WESTSIDE : 1986 Los Angeles Times ALL-STARS

Success on the football field often leads to rewards off the playing field, and this year the Westside’s best teams are well represented among The Times’ all-Westside selections.

University High School finished the regular season with an 8-1 record and won the school’s first league football championship in nearly three decades. To achieve that, University Coach Joe Sedia and his Warriors had to get by defending Pac-8 League champion Venice High--and they just did, 34-31.

Three Westside teams in the CIF-Southern Section were among the best in the Ocean League. Beverly Hills and Santa Monica tied for first and Culver City came in fourth. In the regular season, Beverly Hills was 8-1-1, Santa Monica 7-1-1 and Culver 7-3.

In the City’s Crosstown League, Palisades surprised by finishing second.

Among other Westside teams that played 11-man football, Daniel Murphy was 6-3-1.

All these teams contributed players to The Times’ 1986 All-Westside High School first and second teams.

The 23-man teams, each with a kicker, were selected primarily on the basis of a poll of local coaches. The order in which a coach nominated his players was a strong factor for placing them on the first or second team. If a player was not nominated by his coach, he was not considered.

Some players are out of position because The Times attempted to select the best athletes, regardless of position.

The first team on offense has receivers Marc Rodgers of University and Scott Roges of Daniel Murphy and linemen Ramon Del Castillo of Santa Monica, Juan Mena of Hamilton, Jimmy Ito of Venice, Jaime Marmolejo of Daniel Murphy and Amani Davis of University (actually a linebacker and running back).

The quarterback is Murphy’s Renato Velasquez, and the running backs are Willie Crawford of Beverly Hills, Mark Jackson of Santa Monica and Thomas Clark of Hollywood. The kicker is Beverly Hills place-kicker Gary Melnik.

On defense, the linemen are Naim Shah of Palisades, Jay Gould of Culver City, Brett Hayes of St. Bernard and Memo Kahan of Beverly Hills. Hayes and Kahan were actually linebackers-running backs.

The linebackers are Eric Davis of Santa Monica, Jerrald Hines of Hamilton and Louis Randall of Palisades.

Defensive backs are Dominique Holland of Santa Monica, Culver City’s Frank Dolce (a quarterback who played some defensive back), Roger Serafin of Venice and Paul Richardson of University.

Members of the first team will be honored at the annual Times High School Football Awards Brunch at 9:00 a.m. Sunday at the Anaheim Hilton, 777 Convention Way.

Featured speaker will be John Cooper, coach of the Rose Bowl-bound Arizona State Sun Devils.

Sponsored by the Los Angeles Times Fund, the invitational event will bring together players on the first teams on all-star squads in 10 Times circulation areas: Westside, Central Los Angeles, Orange County, San Gabriel Valley, Southeast, South Coast, Glendale, Centinela-South Bay, San Fernando Valley and San Diego County.

Parents and the head coach of each all-star have been invited. All high school head football coaches are welcome. Each player will receive a plaque and certificate. A lineman, back and coach of the year will be announced for each Times section, and they will receive special trophies.

There are no first-team repeaters from last year. First-team members who were second-teamers last year are Holland, Richardson, Dolce, Davis and Crawford.

All statistics cited on first-team selections are for the regular season.

Rodgers, also a linebacker, was the Westside’s top receiver from the City section. He caught 27 passes for 533 yards (a 19.7 average) and five touchdowns for University’s champions. His longest reception was 71 yards.

Roges had more yardage and more touchdowns than any other local Southern Section receiver. He finished with 40 catches for 690 yards (a 17.3 average) and 10 touchdowns. His longest was 75 yards.

Santa Monica Coach Tebb Kusserow said that Del Castillo, a 6-0, 220-pound tackle, “dominated every opponent this year” and was “our finest offensive blocker.”

Mena, said Hamilton Coach Dave Lertzman, was “the outstanding center” in City 3-A competition, “a great blocker” and “perfect on long snaps for two years.”

