This Young Man and His Arm Liberate Loyola : Prep football: Clelio Boccato has given the Cubs something they are not accustomed to--a passing attack.

On the Loyola High football team, Clelio Boccato admits he was in the minority in favoring Bill Clinton for president.

Boccato’s ability to surprise teammates goes far beyond politics, however. His taste in music includes such groups as Seaweed and Rocket from the Crip. And when it comes to clothes, the Loyola senior tends to dress more casually than many of his conservative classmates.

His accomplishments in football have also defied the status quo. Coaches were surprised when Boccato, as a short and overweight freshman, volunteered to play quarterback. But the former lineman and tight end not only won the job, he has kept it for the last four years.

Boccato has grown to a trim 6 feet, 185 pounds. His experience and leadership have helped him guide the Cubs to an 8-0 record and a No. 3 ranking by The Times this season.

Boccato may be best remembered, though, as the first player veteran Coach Steve Grady allowed to develop a passing game.

Since Grady took over the parochial school’s prestigious program in 1976, there have been few occasions when a Loyola quarterback has thrown the ball more than five or 10 times a game.

Those who know Grady understand why. He played running back at Loyola in the early 1960s, receiving Southern Section player-of-the-year honors in 1962. He went on to back up O.J. Simpson at USC.

“Let’s put it this way,” Grady said, “I will never coach a team that puts the ball up 30 times a game. And I will never be a coach who runs and passes the ball the same amount. I’ve seen the trouble teams can get into when they live and die by the pass.”

But Grady, who is 149-41-4 at Loyola, has softened his stance a bit. Since Boccato took over as varsity quarterback last season, increased practice time has been devoted to passing drills. The team even experimented with the run-and-shoot over the summer.

Boccato, 17, threw an unprecedented 22 passes against Santa Ana Mater Dei in a Division I semifinal playoff game last season. Although Loyola lost, 35-21, the setback did not deter Grady’s new approach to the offense.

With two games remaining in the regular season, Boccato has completed 53 of 89 passes for 925 yards, 13 touchdowns and two interceptions.

He is also a scrambler, having rushed for 226 yards and seven touchdowns, including a 65-yard jaunt against Mission Hills Alemany last week.

Heading into Saturday night’s Del Rey League showdown against top-ranked La Puente Bishop Amat at Glendale High, the Cubs have outscored their opposition, 264-66. Their closest game was a 21-14 comeback victory over Mission Hills Alemany.

Part of the reason Grady turned to the passing game was a lack of the 1,000-yard rusher it has become accustomed to over the years. Senior Eric Rogers and junior Blake Hennon split time in the backfield and have combined for 914 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Another reason is that Boccato is considered the school’s most talented quarterback since Brendan McCracken started in 1982 and ’83. McCracken, who went on to play at UCLA, said he was given some latitude in throwing the ball but not as much as Boccato.

“You have to give a lot of credit to Clelio,” said McCracken, a real estate broker in Los Angeles. “He must have really impressed Coach Grady and earned his confidence to be able to do some of the things he’s doing. From what I’ve seen, he’s a very tough kid. When he takes a beating, he always gets back up.”

Boccato has been a multi-sport athlete since he started in the Catholic Youth Organization in the first grade. He played basketball his first year at Loyola but decided it was too close to football season. He went out for baseball his sophomore year but gave that up after he earned the varsity quarterback job.

“When I first got to Loyola, I thought I would try and play defensive tackle,” said Boccato, whose father, also Clelio, played basketball at Loyola in the late 1940s. “But I always thought I had the ability to play quarterback, so I gave it a shot. As the candidates narrowed down, I found myself among those left. So far, things have worked out well.”

By his junior season, Boccato went unchallenged in earning a spot on the varsity, replacing Corby Smith, who had led Loyola to its only section title under Grady in 1990. It was then that the Loyola coach started drawing pass plays on the chalkboard.

“To have a passing game, you have to have the talent to make it work,” Grady said. “We haven’t been blessed with a lot of strong arms and speedy receivers over the years, so you stick with what works. In Clelio, I found a player with some speed and a strong arm. It makes it easier for me to open things up a bit.”