team and by the end of the season only 19 remained. The program had a reputation as a loser.

Enter Darrel Walsh, a teacher who coached the team from 1982 to ’87. When he was appointed coach again in June, he assured the school that Gahr would not be considered a loser much longer.

To date, the Gladiators are 4-2 and after beating Lynwood, 16-14, last week, and are in the driver’s seat for one of three playoff spots in the San Gabriel Valley League. Their league record is 2-1.

Almost 70 players tried out for the team in summer practice and most have remained. The mood on campus has been upbeat for the first time in many years, according to Walsh. Gahr is winning fans and football games.

“We’re really excited about this here,” Walsh said. “You win a few games and it’s surprising how many fans come back.”

Gahr fared well in the old Suburban League in the 1960s, but its problems began when it was moved up to the current San Gabriel Valley League against larger schools, most with winning traditions.

“When we moved out of the old Suburban League and into the San Gabriel Valley League we started losing,” Walsh said. “People just accepted that we couldn’t compete in that league. They accepted losing.”

The program hit rock bottom late last spring. Coach Steve Nishimoto resigned. He was replaced by Tim Ellis. But Ellis left before coaching a down to take a job at Tustin High. Gahr administrators turned to Walsh, who was on staff, and asked him to get the program going again. He had some success, driving the Gladiators to a 7-3 mark during one season of his first tenure, which he says was marked mostly by periods of “ups and downs.”

This time, Walsh asked players to hit the weights more. He asked them to attend summer football classes, and in return, he promised that the coaching staff would work with them to build the school into a football power. It still has a long way to go, but Walsh seems to have the Gladiators turned around.

“The kids believe in themselves, and that’s the big point,” he said. “If we can get them to believe in what they can do, you’d be surprised what a difference in attitude that makes.”

The Gladiators play host to Downey at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

CATCHING UP

Montebello takes a four-game winning streak into Friday’s 7:30 p.m. Almont League game at San Gabriel. The Oilers defeated Alhambra Keppel, 40-0, last week, and tied a school record Oct. 9 with nine sacks in a 24-6 victory over California High. Carlos Rivas, Jason Munoz and Chuck Estrada had two each. Rivas, a defensive end, also had 10 tackles, forced a fumble and knocked down a pass.

“Our defense is playing very well right now,” Coach Doug Rihn said.

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Cerritos College sophomore strong safety Alfredo Martinez, formerly of La Serna High, had 12 unassisted tackles and was in on another 11, the most for a Falcon defensive back in at least a decade, as Cerritos rolled to a 38-23 win Oct. 9 over Golden West College of Huntington Beach.

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Former Artesia High girls basketball Coach Nelson Herrera has been hired as coach at Canyon High of Anaheim. Herrera coached at Artesia from 1989 to ’92.

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St. Anthony High defeated St. Mary of Calgary, Alberta, 34-6, in a game played under American football rules last week at Clark Avenue Field. St. Anthony is 2-4. St. Mary, which plays under American football rules in Canada, is 3-2. St. Anthony will play at St. Mary in 1994.

“We’re going to make this a regular thing,” Saints Coach Dave Radford said. “I talk to their coaching staff almost every day and we’ve become good friends.”

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Coach Rildo Menezes of La Mirada, who pulled American Professional Soccer League Most Valuable Player Paulinho from the L.A. Salsa lineup late in the Oct. 2 league championship final with the Colorado Foxes, has resigned. Team owner William de la Pena was infuriated by the move and hinted that Menezes would be fired if he did not resign. The Montebello-based Salsa led, 1-0, when Paulinho was removed with four minutes left. Colorado scored immediately and went on to win, 3-1, in overtime.

GOING PRO

Sophomore pitcher Daniel Choi of Long Beach State, who signed a $1-million contract with a Korean professional team, did not pass his summer school classes and would have been ineligible to play for the 49ers in the spring, a university spokesman confirmed.

Despite a 17-2 record last season, the Korean-born Choi was only a 15th-round pick of the Oakland A’s in the June draft. Baseball scouts and 49er Coach Dave Snow thought Choi needed another year of seasoning in college.

FAST STARTS

Cerritos College (4-0-1) and Long Beach City College (6-0) are off to their best starts since 1965. Cerritos went 10-0 that year, defeating Long Beach in the final game of the season to win the Metropolitan Conference title. The Falcons had a bye last week and play Southwestern College at 7 p.m. Saturday in Chula Vista.

Long Beach plays at Mt. San Antonio College of Walnut at 7 p.m. Saturday. The Mounties (5-1) fell from the ranks of the unbeaten at the hands of Palomar College of San Marcos, 35-34, last week.

Rio Hondo College (3-2) fell to Foothill Conference favorite Antelope Valley (5-1), by a score of 19-13 Saturday.

ELSEWHERE

Former Bellflower High running back Enrico Bozman, now on the Los Alamitos High football team, has gained 852 yards on 89 carries and scored 15 touchdowns. The Griffins (6-0) are top-ranked in Division II and have outscored opponents, 279-28. Next up: Empire League foe Loara of Anaheim at 7:30 tonight at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach.

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Senior forward Ken Hodge, formerly of Wilson High in Long Beach, recorded the first two-goal game of his career Oct. 13 to lift the men’s soccer team from Cal State Dominguez Hills to a 2-0 California Collegiate Athletic Assn. victory over visiting Cal State Bakersfield. Hodge leads the Toros in scoring with a career-high 16 points.

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Outside hitter Michelle Wineke, a volleyball and basketball standout at Gahr High last season, is playing volleyball at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Ida.

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Dwayne Fowler, a standout pitcher at Leffingwell Christian High, who went on to play baseball at Cal State Dominguez Hills and Long Beach State, is the football coach at Liberty Christian High in Huntington Beach. The Minutemen are in the Academy League, an eight-man division in the Southern Section.

BRIEFLY

The 10th annual Shoreline Half Marathon, which includes wheelchair competition, is scheduled Nov. 14 in downtown Long Beach. Proceeds will go to support Community Rehabilitation Industries, which helps train people with disabilities for jobs. Information: (310) 591-0539. . . . Construction of a $250,000 softball complex at Long Beach State has begun. It is scheduled for completion in the spring of 1995.