Venice Coach Al Dellinger said that Ito “was the best offensive guard we have ever had. Super trapper and drive and pass blocker. Also an excellent linebacker.”

Marmolejo, a center and nose guard, was Murphy Coach John Finn’s top nomination. Finn said that the 6-2, 245-pounder was a “superior lineman, far superior to highly touted opponents.”

Amani Davis, a running back and linebacker, caught passes over the middle and could be considered a tight end on the all-star offensive line. But as a runner he gained 621 yards on 107 carries (a 5.8 average) and scored nine touchdowns, and as a linebacker he was University’s leading tackler.

Five Westside quarterbacks passed for more than 1,000 yards, and Velasquez had the most yardage (1,420) and the most touchdowns (18). He completed 96 of 182 attempts, 52.7%.

Crawford was the Westside’s premier running back. In gaining 1,128 yards, he averaged 5.8 a carry and ran for 12 touchdowns, the longest going for 56 yards. He also excelled at catching passes out of the backfield and, on defense, was a strong linebacker.

Jackson ran for 915 yards and 11 touchdowns, the longest 40 yards. He was a two-year starter for strong Santa Monica teams.

A wingback who was also a top defensive back, Clark was not only the leading runner (10.5 yards a carry, 759 yards, five touchdowns) among Westside City teams, but he was also Hollywood’s leading receiver with 24 catches for 472 yards (a 19.6 average) and five touchdowns, one a 79-yarder.

Melnik made eight of nine field goal attempts and 17 of 18 extra point attempts. He also kicked off, and about three out of four sailed into the end zone.

Palisades Coach Jack Epstein called Shah “the best athlete on the team” and a “tough-as-nails” defensive end. As a receiver he had 23 receptions for 328 yards and a long catch of 50 yards.

Gould, a defensive tackle and offensive guard, was simply Culver City Coach Fred Fuller’s best defensive player. He had 93 unassisted tackles and 62 assists, recovered two fumbles and intercepted two passes at a lineman’s spot.

When St. Bernard’s blue-chip running back-linebacker Kevin Bayonne was injured before the season, Hayes stepped into the gap and became the team’s chief runner, rushing for 772 yards and six touchdowns on 134 carries. He also filled a lot of gaps as a linebacker and made 143 tackles, most of them unassisted.

Kahan was a dependable ball carrier and a good blocking back. At linebacker, he was in on 78 tackles, recovered three fumbles and caused five more, deflected four passes and had three quarterback sacks and six other tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

Eric Davis, a three-year starter, was from the same mold as Santa Monica’s great linebackers of the past. He averaged 15 tackles a game and made many big plays that took the heart out of offenses. If Santa Monica needed a sack or a tackle behind the line, Davis got it more often than not.

Palisades Coach Epstein said that Randall was “the best linebacker I have coached since Rod Martin,” the all-pro Oakland Raider from USC who played for Epstein at Hamilton High.

Hines was Hamilton’s leading tackler with 43 unassisted and 34 with others and the top ball carrier with 500 yards in 88 rushes (a 5.68 average) and three touchdowns. He was four-of-four on field goals and put 10 of his kickoffs out of the end zone and returned four punts for 102 yards.

As a wide receiver, Holland made tough catches when Santa Monica needed them and captained the defensive secondary, leading defensive backs in tackles with 56.

Dolce did not play defensive back much, coming in only on passing defenses, but he still made two interceptions. He was the heart of the offense, passing for 1,036 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also averaged 40 yards on his punts.

The supreme utility man, Serafin played every down of every game for Venice and was on special teams. He caught passes, ran well, was a good kick returner and as a defensive back had 29 tackles and 26 assists.

Richardson was a game breaker on offense, whether returning kickoffs or catching touchdown passes, and a bone-crushing tackler at strong safety, where he had three interceptions. He was a top tackler in University’s secondary with 39 unassisted tackles and a flock of assists. He returned three kickoffs for touchdowns of 99, 88 and 78 yards. He also had 19 receptions for 345 yards and six touchdowns, the longest for 46 yards. He scored 11 touchdowns in all.

