Sunset League Is Wide Open

Many league championships already have been decided or are riding on the outcome of one or two critical games in the next two weeks. Then there is the Sunset League, which can truly boast that every remaining game could have a major impact on the title chase in one of Southern California’s best and deepest alignments.

Four of the Southern Section Division I league’s six teams--Huntington Beach Edison, Anaheim Esperanza, Los Alamitos and Fountain Valley--were ranked last week in The Times’ top 25.

The battle for supremacy among the league’s teams got even tighter after Edison and Los Alamitos tied, 14-14, on Thursday and Huntington Beach Marina upset Esperanza, 35-14, on Friday.

Edison and Los Alamitos are 2-0-1, Fountain Valley and Esperanza are 1-1-1, Marina is 1-2 and Huntington Beach is 0-3.

“It’s never been this wild after three weeks,” Los Alamitos Coach John Barnes said. “No one is 3-0. I don’t think there has ever been a time when someone in our league wasn’t 3-0.”

Los Alamitos and Esperanza are the only schools to win the league title outright since the current alignment was formed in 1994. Fountain Valley tied Los Alamitos and Esperanza for the title in 1996.

“There’s so many different scenarios that could happen, it’s wide open for anybody,” said Edison Coach Dave White, whose team is 6-0-1 overall. “We could finish first or fifth and we haven’t lost all year.”

White and Barnes scouted Marina’s game against Esperanza. Both came away impressed. “Last year we were 5-0 and then we fell apart during league,” said Mike Dodd, Marina’s second-year coach. “This year we took a different approach and came into league 2-3. But right now, we’re playing as well as anybody.”

Marina plays at Fountain Valley on Thursday, Edison is at Esperanza on Friday and spoiler-hopeful Huntington Beach is at Los Alamitos on Saturday.

Showdown time: Because they only have four teams, every game is huge in the Division I Del Rey and Serra leagues.

So Mike DiFiori, coach at La Puente Bishop Amat, said his team was not looking past Santa Fe Springs St. Paul on Friday, even though Bishop Amat was 5-1 and St. Paul 3-3. “You can’t look ahead,” DiFiori said after his team escaped with a 24-23 victory. “The level of competition doesn’t allow you to.”

Southland football fans are looking forward to Friday when two of the best games of the season will be played. Seventh-ranked Los Angeles Loyola (6-1) is at No. 14 Bishop Amat (6-1) in a key Del Rey League game, and No. 6 Santa Margarita (5-2-1) plays No. 13 Santa Ana Mater Dei (5-3) in a Serra League showdown at the Santa Ana Bowl.

Seeing double: Mike Mayoral, coach at Montebello Schurr, no longer bothers with first names when summoning twins Ray and Roy Rubio during games.

“I used to get caught up in the game and say, ‘Ray come here,’ and the thing is I’d want Roy,” Mayoral said. “So I just call them 41 [Roy] and 24 [Ray].”

Ray, a running back, rushed for 110 yards in 14 carries, and Roy, a wide receiver, caught a 16-yard touchdown pass in the Spartans’ 47-6 Almont League victory over Alhambra Keppel last Friday. That sets up a big game this week between Schurr (6-2) and unbeaten Montebello (8-0).

The Rubios are one of several sets of twins making an impact for their teams. Santa Paula quarterback David Maldonado and his twin, Rene, combined for a 12-yard touchdown pass play in a 28-20 Frontier League upset of previously unbeaten Ojai Nordhoff. David passed for 280 yards and three touchdowns. Rene caught five passes for 44 yards.

La Canada quarterback Eric Young and his twin, Ryan, hooked up for a 72-yard touchdown pass play in the Spartans’ 34-27 Rio Hondo League loss to Temple City.

Breakout performance: Bell Gardens waited almost two seasons for junior Bobby Andrade to return a kick for a touchdown.

Three times last year, Andrade made long returns only to be hauled down inside the five-yard line. On Friday against San Gabriel, the 5-foot-5, 140-pound junior finally went the distance, returning a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown and punts 70 and 55 yards for scores in a 55-20 Almont League victory.

Antelope fast: Brent Newcomb, in his 24th season as coach at Antelope Valley, said fans tired of long games should come out and visit. There are few, if any, clock-stopping incomplete passes when fullback-oriented Antelope Valley takes the field. “If they don’t like staying out late on Friday night, come watch us because it doesn’t take long,” said Newcomb, whose team rushed for 302 yards in a 31-0 Golden League victory over Quartz Hill last Friday.

Two weeks ago, Antelope Valley attempted one pass against Lancaster. On Friday, quarterback Johnny Walker and Kreig Peters combined for a 47-yard touchdown pass play on the Antelopes’ first series. Antelope Valley tried two other passes late in the first half.

“We run first and we pass second,” Newcomb said. “We found something that works for us so we stick with it.”

Booker watch: Lorenzo Booker of Ventura St. Bonaventure is now the state’s all-time leading scorer.

Booker, a senior running back, scored four touchdowns and ran for two conversions for St. Bonaventure in a 51-7 Tri-Valley League victory over Bishop Diego, giving him 720 points in his career. Booker broke the record of 710 points set by Dominique Dorsey of Tulare in 1998-2000. Booker rushed for 241 yards in 18 carries as St. Bonaventure extended its winning streak to 36 games, including 19 consecutive league victories.

*

Staff writer Martin Henderson contributed to this report.