Teams Take Twisting Roads to Eight-Man Rematch : Julian, a Big, Happy Family, Tries to Repeat Win Last Week

SAN DIEGO —  Anthony Howard, whose uncle is former Raider great Jack Tatum, spent the first 10 years of his life living in Oakland, meeting folks like Ken Stabler, Fred Biletnikoff, Ted Hendricks and Mark van Eeghen.

On the other side of the spectrum, Jason Glass participated in a football game for the first time in his life 10 weeks ago. Not played, participated--”He doesn’t even know what the game is about except he’s supposed to tackle the guy with the ball,” his coach, Mike Cunningham, said.

Somewhere in between the two extremes are J.D. Yohner, Frank Stewart, Charlie Garcia, Andrew Enloe, Thomas Osuna, Steve Lara, Cory Burnett, Cody Young, Jason Schwank, Tyler Solleder, Jason Pico, Michael Wright, Brad Snider, Louie Linton, Clifford Nelson and Jason Hill.

One common denominator: “We’ve all worked at a pie shop,” Yohner said.

Another, which explains the first: They are the 18 members of the Julian High School football team, a close-knit group of friends scheduled to meet Francis Parker in the San Diego Section eight-man football championship game at 7 p.m. Friday at Ramona.

All but one--Osuna--are seniors. All but one--Lara--have never attended another high school. All but a handful have lived in Julian the better part of their lives.

One big, happy family? Indeed.

“They’ve been able to irritate me to death on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and surprise the hell out of me every Friday,” said Cunningham, who is completing his seventh season at Julian. “They remind of the old Oakland A’s teams of the early ‘70s that used to fight and carry on all the time, then pull together just in time to win championships every year.”

The difference here is Julian hasn’t won a championship since 1977, and it hasn’t been in a playoff game since losing to Pasadena Poly, 18-6, in 1985.

Since 1986, when the San Diego Section began conducting its own eight-man championship, Julian is the only eight-man team to have never appeared in the title game, and the Eagles are well aware of that.

“It’s something we’ve been looking forward to for a long time,” said Yohner, a two-year starter at quarterback.

“We’ve been working hard all four years for this,” said Howard, one of the team’s top running backs. “Ever since we were sophomores, when we went 9-1 on JV, we knew we would make it our senior year.”

Blue-collar and rustic, like its surrounding community, Coastal League champion Julian (8-1, 4-1) relies on a bruising running attack that produced more points (405, 45 per game) than any team in the county and a physical defense that permitted fewer points (212, 23.5 per game) than any eight-man squad.

Burnett, who was the second-leading rusher in the league with 980 yards in 122 carries, Howard and Stewart give Julian one of the best backfields in the county, regardless of classification. All three have scored 15 touchdowns.

“Most teams can’t stop us, and they know what we’re doing,” Burnett said. “We beat teams physically. We’re not tricky at all.”

Though Julian averages fewer than 10 passes per game, Yohner has completed more than 60% of his attempts this season for 10 touchdowns.

“He doesn’t put up big numbers, but he very seldom will hurt us,” Cunningham said. “In a quiet way, he always comes through for us. He’s the kind of engine that keeps us going. But he gets overlooked a lot. He’s like a good official. You never notice him cause he’s doing what he’s supposed to be doing.”

On a defense designed by coordinator Harry Schwank, Steve Lara has 13 interceptions this season, including three in a game twice. El Capitan’s Dave Duncan set the section record with 16 interceptions in 1963. Lara is second.

And then there’s Glass, a 5-foot-10, 140-pound defensive lineman who went out for football for the first time this fall and scored a touchdown on a fumble recovery in his first game.

“He’s a defensive maniac,” Cunningham said. “He is a gnat. He’s all over the field. No one appreciates a sack like that guy. And I’m not even sure if he knows what he’s done half the time.”

Julian players need only walk down the street to know what they’ve accomplished this season.

“You walk around town,” Yohner said, “and everybody knows we’re in the championship. It’s a neat feeling. We haven’t had this kind of excitement up here in a long time.”

8-Man Rosters

FRANCIS PARKER LANCERS (5-5)

No. Name Pos. Yr. 1 Andrew Ruff WR/DB Jr. 7 Matt Garrett WR/DB Sr. 9 Curtis Galvin QB/DB So. 10 Michael Beamer WR/DB So. 12 Scott Schneider QB/LB Sr. 24 Andy Richley WR/DB So. 25 Art Pacheco RB/LB Sr. 33 Keith Long RB/DE Sr. 40 Chris Auerbach RB/DB So. 43 Adam Huntington WR/DB Fr. 46 James Pope RB/LB So. 63 Rocky Goldberg G/DL Jr. 65 Ryan lson OL/DL Sr. 75 Travis Lambert OG/DL So. 77 Girish Varma OG/NG So. 80 Todd Strachan K/OL/DL Sr. 85 Charles Pope WR/LB Sr. 87 Damian Gates WR/DE Sr. 88 Jason Snyder C/DE Sr. 89 Juan Neria WR/DB Sr. 99 Jeremy Kolins OL/DL Jr.

Coaches: Dan Kuiper (head), Gary Pelzer, Ed Strange, Thom Williams, Tom Ayars, David Turpin.

JULIAN EAGLES (8-1)

No. Name Pos. Yr. 2 Frank Stewart TB/DB Sr. 10 Jason Glass DL Sr. 11 J.D. Yohner QB Sr. 21 Jason Schwank QB/DB Sr. 22 Steve Lara WR/DB Sr. 30 Charlie Garcia TE/DB Sr. 32 Anthony Howard FB/LB Sr. 40 Andrew Enloe K/LB Sr. 41 Thomas Osuna FB/LB Jr. 50 Tyler Solleder LB Sr. 51 Jason Pico OL/DL Sr. 52 Cory Burnett RB/LB Sr. 53 Cody Young TE/LB Sr. 61 Michael Wright OL Sr. 66 Brad Snider OL/DL Sr. 87 Louie Linton OL/LB Sr. 88 Clifford Nelson OL/DL Sr. 89 Jason Hill OL/DL Sr.

Coaches: Mike Cunningham (head), Harry Schwank, Ray McLaughlin, Jay Gonzalez.