The second team also has some players out of position.

On offense the second team has wide receivers Billy Christen of Murphy and Bryan Bowers of Westchester and linemen Varian Smith of University, David Lee of Santa Monica, Erez Gottlieb of Beverly Hills, Courtney Campbell of Hamilton and Scott Freedman of Beverly Hills.

Venice’s Ernie Soto is the second-unit quarterback and his backfield mates are Daryl Hobbs of University (another quarterback), John Price of Culver City and Diedrick Joseph of Hollywood. The kicker is St. Bernard punter Javier Laura.

On defense, the second-team linemen are DeJuan Talley of Murphy, Kevin Johnson of Westchester, Travis Fine of Beverly Hills and Iran Washington of Fairfax, and the linebackers are Keith Bowen of Westchester, Terry Kovac of Venice and Eric Nelson of St. Bernard, who played defensive back and wide receiver.

The defensive backs are Eric Crawford of Venice, Curtis Railey of University, Tate Nelson of Santa Monica and Marquis Stone of Hamilton.

WESTSIDE 1986 Los Angeles Times ALL-STARS OFFENSIVE TEAM

Name School Hight Weight Year Marc Rodgers University 6-0 180 12 Scott Roges Daniel Murphy 6-0 162 12 Ramon Del Castillo Santa Monica 6-0 220 12 Juan Mena Hamilton 5-8 1/2 202 12 Jimmy Ito Venice 5-9 230 12 Jaime Marmolejo Daniel Murphy 6-2 245 12 Amani Davis University 6-2 215 12 Renato Velasquez Daniel Murphy 5-6 131 12 Willie Crawford Beverly Hills 6-1 190 11 Mark Jackson Santa Monica 5-9 177 12 Thomas Clark Hollywood 5-11 165 12 Gary Melnik Beverly Hills 5-9 165 12

DEFENSIVE TEAM

Name School Hight Weight Year Naim Shah Palisades 6-0 180 12 Jay Gould Culver City 5-9 175 11 Brett Hayes St. Bernard 5-11 194 12 Memo Kahan Beverly Hills 5-9 175 12 Eric Davis Santa Monica 6-1 222 12 Jerrald Hines Hamilton 5-10 170 12 Louis Randall Palisades 5-11 195 11 Dominique Holland Santa Monica 6-2 175 12 Frank Dolce Culver City 6-1 192 12 Roger Serafin Venice 5-7 140 12 Paul Richardson University 6-3 180 12

SECOND TEAM OFFENSE

Name School Position Height Weight Year Billy Christen Daniel Murphy WR 5-11 155 12 Bryan Bowers Westchester WR 5-8 160 11 Varian Smith University OL 6-2 215 12 David Lee Santa Monica OL 6-0 220 12 Erez Gottlieb Beverly Hills OL 6-3 233 11 Courtney Campbell Hamilton OL 5-11 243 12 Scott Freedman Beverly Hills OL 6-2 210 12 Ernie Soto Venice QB 5-9 160 12 Daryl Hobbs University RB 6-2 160 12 John Price Culver City RB 6-0 190 11 Diedrick Joseph Hollywood RB 6-0 180 12 Javier Laura St. Bernard K 5-8 168 12

SECOND TEAM DEFENSE

Name School Position Height Weight Year DeJuan Talley Daniel Murphy DL 6-1 185 12 Kevin Johnson Westchester DL 6-3 255 11 Travis Fine Beverly Hills DL 5-10 160 12 Iran Washington Fairfax DL 6-0 212 12 Keith Bowen Westchester LB 6-1 205 12 Terry Kovac Venice LB 6-1 175 12 Eric Nelson St. Bernard LB 6-5 191 11 Eric Crawford Venice DB 5-11 165 12 Curtis Railey University DB 5-8 150 12 Tate Nelson Santa Monica DB 6-2 175 11 Marquis Stone Hamilton DB 5-10 160 12