THE COLLEGES / FERNANDO DOMINGUEZ : Valley’s Road Ahead Not Easy

Some random thoughts from the clubhouse. . . .

Now that they have climbed to the No. 1 football ranking in the country, the Valley Monarchs (7-0) have their sights on the mythical national championships awarded by J.C. Grid-Wire and USA Today.

But Coach Jim Fenwick surely won’t allow his team to lose focus. The Monarchs should easily get past L.A. Southwest on Saturday but they’ll complete the Western State Conference season on the road against two tough customers--Moorpark on Nov. 4 and Santa Monica on Nov. 18.

If the Monarchs and second-ranked Long Beach (7-0) can finish undefeated, they might meet Dec. 2 in the Strawberry Bowl at Cerritos, where the schools could attract a good crowd because of their relative proximity to the venue. . . .

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Word on the street is that bullfighters around the world are offended that Cal State Northridge’s mascot is a matador, much like native American groups are upset about the Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves and Washington Redskins, among others. . . .

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The latest joke around college athletic fields: “What do you call 100 sports agents at the bottom of the ocean?” Answer: “A good start.”

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Ideas seem to bloom in the minds of headline writers when talking about Valley quarterback Aaron Flowers. . . .

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Anyone notice the international flavor in area football this season?

Cal Lutheran has three Swedes--tailback Fredrik Nanhed, wide receiver John Tynell and defensive back Mattias Wikstrom--and a Norwegian--defensive end Christian Paulsboe; Valley has a German--offensive guard Thomas Vollath; Moorpark has a Russian--nose guard Vladislav Kasurskin, and Antelope Valley has a Hungarian--punter and kicker Zoltan Metrai.

But the school that scored the biggest visa gooooooaaaaaaalllll!!! might be the men’s soccer team at The Master’s. Seven of the 26 players on the Mustang roster are from foreign countries: two each from Argentina and Jamaica, and one each from Chile, Germany and Sweden. . . .

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Yes, the Mark McMillian who plays cornerback for the Philadelphia Eagles is the same fellow who played at Kennedy High and Glendale College and was at the Vaqueros’ homecoming game last Saturday against Ventura. . . .

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Pierce punter Jacob Guy, a left-footed freshman from El Camino Real High, is not related to former Oakland and Los Angeles Raider great Ray Guy. . . .

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Mark Saturday, Dec. 30, on your calendar. That’s when former Ventura College men’s basketball Coach Philip Mathews brings his University of San Francisco team to Pauley Pavilion for a nonconference game against defending national champion UCLA.

Speaking of Mathews, will new Ventura Coach Virgil Watson become the Gene Bartow of junior college hoops? Watson was an assistant for several seasons to Mathews, one of the most successful junior college coaches ever, and now has some big designer shoes to fill. . . .

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Nobody can chill an opposing secondary like Glendale wide receiver Johnny McCool. . . .

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Look for quarterback Brad Norris to get more playing time at Pierce if the Brahmas (1-5) continue to slip offensively. Norris, a redshirt freshman at Nevada Las Vegas last year, had not taken many snaps since his days at Quartz Hill High. But he replaced injured David Muir for part of last week’s 67-20 loss to potent Bakersfield and completed 12 of 21 for 153 yards and one touchdown.

Coach Bill Norton would like to give Norris more experience in preparation for next season. . . .

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With Northridge (1-5), Southern Utah (2-6), Cal State Sacramento (2-4-1) and Cal Poly (3-4) in a perennial meltdown, there are few conferences that compare in football follies to the American Worst, er, West Conference. . . .

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From the department of incidental statistics lost in the shuffle: With a 42-0 victory over Whittier College last Saturday, Cal Lutheran is 24-8 in homecoming games. . . .

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Moorpark’s football team has been extremely successful since Coach Jim Bittner took over in 1979, but it was Paul Dunham who had the task of launching the Raider program in 1968. Two years later, Moorpark finished 7-2 under Dunham and won its first Western State Conference title. The school hasn’t forgotten and will honor Dunham at halftime of the Raider homecoming game Saturday night against Harbor. . . .