PREP FOOTBALL SPOTLIGHT : FACTS, FIGURES AND COMMENTS FROM LAST WEEK’S GAMES : POWER PLAN

There wasn’t anything tricky about the new offensive scheme South Torrance brought to Beverly Hills on Friday. The Spartans simply lined up in an overloaded power-I formation, without the benefit of any wide receivers, and ran the ball.

By game’s end, South had rushed for 388 yards in 50 carries for a 28-18 upset of Beverly Hills, which entered the game 4-0 and ranked No. 1 in the CIF-Southern Section Division VIII poll. South (4-1) is ranked No. 6.

“We just thought we could outphysical them,” Spartan assistant coach Mike Christensen said. “They’re not a real physical team, they’re a finesse team.”

Called the “Tilt” offense, South used seven linemen, stacking one side with a tight end and two tackles. In addition, the Spartans used a wingback in the backfield for an additional blocker. Quarterback Alan Hook audibilizied at the line of scrimmage to determine whether the Spartans would attack the strong or weak side, depending on how Beverly Hills lined up.

“We let Alan decide where they were most vulnerable,” Coach Don Morrow said.

It worked like a charm. Three South backs rushed for more than 100 yards--fullback Mike Lee with 139 yards and a touchdown in 12 carries, Hook with 124 yards and two TDs in 17 carries and tailback Ryan Brady with 117 yards and a TD in 18 carries. Brady’s 46-yard scoring run with 46 seconds left put the game away.

Morrow praised all his linemen, especially guards Jacob Bianchi (6-foot-1, 230 pounds) and Josh Waybright (6-1, 200) and tackle Shane Daywalt (6-2, 260). South also benefitted from the return of junior tackle Chad Sauter (6-4, 245), who played in his first game since undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery during preseason practice.

“We think he can be a Division I player,” Morrow said of Sauter, who has run the 40-yard dash in 5.1 seconds, exceptional for a lineman. “He has a way to go, but he’s a real natural. He’s going to help.”

GRACIOUS LOSER

Hawthorne Coach Dan Robbins said the Cougars may have taken Redondo lightly, but he gave the Sea Hawks all the credit for their stunning 21-18 victory Friday night on Scott Moore’s 36-yard field goal with no time remaining at Redondo.

“Redondo played great, inspired football,” said Robbins, whose team was ranked No. 2 in the Southern Section Division III poll. “They worked hard and played very aggressive.”

Robbins said Hawthorne was plagued by a poor week of practice.

“We were ill prepared,” he said. “We had loose practices, arguments among the players. But the loss can be positive. It might keep the players on an even keel and show them that we can’t take anyone lightly.”

ONE-MAN GANG

Morningside quarterback Stais Boseman has perhaps never played more impressively than he did Friday night in a 34-22 victory over West Torrance at Coleman Field in Inglewood.

The 6-3, 185-pound junior had a hand in all five Monarch touchdowns (four rushing, one passing) and finished with 313 total yards--161 rushing, 112 passing and 40 on kick and punt returns. Boseman also broke up a West two-point conversion attempt by deflecting a pass and had a 67-yard punt return for a touchdown nullified by penalty.

One of his most impressive plays came on a 17-yard scoring run in the second quarter that gave Morningside a 20-7 lead. Boseman reached out and pushed a defender down to clear a path to the end zone.

“I think I shook him up because he was off balance,” Boseman said of the West defender. “I was a little surprised. I’m not known for my strength.”

SHORT GAME

You would think Pirates would know their way around a shovel, but San Pedro never figured out how to stop the shovel pass Friday night in a 28-7 loss to Carson at Gardena High. The short tosses were a big reason Carson quarterback Jamie Sander had his best game, completing 22 of 35 attempts for 336 yards and three touchdowns.

“We never made the adjustment to the shovel pass,” Pirate Coach Mike Walsh said. “They killed us with it. Maybe it was a lack of coaching. I don’t know if our outside people were getting blocked or not, but the couple of times I saw, they weren’t getting blocked and they should have made the play. Maybe they just weren’t aware of it.”

Carson wingbacks Theron Hill and Damin Hurst, two of the area’s quickest players, caught most of the shovel passes, which sometimes travel no farther than a yard or two. Hill tied a school record for most receptions in a game with nine catches for 93 yards and Hurst had six catches for 94 yards.

“We thought we could take advantage of it,” Carson co-coach Marty Blankenship said. “We just keep doing it until they stop it. A lot of people complain, ‘How come we’re not throwing anymore,’ so we wanted to come out and throw. (San Pedro) dropped seven men back, so they gave us that and we took advantage of it.”

Of course, Carson also had success passing downfield. Wide receiver Tony Knox had five catches for 143 yards and tied a school record with three touchdown receptions, covering 33, 66 and 17 yards. He would have set the record, but a 61-yard TD catch in the fourth quarter was nullified by penalty.

EXTRA INCENTIVE

Carson co-coaches Jim D’Amore and Blankenship said they dedicated the victory over San Pedro to Henry Pacheco, a former Carson assistant who was fired last season as coach at San Pedro. Pacheco is hospitalized and undergoing treatment for leukemia.

“We won that game for Henry,” D’Amore said. “That was for the San Pedro administration for firing Henry Pacheco.

