Sports

ARMED, DANGEROUS

The recruiting interest in El Camino College quarterback Steve Sarkisian figures to increase after he opened the season by passing for 433 yards and five touchdowns Saturday night in a 55-28 victory over Rancho Santiago.

“It’s really going to pick up now,” Warrior Coach John Featherstone said. “We had two different scouting services film Saturday’s game.”

Brigham Young and Fresno State have expressed the most interest in Sarkisian, a sophomore from West Torrance High. He passed for 2,970 yards and 21 touchdowns last season, but his numbers were overshadowed by El Camino’s defensive breakdowns in a 2-8 campaign.

Surrounded by a stronger team, Sarkisian threatened to break the school single-game passing record Saturday. He sat out most of the fourth quarter, which probably prevented him from eclipsing the record of 467 yards set by Ronnie Barber in 1985.

“We don’t like to run up scores,” said Featherstone, who was informed that Sarkisian was close to the record after the quarterback had sat out two series. “I asked Steve if he wanted to go back in, but he didn’t care (about the record) at all. He just wanted to win the game. That’s the kind of guy he is.”

So, where does Sarkisian rank with the other quarterbacks Featherstone has coached?

“Probably our top two guys were Dan Speltz in ’87 and Frank Dolce in ’89. They were fabulous players,” Featherstone said. “I feel comfortable saying (Sarkisian) could become the best quarterback we’ve had here.

“Speltz won us a national championship. Dolce got us in a national championship game. That’s Steve’s goal.”

STRONG START

For openers, Saturday’s game was all Featherstone could have hoped for. El Camino punted only once and gained 609 total yards, and the defense was much improved over last season, holding Rancho Santiago to 97 yards passing.

The one area of concern when practice started was the secondary, but the recent addition of Omarr Morgan has helped shore up the team’s pass defense. Morgan, The Times’ 1993 South Bay Back of the Year at Hawthorne High, joined the Warriors a week into practice after leaving San Jose State and quickly worked his way into a starting cornerback spot.

“He’s a Pac-10 defensive back,” Featherstone said.

El Camino will take this week off before resuming play with road games against Fullerton on Sept. 24 and Golden West on Oct. 1.

INJURED COLT

Carson High lost more than a football game last week against Bishop Amat. Quarterback Ramon Rogers suffered bruised kidneys in the 34-7 defeat and will be sidelined for a couple of weeks, Athletic Director Saul Pacheco said.

Sophomore Sharif Paxton will start in Rogers’ place Friday night against San Diego Morse (0-0-1) at Harbor College. Paxton, a national age-group record-holder in the 110-meter high hurdles, is regarded as one of the best athletes in the Carson program.

“I wouldn’t hesitate to play him,” Coach David Williams said before the season.

VICTORY, AT LAST

Perhaps no one was more relieved than Coach Donald Threatt when Gardena High snapped an 18-game losing streak Friday by beating Hamilton, 19-0, in a season opener. Threatt had suffered through an 0-10 record in his first season as the Mohicans’ coach.

“It’s very rewarding and very pleasing to have the players enjoy some success,” he said. “This is what we had hoped to be last season. We were very disappointed we couldn’t play any better.”

Threatt said the biggest improvement has been in the players’ attitudes.

“Last year we had some kids who were very self-centered,” he said. “Now we’ve got a group of kids who have been trying real hard since last January. We have some ability, but not a lot of size or depth.”

Quarterback Greg Pettis, who missed most of last season because of a broken finger, passed for 200 yards and two touchdowns against Hamilton, the school where Threatt had previously coached.

The Mohicans will try to make it two in row when they play host to Bishop Montgomery (0-1) Friday night.

FOREVER YOUNG

San Pedro High coaches know they have a promising quarterback in Melvin Yarborough. They’re just not sure what grade he’s in.

Pirate Coach Mike Walsh said Tuesday that Yarborough, thought to be a sophomore, might, in fact, be a freshman.

“Credit-wise, he’s a ninth-grader,” Walsh said. “He didn’t enter the ninth grade until last February. He went from regular school to a continuation school for half a year, then to us. Technically, he still has 3 1/2 years of eligibility remaining.”

That’s bad news for San Pedro’s opponents. In his varsity debut Friday, Yarborough, 15, showed remarkable poise while passing for 154 yards and two touchdowns in a 25-14 loss to Hawthorne.

“He’s great,” Hawthorne Coach Dan Robbins said. “He’s really going to be something. He took on what I consider the best defensive line in the South Bay area without getting flustered in the least.”

