Harbor’s New Coach Will Face Old Friends When Seahawks Open Season at Santa Monica

Harbor (1-0) travels to Santa Monica (1-0) for Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. Western State Conference opener, but Don Weems will feel at home on the Corsairs’ field.

The Seahawks’ new football coach was an assistant at the school for 11 years and he looks forward to playing against old friends.

“Of the three full-time coaches there,” Weems said, “I worked with two and I was on the committee that hired them. It will be good to go back.”

It won’t be easy for the Seahawks to be competitive with No. 12 Santa Monica. The Corsairs trounced Chaffey 33-3 two weeks ago and they’re bigger, faster and more experienced than Harbor.

The Seahawks, who defeated Victor Valley 27-6 in last week’s opener, should find Santa Monica’s tough offensive line difficult.

Defensively the Seahawks have the potential to do that. They were impressive against Victor Valley and should be much the same against Santa Monica. Freshman quarterback Glenn Baham will again run Harbor’s short-pass oriented offense.

El Camino (1-0) is anxious to face Orange Coast (1-0) on Saturday at 7 p.m. in a Mission Conference opener at El Camino. The Warriors have been off for two weeks after defeating Antelope Valley 38-17 and they’re hungry to compete.

“We’re real excited about this game,” said El Camino Coach John Featherstone. “We really haven’t been tested yet and this will be it.” Orange Coast opened its season with last week’s 32-14 victory over Rio Hondo. Last year the Pirates finished at the bottom of the Mission Conference central division (4-6), but Coach Bill Workman expects 10 returning starters to improve that mark.

The Pirates start Greg Angelovic at quarterback. He completed 13 of 19 passes for 163 yards and one touchdown last week. Tailback Mike Vaez will also help move the ball. The freshman gained 102 yards on 22 carries against Rio Hondo.

The Warriors’ offense, led by quarterback Frank Dolce, finished with 379 total yards against Antelope Valley while their powerful defense limited the Marauders to 186 yards.

L.A. Southwest (1-0) is looking for its second victory in Saturday’s 1 p.m. WSC opener at West L.A. (0-1) and the Cougars should get it since their opponent is no powerhouse.

The Oilers kept last year’s streak alive with a 21-3 loss to Victor Valley two weeks ago. Last season they failed to win a game and ended at the bottom of the WSC with an 0-10 mark.

Southwest kicked off its season with a 17-16 win over Rio Hondo two weeks ago. The Cougars’ defense, led by Pierce College transfer Chris Mims, played the biggest role in that victory.

Craig Manigo will start again at quarterback for the Cougars. The Leuzinger High freshman passed for 164 yards and two touchdowns against Rio Hondo.