“We talked to him about it and he said, ‘Whatever you do, you’ve got to beat San Pedro.’ We told him, ‘We’re going to try our damnedest.’ ”

COMIC RELIEF

One of the funniest, and strangest, plays of the season occurred in the Carson-San Pedro game on the first play of the fourth quarter.

With San Pedro in possession at the Carson 26-yard line, Carson defensive end Gamaiel Edmerson chased San Pedro quarterback Rino Marconi into official Joe Rubio, who couldn’t get out of the way. As all three fell, the ball popped loose and Carson defensive end Lomitusi Fa’vae scooped it up and appeared headed for a touchdown.

However, apparently thinking he had reached the end zone, Fa’vae put his knee down at the San Pedro five-yard line. Carson scored a touchdown on the next play to take a 21-0 lead.

NO PASSING FANCY

It wasn’t all that much, but the 125 yards Banning quarterback Vaimagalo Faavi-Tua’au passed for Friday in a 32-20 victory over Crenshaw represented a season-high for the Pilots, who had thrown for only 195 yards in their first four games combined.

Banning Coach Joe Dominguez said the Pilots need to keep improving the passing game to complement their productive running attack. The team rushed for 215 yards against Crenshaw, led by Shayzar Hawkins with 117 yards in 21 carries.

“If we’re going to be a great team, we have to get our passing game going,” Dominguez said. “We can’t rely 90% on the run. That’s why everybody is loading up on us. People are running seven- and eight-man fronts against us. Until we earn some respect throwing the ball, they’ll continue to do that.”

Faavi-Tua’au completed four of 10 attempts, including two for 101 yards to tight end Gabe Sadi. He also had an 18-yard touchdown pass to running back Larry Rayford early in the fourth quarter to give Banning a 32-14 lead.

“We completed a couple today,” Dominguez said. “If you equate it to learning from a crawling stage to running, we’re just beginning to stand up. We’ve got a long way to go.”

GETTING DEFENSIVE

* El Segundo defensive end Scott Sutherland recovered two fumbles and cornerback Dave Scanlan returned an interception 90 yards in a 40-0 victory over St. Monica. Scanlan also kicked field goals of 45 and 27 yards. The Eagles limited St. Monica to 126 total yards.

* North Torrance limited Leuzinger to 118 total yards in a 24-3 victory behind the line play of Shannon Bray, Geoff Neilson, Mike Thomas and Mike Gaver.

* Defensive backs Ken Estrella and Alan Hook and linebacker Josh Waybright each intercepted passes for South Torrance in a 28-18 upset over Beverly Hills. Estrella’s interception late in the fourth quarter stopped a potential go-ahead drive.

* Peninsula cornerback Pat Hubbard had two interceptions in a 28-20 victory over Torrance.

* Carson safety Dion Brumfield, the team leader in tackles, had 13 tackles, an interception and a deflected pass in a 28-7 victory over San Pedro.

HE’S THE (CHEESE)MAN

After several weeks of playing different quarterbacks, Peninsula Coach Gary Kimbrell says he has settled on junior Matt Cheeseman as his starter “until someone beats him out.” Cheeseman rushed for two touchdowns and passed for 42 yards in a 28-20 victory over Torrance.

IN QUOTES

West Torrance Coach Kerry Crabb on a 34-22 loss to Morningside that left the Warriors with a 1-4 record entering Pioneer League play: “I told the kids that none of this matters because we’re not going to face this kind of speed and size in the league. I didn’t care if they went 0-5 (in nonleague play) as long as they were improving. But they didn’t improve this week.”

Bishop Montgomery Coach Steve Carroll on a last-minute touchdown and two-point conversion that gave Mira Costa a 20-19 victory over the Knights: “I’m very disappointed. You’ve got to give Mira Costa credit for moving the ball down the field, but I felt with 1:33 to go and a seven-point lead, we should have been able to put the stops on them defensively.”

Serra Coach Jon Dimalante on a bench-clearing brawl with 59 seconds left that ended a 20-7 loss to host Lompoc: “Frustration led to the fight. A couple of our kids went haywire, but it wasn’t entirely our fault. Still, there is no excuse for fighting.”

Lompoc Coach Robin Luken on the fight: “It was a lousy way to end the game. It was an incident we really tried to avoid. Someone ought to learn how to control (Serra’s) kids.”

Banning safety Brandon Moore on his 29-yard interception return for a touchdown that gave the Pilots a 20-14 lead late in the first half en route to 32-20 victory: “Oh God, I just wanted it so bad. Because in the last game, I stumbled by myself when I had an opportunity to score. I just couldn’t let this one go.”

SIDELINED

* Banning offensive tackle Naeem Mills, a preseason All-American, sat out the Crenshaw game with strep throat.

* Morningside running back Montres Gordes did not play in a 34-22 victory over West Torrance because of a “bruise” that Coach Ron Tatum would not explain further.

* West running back Ralph Alarcon sat out his second consecutive game with a dislocated toe.

* Peninsula linebacker Jerry Pilato suffered a broken thumb in a 28-20 victory over Torrance but might be available for Friday’s Bay League opener against Leuzinger, Coach Gary Kimbrell said.

* Gardena fullback Paul Young suffered a sprained knee on the first play and sat out the rest of a 14-12 loss to Washington.