Former Gardena Coach to Face Old Team in Banning Black

L.A. Times Archives

Sept. 14, 1989 12 AM PT

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

Dale Hirayama doesn’t necessarily agree with that old adage, but he understands how someone could use it to explain his recent change of jobs.

Hirayama, head football coach at Gardena High for the last three years, finds himself in a new and rather awkward position this season as defensive backfield coach at Banning, one of Gardena’s longtime rivals.

Instead of donning the traditional green and white of Gardena, Hirayama will be wearing Banning black and red Friday night when the Pilots face Long Beach Poly in an attractive season opener at Veterans Stadium.

“I had to change my whole wardrobe,” he joked.

Seriously, though, Hirayama realizes his transfer is a touchy subject.

“I’m sure there are some people at Gardena who are dying to get at me,” he said.

Not that anyone at Gardena wants to harm Hirayama. But you can bet the Mohicans would love to upset Banning when the teams meet Oct. 27 at Gardena, although that seems unlikely considering the Pilots have dominated the series in recent years. The perennial L.A. City power won last season, 41-18.

Hirayama resigned at the end of last year’s 3-8 campaign and intended to continue coaching at Gardena on the lower levels. But when Banning Coach Joe Dominguez offered him a full-time assistant position, it was too good to pass up.

“Joe and I have been pretty good friends for years,” Hirayama said. “After he found out I wasn’t going to coach varsity football at Gardena anymore, he approached me about transferring to Banning.

“He gave me about three months to think about it. I weighed all the pros and cons and decided that transferring to Banning would be the best for me.”

The change also meant moving back to the classroom. Hirayama, who taught physical education at Gardena, now teaches career planning at Banning.

“I’m enjoying it,” he said. “The coaching staff has been very helpful, and the players have been very receptive to me. I’m really enthused about our first game Friday night.

“Wearing black and red is different.”

Hawthorne entered the football season having to replace two three-year starters: All-American quarterback Curtis Conway and kicker Eddie Korn.

Who did the Cougars miss more in their opener Friday against Hueneme?

Hint: It’s not who you’d think.

While junior Jamil Williams did a competent job in his first start at quarterback--he passed for 130 yards and two touchdowns--Hawthorne kickers missed five points after touchdown and one field goal attempt in a 30-7 victory.

But Coach Goy Casillas said Ted Golden and Armando Fernandez were not entirely at fault for their combined 0-for-6 performance.

“The holder wasn’t getting the ball on the tee,” Casillas said. “It’s something we have to work on.”

The Cougars hope to have the problem ironed out by Friday night when they meet Morningside (0-1) at Sentinel Field.

West Torrance co-coaches John Black and Mark Knox gave quarterback John Walsh high marks in his varsity debut Friday night against Verbum Dei.

The 6-3 junior completed 24 of 35 passes (69%) for 238 yards and two touchdowns, but his effort wasn’t enough as Verbum Dei pulled out a 24-16 win on a hook-and-ladder touchdown play with 20 seconds left.

“He played about as well in a first game as you can play,” Black said of Walsh. “If he plays that well all the time, that’s going to be super.”

Walsh threw one interception, which Verbum Dei converted into a touchdown, and he was sacked three times.

“When you throw the ball as many times as he did, you’re bound to throw one interception,” Black said. “He looked very comfortable. He takes a hit when he has to take it, and he bounces right back up. We were real proud of him.”

Black said mistakes led to West’s downfall. Walsh had one touchdown pass nullified by a penalty, and the Warriors lost two fumbles, including one at the Verbum Dei 1-yard line.

North Torrance football Coach Don Bohannon hopes he never has to endure another game like Friday night’s 47-7 loss to Palos Verdes.

The Saxons fell behind, 20-0, midway through the first quarter en route to their most lopsided defeat in recent memory.

“Everything happened so quick that everybody kind of collapsed,” Bohannon said. “It was horrible. I’ve never been through anything like that. The first quarter seemed to go on forever. We couldn’t stop them.

“Basically, we went in with a lack of experience, and it really showed in the first quarter. It was like we had never practiced.”

Despite the poor showing, Bohannon said, there were bright spots for North. Junior quarterback Brian Jurado completed 29 of 49 passes for 273 yards and one touchdown to receiver Eric Hansen, who had 14 catches for 141 yards.

“Palos Verdes is a fine football team, but I don’t think they are 40 points better than us,” Bohannon said.

Leo Hand returned to the scene of past glories Friday night when he guided Serra to a 40-0 win over Pasadena in his first game as the Cavaliers’ coach.

Ten years ago Hand coached St. Anthony to a victory at Serra that clinched the Camino Real League title for the Long Beach school. St. Anthony was led in 1979 by workhorse running back Dwayne Faciane.

Judging by Serra’s performance Friday, Hand still favors the running game.

Operating out of a full-house backfield, the Cavaliers rushed for more than 300 yards and six touchdowns. Sharing the ball-carrying duties were fullback Dennis Gerard, halfbacks Jerald Henry and Lamont Daniels and quarterback Fred Safford.

“I came here with the idea of running an I formation, but we have so many running backs I abandoned that and went to the full-house T,” Hand said. “I do whatever the talent dictates.”

Hand, who was head coach at St. Anthony from 1977 to 1980 and at Servite from 1984 to 1987, says he’s enjoying himself at Serra.

“It’s a lot of fun over here,” he said. “The thing I’m most impressed with is that the players have stayed together, with a new coach coming in.”

Hand spent last season as the outside linebacker coach at Long Beach City College. This season former Banning and Harbor College Coach Chris Ferragamo joined the Vikings as offensive line coach.

First-year South Bay football coaches were a collective 3-5 in games last weekend.

The winners: Mike Marinkovich of Mary Star, Larry Petrill of Mira Costa and Hand. The losers: Steve Carroll of Bishop Montgomery, Marcus Lankford of Coast Christian, Orville Echols of Inglewood, Jerry Campbell of St. Bernard and Don Morrow of South Torrance.

PREP NOTES--Leuzinger moved up one spot to No. 2 in the CIF-Southern Section Division II sportswriters’ football poll after its 27-0 win over Bishop Montgomery. The Olympians trail only Muir of Pasadena. In Division VII, Serra moved up three places to No. 5; Morningside (No. 9) and West Torrance (No. 10) both remained in the top 10 despite losses. In Division VIII, Mary Star debuted at No. 7 after its 13-7 win over Miraleste. . . . Miraleste’s water polo team, ranked No. 9 in the Southern Section 2-A Division, lost in the finals of the Irvine Tournament to Capistrano Valley, 19-4.

South Bay’s Football Top 10

Selected by Times Sportswriters Rank, School, League: Record

1. Carson (Pacific): 0-0

2. Banning (Pacific): 0-0

3. Leuzinger (Bay): 1-0

4. Westchester (Metro): 0-0

5. Hawthorne (Bay): 1-0

6. Serra (Camino Real): 1-0

7. Rolling Hills (Bay): 1-0

8. Palos Verdes (Bay): 1-0

9. West Torrance (Ocean): 0-1

10. Morningside (Ocean): 0-1