TON OF TRADITION

Robbins, in his fourth season as Hawthorne’s coach, always seems to find a talented behemoth to play right offensive tackle.

In 1991, it was 6-foot-6, 275-pound Jesse Herrera. In 1992, it was 6-5, 270-pound Mostafa Sobhi. Last season, it was 6-7, 300-pound David Camacho. All three were named to The Times’ South Bay All-Star first team.

Carrying on the tradition is Charles Allen, a 6-7, 285-pound senior who played tight end last season. Robbins said Allen played well against San Pedro despite lacking experience at tackle.

“Little things need to be improved, but I’d give him a solid B in terms of a grade,” Robbins said. “He’s really strong and his size isn’t deceiving. He’s getting tougher and tougher.”

DISPUTED TOUCHDOWN

Serra Coach Charles Nash, upon reviewing game films, said Montclair Prep’s winning touchdown with no time remaining Friday should have been nullified because a forward lateral occurred on the play.

Montclair Prep defeated the Cavaliers, 12-6, when Darrell Dent returned a blocked field goal 65 yards on the game’s last play. Nash said after Michael Wiley’s 37-yard field goal attempt was blocked by a lineman, the ball was picked up by another Montclair Prep player, who pitched the ball to Dent.

“It was definitely a forward lateral,” Nash said. “But the officials are human. I asked one of the officials about the play (after the game). He said it wasn’t his call. He said, ‘Coach, it’s not my call, but from where I was standing, it appeared to me it was a forward lateral.’ ”

Nash, though, said Serra should have never been in a position where it needed a last-second field goal to win.

“We had more (scoring) opportunities inside the red zone than they did,” Nash said. “We just sputtered offensively.”

Nash lauded the work of new defensive coordinator Steve Garcia, previously a coach at Bishop Montgomery. Serra, led by Wiley’s 17 tackles at linebacker, shut down Montclair Prep after losing to the Mounties, 40-6, last season.

RISING STAR

Based on talent, Brice Montgomery would be starting for Serra’s varsity football team this season. But because he’s only 14, the touted freshman will have to be content with playing against junior varsity competition.

That matchup proved a lopsided one last week, as Montgomery scored four touchdowns--three on punt returns--in Serra’s runaway victory over Montclair Prep.

“He’s probably our best cornerback, but he’s not old enough to play on the varsity,” Nash said. “He could be my starting tailback and cornerback as a sophomore. He would start at cornerback right now, that’s for sure.”

Nash said the 5-8, 150-pound Montgomery, the holder of several national age-group sprint records in track, was the subject of a fierce recruiting battle between several high schools, with Serra beating out Bishop Amat and Loyola.

“We were blessed,” Nash said. “I now know that prayers do work.”

However, not everyone at Serra was thrilled with Montgomery’s four-TD performance last week. By running back three punts for scores, he managed to keep the offense on the bench longer than it wanted.

“Kids have been telling me, ‘You have to take (Montgomery) off special teams because we never get a chance to play,’ ” Nash said.

LIONS’ DEN

Coming off a strong tournament performance, the Loyola Marymount women’s volleyball team will play host to its own tournament this weekend--the LMU/Red Lion Hotel Conference Challenge at Gersten Pavilion.

The event matches Loyola and Pepperdine from the West Coast Conference against Colorado State and San Diego State of the Western Athletic Conference. Friday, Loyola plays San Diego State at 5 p.m. and Pepperdine meets Colorado State at 7:30. Saturday, Pepperdine and San Diego State meet at 5 and Loyola plays Colorado State at 7:30.

Loyola (3-3) placed second at the prestigious UC Santa Barbara Volleyball Classic last weekend. The highlight came in the semifinals, where the Lions upset eighth-ranked and defending national champion Long Beach State, 15-7, 15-12, 15-8. It was Long Beach State’s first three-game loss since 1990.

Loyola lost to 11-ranked UC Santa Barbara, 15-9, 15-13, 15-6, in the final. Lion middle blocker Mardell Wrensch was named to the all-tournament team, the fourth time the junior has been all-tournament in her collegiate career.

NOTABLE

Hagan Kelley, a sophomore at South Torrance High, won the junior division title at the Rusty/Newport Beach pro-am surf contest last weekend. He received a $500 scholarship and $300 in prizes. Kelley, who recently was named one of the top 30 amateur surfers in the United States by Surfing Magazine, leaves Monday for Hawaii to begin a national ad campaign for Kellogg’s cereal. . . .