Weather Forecast Has Cloud Hanging Over Championships

The weather forecast calling for continued precipitation throughout the Southland this week is bad news for high school football teams playing in championship games this weekend.

The weather prompts many coaches to move practice indoors, and it will probably result in smaller crowds at many games.

The biggest potential problem involves the Southern Section Division I championship, which features La Puente Bishop Amat and Loyola at Anaheim Stadium Friday night. Stadium officials have the right to pull out of the agreement as late as Friday afternoon, if it is raining, in order to protect the field for the Rams, who will play New Orleans there Sunday.

The 1983 Division I game, between Bishop Amat and Anaheim Servite, was moved from Anaheim Stadium to Cerritos College because of rain. Bishop Amat Coach Mark Paredes, then an assistant with the Lancers, said the school did not find out about the switch until 3 p.m. on game day.

“We certainly had a lot of scrambling to do that afternoon,” Paredes said.

Servite won the game, 28-10.

Bill Clark, the Southern Section football administrator, said the decision is up to Anaheim Stadium officials and is usually made as late as possible in hopes weather conditions will improve if they are bad.

“If it rains all week, we probably wouldn’t announce a site switch until Friday,” he said. “Of course, we would all like to play at Anaheim Stadium.”

If the rain persists, the game will be moved to Cerritos College, which holds 12,000. Bishop Amat and Loyola, parochial rivals in the Del Rey League, have each been allotted 6,000 advance-sale tickets.

The game should attract a large crowd. In an earlier meeting this year, a standing-room-only crowd of 11,000 watched Bishop Amat beat the Cubs at Glendale High, 28-14.

Last year, the Division I championship game between Santa Ana Mater Dei and Rialto Eisenhower drew 33,204. Bishop Amat and Loyola figure to draw about that many.

“We certainly would lose a big payday if the game was moved,” Clark said.

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The weather has already disrupted Big Bear, which plays at Bishop Saturday night for the Division X title. Bears’ Coach Mike Clifton said the football field was covered with a foot of snow Monday morning.

“The only way we could practice on it would be if everyone in town got out their shovels and helped clear it,” he said.

Clifton said the team will practice in the gym all week.

Bishop, about 45 minutes south of Mammoth--but considerably lower in elevation--won the coin flip to determine thehost team, plans to hold the championship at its school.

“It’s snowing like crazy in Mammoth, but all we’ve had here is a lot of rain,” said Rich Tucker, Bishop’s principal. “Everyone here is excited about playing Big Bear. We’ll bring in extra bleachers and do everything we can to accommodate the expected crowd.”

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The Southern Section Division I and II title games, which feature The Times’ four top-rated teams, are rematches of earlier league games.

Top-ranked Bishop Amat (13-0) defeated Loyola, (12-1) on Nov. 7, and No. 2 Los Alamitos (13-0) defeated No. 3 Anaheim Esperanza (12-1), 34-14, on Oct. 30.

Coaches usually say it is difficult to beat the same team twice in one season but no one was claiming victory or conceding defeat at a football media luncheon Monday.

“We hoped we would have an opportunity to play Bishop Amat again,” said Steve Grady, Loyola’s coach. “And we knew our only chance would be in the title game. We’re thrilled we’re getting another shot.”

John Barnes, Los Alamitos’ coach, said he expects another hard-fought game with Esperanza.

“This is our biggest challenge and I just hope we’re up to it,” he said. “This is the kind of matchup you dream about. I’m sure we’ll have a big crowd.”

Los Alamitos defeated Esperanza for the Division III title last season, 8-0.

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If Loyola won the Division I title, it would gain an automatic berth in the new CIF/Reebok Bowl, to be played on Dec. 18 at Anaheim Stadium. Its opponent would be the City Division 4-A champion.

But Loyola administrators announced earlier this season that the school would decline the invitation, since its seniors have final exams next week. Grady said the there has been no change in that thinking.

If Bishop Amat wins, Paredes said, his team will accept the invitation.

If Loyola wins, however, the Southern Section Division II champion will go to the bowl. Los Alamitos and Esperanza coaches said their schools would play.

“Right now, though, we’re looking at Saturday’s game as our final one for the season,” said Barnes of Los Alamitos. “We don’t want to get the kids excited about a game they might not play in.”

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Brahna Pastorini of Woodland Hills Taft, who won the girls’ City individual tennis title last week, has been mentioned in several recent newspaper articles as the daughter of former NFL quarterback Dan Pastorini.

Although Dan is her father, Brahna’s parents divorced in 1982, and she lives in Sherman Oaks with her mother, actress June Wilkinson.

Wilkinson said Dan lives in Colorado and has seldom seen his daughter play tennis. He played quarterback for the Houston Oilers, Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders and Philadelphia Eagles.

“My daughter loved playing baseball as a youngster,” Wilkinson said. “She has Dan’s athletic genes. She was on a Little League team for a while and was better than most of the boys. I finally bribed her $100 when she was 12 to give tennis a chance. She’s been playing nonstop since then.”

Prep Notes

Jacque Vaughn, a senior basketball guard at Pasadena Muir High, has been selected one of five finalists for the Dial Award, given annually to the top boy and girl scholar-athletes in the country. Winners will be announced next month. Jeff Buckey of Bakersfield won last year. . . . Laguna Beach was denied a grant to move its football team out of the Pacific Coast League next season. The Artists, who have not won a league game in the last three seasons, wanted to join another league or play a free-lance schedule next season.

Adam Jacobsen, a guard at Crescenta Valley, became the Southern Section’s career leader in three-points shots last week when he made three long-range shots against La Canada St. Francis. Jacobsen, a transfer from Glendora, ran his total to 291, breaking the record of 288 set by Steve Clover of Rolling Hills from 1988-90. . . . Lakewood Artesia, regarded as one of the top boys’ basketball teams in the state this year, opened up the season by winning the St. Monica tournament. The Pioneers beat St. Monica in the title game.

Times’ Top 20 Football Poll

The Times’ top 20 high school football poll, with teams from the City and Southern Sections.

School Sec. Div. Rec. LW 1. Bishop Amat SS I 13-0-0 1 2. Los Alamitos SS II 13-0-0 2 3. Esperanza SS II 12-1-0 7 4. Loyola SS I 12-1-0 5 5. Muir SS II 11-2-0 3 6. Fontana SS I 11-2-0 4 7. Eisenhower SS I 10-2-1 7 8. Irvine SS IV 12-1-0 8 9. Sylmar City 4-A 12-0-0 9 10. Ran. Alamitos SS VII 11-2-0 12 11. Hawthorne SS III 11-2-0 14 12. Cres. Valley SS II 11-2-0 10 13. Hart SS II 11-1-0 11 14. Servite SS II 9-2-1 13 15. Bell Gardens SS III 12-1-0 15 16. Duarte SS VI 12-0-0 16 17. Mater Dei SS I 9-2-1 17 18. Carson City 4-A 9-3-1 20 19. Newport Harbor SS IV 11-2-0 NR 20. San Pedro City 3-A 11-1-1 NR