Los Altos turns it around

“Your time will come. You’re young.”

That’s how high school administrators broke the bad news to Dale Ziola whenever he was turned down for a head football coaching position.

He was 27, turning 28, when he first sought the Hacienda Heights Los Altos job as one of 93 candidates in 2009. He was almost 29 when he applied again for the job last school year after the team went 0-10 and about 50 people applied.

“All we wanted was a chance,” Ziola said.

The school finally hired him, and Los Altos, which is off to a 4-1 start, has become one of the best turnaround stories of the 2011 football season.

“The kids are fighting for one another and they care for each other,” Ziola said.

There is so much enthusiasm associated with the football program that it’s a reminder of the old days, when Los Altos was winning 11 Southern Section championships and producing such players as Dennis Sproul, Mike Smith, Shaun Cody and Brigham Harwell.

“The school atmosphere is fantastic,” Ziola said. “The first game before we even won we had 2,000 in the stands. Our student body was amazing. The kids loved it. The boys feed off it, and the school feeds off the boys.”

Running back Justin Fa’aola, quarterback Shane Virnala, receiver Scott Tibbs and linebackers Charles Erdmann and Victor Haro have all made major contributions.

It’s clear the players appreciate Ziola’s enthusiasm and commitment. He played football at Mammoth and was a starting offensive guard at Whittier College at 5 feet 8, 200 pounds after his new coach asked him to switch from linebacker.

“Coach asks you to do something, and you do it,” he said.

He coached at Montebello High, was Los Altos’ freshman coach in 2009 and running backs coach on varsity last season.

He earned his shot to take over the program by the way players reacted to him in the off-season.

“He’s always had the potential, he’s always had the fire,” Athletic Director Steven Garcia said. “We saw how the kids responded to him.”

Ziola is all about team, giving credit to his assistant coaches and mentioning players who are hardly stars.

Asked why the team is so much better, Ziola said, “They’ve worked extremely hard. We have a huge senior class, and they didn’t want to go out like [last season]. They attacked the off-season. We had a dead period that averaged 50 kids in the weight room coming in on their own. Kids are not missing practice, even if they’re hurt.”

There are plenty of lessons to be taught. On Friday, Los Altos lost its Hacienda League opener to Walnut, 31-14. Walnut had been winless this season, a reminder to Los Altos players that there’s still much work to do.

“It shows the parity of high school football, and we’ll see how we respond,” Ziola said.

The Conquerors have reason for hope. They put their trust in a young, unproven coach who had a vision but needed an opportunity to show what he could do.

Game of the week

Tickets go on sale Monday for what should be one of the great games of the 2011 season: Oaks Christian (3-1) at Westlake (4-0) on Thursday night.

Westlake has scored 63, 38 and 73 points in its three Marmonte League wins. Oaks Christian has scored 50, 34 and 56 points in its three victories. I say 42 points will be the minimum needed for victory.

What’s stunning about Oaks Christian in the last three weeks has been the accuracy of sophomore quarterback Brandon Dawkins. Since he started to play in Game 2, he completed six of six passes against Agoura, 15 of 18 against Ventura St. Bonaventure and seven of eight against Calabasas.

“I’m very pleased,” Coach Bill Redell said.

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

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