Sideliners: Tough Competition

To be the best, you have to play the best, and that certainly is

the road the Marina High Vikings are taking in the 200 season...

Marina’s first three opponents this year - Paramount, Newport Harbor,

Mayfair - won a combined 32 games in 1999, against four losses and a tie.

Two of those schools (Newport Harbor, Mayfair) won league championships,

and Paramount finished in second place. Newport Harbor also won the

Division VI championship. No, taking the high road sure isn’t easy...

Mayfair High’s talented running back, Allen Kennett, is being heavily

recruited by Fresno St. and UNLV, according to school sources. The

5-foot-10, 230 senior averaged more than seven yards per carry last

year...

And Marina thought it’d get a break when Michael Williams, Mayfair’s

all-everything back a year ago, moved on to play at Arizona State...

Mayfair’s Monsoons, now 2-0, went 11-1 last year. They’ll be playing

their home opener against Marina...

The Marina-Mayfair clash is just one of two Sunset-Suburban League

tussles on the slate Friday night. The other has Fountain Valley at La

Mirada...

In 1999, after year’s of futile attempts, Mayfair finally broke La

Mirada’s stranglehold on the Suburban League title...

But, it’s a return to old times: La Mirada already is living up to its

top billing in Division VI, and, again, is favored to win the Suburban

League...

The Matadores are led by fullback/middle linebacker Chris Rudiger, a

6-foot-1, 230 senior, who is headed to Stanford next fall...

Defense could be the key again Friday: in last year’s defensive

struggle, the Matadores managed just 131 yards total offense in a 16-7

Fountain Valley victory...

La Mirada High is home to one of the best football stadiums in the

Southern Section...

Fountain Valley junior quarterback Casey Clark was a three-varsity

sport performer as a sophomore. In addition to handling duties at

quarterback/free safety/kicking on the football team, Clark also played

basketball and baseball...

Edison High should be awarded honorary South Coast League membership

status this year: when the Chargers travel to Dana Hills High Friday,

they’ll be playing their third consecutive South Coast League opponent to

start the season. Had it counted, a 3-0 record would have put them in the

driver’s seat for the SCL crown...

Similarly, Dana Hills will be playing its second Sunset League foe in

three weeks: the Dolphins hosted Fountain Valley on opening night. Not

only that, but they’ll conclude their nonleague schedule with an Oct. 6

date at Huntington Beach High...

Edison senior defensive end Chris Green carries a 4.2 GPA. Green, his

mother, Karen, says, has expressed an interest in pursuing a degree in

sports journalism.