Summer Notebook : Johnson Role as Ballcarrier May Increase

It’s predictable.

Can a football coach hate a label for his offense more than that?

About the only person more horrified than the coach is the player asked to carry the ball. Especially when the offense is supposedly based upon deception, as is Channel Islands High’s Delaware wing T.

Although the offense worked admirably for the Marmonte League-champion Raiders most of last season, their nemesis--Thousand Oaks--shut it down twice. The Lancers handed Channel Islands two of its three losses, one in league play and the other in the Coastal Conference championship game, holding the Raiders to 18 points in the process.

While he didn’t utter the “P” word, halfback John Johnson, Channel Islands’ leading ballcarrier, came up with a reason.

“I always ran to the side opposite the one I lined up on,” said Johnson, a senior. “Thousand Oaks figured it out.”

But the Lancers might as well toss last year’s game films into the trash.

“We’ve come up with more plays to expand the possibilities in our offense,” Johnson said.

Channel Islands Coach Joel Gershon also has implemented the I formation, which will be used in an effort to get Johnson the ball more often.

Although the 5-foot, 11-inch, 190-pound Johnson has shown the durability to carry the ball 20 times a game, he averaged only 12.2 carries a game last season because the fullback is the primary ballcarrier in the wing T.

Add Johnson: Street & Smith magazine’s annual college football preview offers a list of high school seniors to watch. This year’s list, not surprisingly, includes Johnson.

The senior halfback rushed for 1,672 yards in 171 carries last season and 2,314 in 234 carries during his two-year career.

A threat to break away every time he touches the ball, Johnson averaged 9.8 yards a carry and scored 27 touchdowns last season.

Moving on: Three players who helped Oxnard College to the Western State Conference Northern Division baseball title have signed letters of intent to play at Cal State Northridge under first-year Coach Bill Kernen. Pitchers Vale Lopez and Don Schwarz and shortstop Heath DeLaTorre will join the Matadors.

Lopez, a right-hander who attended Hueneme High, is an All-WSC selection who pitched for the San Fernando Valley Dodgers in the National Baseball Congress World Series.

DeLaTorre, who helped Rio Mesa High to two Southern Section titles, is a two-time all-conference pick.

Schwarz, who attended Sylmar High, will be returning to the San Fernando Valley.

Corey Aurand and Jon DeGennaro of Moorpark College have received Division I scholarships. Aurand, an outfielder from Simi Valley High, has signed with USC. DeGennaro, a pitcher from Agoura High, has signed with Loyola Marymount.

More Moorpark signings: Debbie Ball, a distance runner from Newbury Park High and Moorpark College, has accepted a scholarship at Cal State Northridge. In the state meet this year, Ball finished fifth in the 3,000 meters.

Ken Lowther, this year’s state shotput champion from Moorpark College, signed with Texas-El Paso.

Getting lit: Former Fillmore High, Oxnard College and Cal Lutheran pitcher Kevin Gross gained a niche in baseball lore Monday night.

The six-year veteran was the starting pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies against the Chicago Cubs on Monday night in the first night game ever played at Wrigley Field.

The game was rained out after 3 1/2 innings, however, with Chicago leading, 3-1.

Wrestling clinic: A one-day wrestling clinic will be held today at Rio Mesa High from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Guest instructor will be Joe Gibbons, an assistant coach at Iowa State, the 1987 NCAA champion. Gibbons was ranked in the NCAA top eight four times and was the NCAA champion at 142 pounds in 1985.

The clinic is co-sponsored by Rio Mesa High Coach Todd Stoke and Camarillo High Coach Charlie Festerling.

Fast lane: Actor Chuck Norris set a San Francisco-to-Ventura speedboat record last week with a time of 6 hours, 39 minutes, 30 seconds.

Ventura Raceway: The leaders continued to do well Friday night in the main event stock car races on the one-fifth-mile dirt oval at Ventura Raceway.

Points leader Dave Hume won the Hobby Stock figure 8 and finished third in the Hobby oval main event.

Charles Utts of Camarillo won the Hobby main event and Jack Smoot was second.

Camarillo’s Gary Curtis took the Mini Stock oval main event in a close race with Glenn Harris of Camarillo.

Harris was second and Tom Cella of Ventura was third. Rock Ake of Moorpark increased his comfortable points lead in the Mini Stock figure 8 with a victory.

More racing: Stock car racing will break for the Ventura County Fair and resume Sept. 2 at 8 p.m.

The finals of the motocross series at Ventura Raceway will be held Friday, Aug. 19 at 7:30 p.m. at the Ventura County Fairgrounds. The race is part of the county fair.

Professional riders going after part of the $12,000 purse, and amateur riders vying for prizes, will race in classes ranging from 80cc to 500cc motorcycles and 250cc to open quad racers.

Information: 805-656-1122.

Heron flies high: Onnaca Heron of Oxnard defeated Julie Wiedmann of Santa Clara High, 6-2, 6-2, to win the women’s A division tennis title in the Oxnard Sports Festival.

Ken Pedroza of Ventura won the men’s A division by beating Peter Kong of Ventura, 7-5, 6-3.

Heron, a sophomore at Cal Poly Pomona, also won the Harbor Days title in Port Hueneme in June.