Fountain Valley Players Set to Return

A group of Fountain Valley High football players will return to the team this week after serving a five-day suspension from school for vandalism at Edison High.

The players, who were not identified, were held out of Fountain Valley’s game Friday against Marina, which the Barons lost, 20-3.

The players were suspended for defacing the Edison football coaches’ offices and other campus buildings with spray paint on the night of Oct. 2, after the Barons’ victory over Servite that afternoon, Fountain Valley Principal Gary Ernst said.

Ernst said the players admitted to the vandalism when he confronted them. Huntington Beach Union High School District policy says a student found vandalizing school property can be suspended for up to five days. “Because of the severity of the vandalism, the suspensions were the maximum,” Ernst said.

Fountain Valley’s campus was vandalized by spray paint the previous week, Ernst said, perhaps triggering a retaliation.

“What bothers me is the idea that some kids at either school think that vandalism of property is a way of showing school spirit,” Ernst said. “It is against the law and shows lack of caring and a lack of responsibility.”

Eric Johnson, Fountain Valley’s first-year football coach, said he was “still not through” disciplining his players.

“What they did was amazing to me,” Johnson said. “It was really stupid.”

INJURY REPORT

Mater Dei’s starting nose guard, Trevor Hovarter, will probably be lost for the remainder of the season because of a torn left anterior cruciate ligament, Monarch Coach Bruce Rollinson said.

Hovarter sustained the injury in the third quarter of Thursday’s 14-7 victory over L.A. Loyola. Rollinson said Hovarter, a 6-foot-2, 270-pound junior, will have surgery this week.

“They told us there’s a slight chance he could come back,” Rollinson said, “but we’re not counting on it.”

Hovarter had started every game this season. “He had two consecutive great games and he had a great half against Loyola,” Rollinson said. “He’ll be sorely missed.”

Ray Roblero, a 5-11, 285-pound senior who has played sparingly, will replace Hovarter. “It’s his time to step it up,” Rollinson said.

* Orange Lutheran interior lineman Jeff Messick was taken by ambulance to the Kaiser Permanente care facility in Anaheim during the first half of the Lancers’ game at Cerritos Valley Christian Friday night.

While attempting to bring down Crusader quarterback Mark Streelman, Messick, a junior, twisted his right knee and was removed from the field on a backboard. Lancer Coach Jim Kunau said Messick’s knee was still swollen Monday and an MRI was scheduled.

“It looks really bad,” Kunau said after the Lancers, 35-20 victory. “That’s a big loss for us.”

FREELANCING IS FINE

Northwood Athletic Director Rick Curtis said Monday that his first-year school will play a freelance football schedule next season rather than play in the Pacific Coast League.

Curtis, who is also the football coach, cited a desire to be competitive when it steps up to play at the varsity level.

“I think we could compete in a couple games, but week in and out, because of our depth problem, I think it would be very difficult,” Curtis said. “With an injury or two, we’d be devastated.”

Only freshmen and sophomores attend Northwood this year, and its enrollment is expected to grow to about 1,000 next year with the addition of a new class.

“I have 29 kids suiting out for the sophomore team,” Curtis said. “We have a lot of kids playing both ways. We have 45 freshmen, but it will take some time for them to develop. Some of them won’t even be 14 next year, so you can’t expect them to play varsity.”

Curtis was at Laguna Hills High when it opened in 1978 with juniors and competed in the South Coast League its first year.

“Every game was 54-0,” he said. “It was a demoralizing experience, to say the least. It was tough on the kids and the athletic program. It took a long time for the school to recover, and we don’t want that to happen. We want to make sure we have competitive games.”

It wasn’t until 1989 that Laguna Hills made the playoffs, finishing 6-6.

LITTLE MARGIN FOR ERROR

Each team in the Sea View League has a winning record through seven games. Because there are only five teams in the league, each plays only four league games.

“I think if you lose two games, you’re out,” Aliso Niguel Coach Joe Wood said of the automatic playoff berths for finishing among the top three.

If a team with two losses isn’t eliminated, it would probably face a top-seeded opponent in the first round of the Southern Section playoffs.

“If you lose two games,” Wood said, “you’re not doing yourself any favors.”

STADIUM DEDICATION

St. Margaret’s will dedicate its new football field before its homecoming game against Downey Calvary Chapel Saturday afternoon.

Ceremonies will begin at noon with a family tailgate picnic. Ten minutes before the scheduled 1:30 p.m. kickoff, the Tartans will officially dedicate the field.

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Staff writers Martin Henderson, Dave McKibben and Melanie Neff contributed to this story.