City Teams Ready to Put It on Line

As Hank Williams Jr. would say, “Are you ready for some football?”

Good riddance to wimpy seven-on-seven summer passing competitions.

It’s time to unleash the 300-pound behemoths and separate the contenders from the pretenders for the 2000 high school season.

City Section teams begin practice Monday with a week of two-hour conditioning drills, followed by a week of noncontact workouts. Contact drills begin Aug. 14.

Southern Section schools begin a mandatory three-week dead period before starting practice Aug. 21.

While much of the focus during the last two months has been on quarterbacks, receivers and defensive backs playing in touch football passing leagues, the start of practice signals a change in emphasis to blocking and tackling.

Finally, linemen take center stage. These players are so big you could suffocate if they fell on you.

Mothers had better lock their refrigerators and pull their shades to protect their sons from Cleveland High offensive tackles Victor Gomez, 6 feet 5 and 320 pounds, and Andre Berkeley, 6-5 and 325 pounds.

Gomez needs only 10 minutes to devour 12 slices of pizza. Berkeley is nicknamed “Sugar Bear” because he never saw a cookie he didn’t like.

“Whatever food you put in front of them is gone in a second,” assistant coach Scott Reisbord said.

Gomez and Berkeley have vowed to clear a path for one of the region’s fastest players, running back Matthew Clark.

“It’s great having those big guys out there,” Clark said. “If I can get through the line, it’s all gravy from there. They’re always saying, ‘We’re going to open the holes, don’t worry about it, but what are you going to do after you get through?’ I tell them, ‘Just wait and see.’ ”

Games don’t begin until Sept. 8, but here’s a look at the Valley’s City teams on the eve of the first practices:

Taft: Everyone asks the same question: Can Taft stop the run? Last season, the Toreadors gave up more yards on the ground than any City team. Most of Taft’s offensive and defensive linemen return, but have they improved? One reason for optimism is the addition of four swift, aggressive sophomores to the defense--linebackers Lance Broadus and Clarence Simpson, and defensive backs Steve Smith and Paul Pratt.

Taft is favored to win the West Valley League title because it plays seven of its 10 regular-season games at home and possesses a high-scoring offense. Is there a defense capable of shutting down the combination of quarterback Ricky Clausen, receivers Smith, Greig Carlson and Chris Morgan, and tailback Lee Marks? A City title is possible if the defense rises to respectability.

Cleveland: The ability to run and pass helped the Cavaliers share the West Valley title last season with Taft and Granada Hills. The passing game is suspect after the graduation of quarterback Eddie Whitaker, putting pressure on successor Antoine Barfield, who struggled at times in summer passing tournaments. But with a huge offensive line, Barfield will have time to gain confidence. Everything will come down to the Nov. 3 game between Cleveland and Taft.

Granada Hills: Nobody is going compare quarterback Bobby Baca with John Elway, a former Highlander. Baca is a left fielder trying to play quarterback. But he proved during the summer he can perform competently. Co-coach Tom Harp must find ways to get the ball to receiver Joey Rodriguez and running back Robert Ortega.

Birmingham: Fellow coaches have been teasing Ed Croson about the culture shock of moving from Chaminade, a Catholic school with $6,300-per-year tuition and 1,200 students, to Birmingham, a public school with more than 3,000 students. But Croson embraces the challenge of trying to turn around a team that was 2-8 last season. The Patriots have plenty of speed, a good group of young players and the promise of improvement.

El Camino Real: While Jamal Anderson, a former Conquistador running back, makes his comeback with the Atlanta Falcons, his brother, Jazen, a junior tailback, will try to add some pizazz to El Camino Real’s attack. Will Savage, a pitcher for the baseball team, is the likely starter at quarterback.

Chatsworth: The good news is that tackle David Velasquez and kicker Tom Colley could be the best at their positions in the West Valley League. The bad news is the Chancellors don’t have much to support them.

Kennedy: Coach Bob Francola has taken a blood oath that the Golden Cougars will be a passing school for eternity. There could be some rough nights because new quarterback Adam Geery, an All-City pitcher, is inexperienced. But there’s no better receiver than James Norris.

Sylmar: If WWF honcho Vince McMahon is looking for a future “WWF Smackdown” participant, linebacker Josh Martin fits the casting call. He’s 6-2, 210 pounds and inflicts lots of punishment. Coach Jeff Engilman ranks him with the best linebackers in school history. The Spartans lack their usual top running back, but quarterback John Valdez is ready for an All-City season.

Reseda: The big news this summer was Coach Joel Schaeffer posing for a photo with Erin Brockovich, whose story inspired the hit movie starring Julia Roberts. If any of his players get ahold of the photo, they could blackmail Schaeffer for playing time. Running back Eddie Robinson doesn’t need to worry. He’s going to be one of the best in the region after scoring 20 touchdowns last season. Tackle Lee Williams should be his best friend.

San Fernando: Ruben Nevarez, a 6-5 junior, didn’t play football last season, but he has performed well in summer drills and won the quarterback job. The Tigers will need him to prevent defenses from focusing on running back Bob Stanley.

Monroe: No one should doubt that Coach Chris Richards is ambitious. Why else schedule an opening game against Hart, the likely top-ranked team in the region? The Vikings have a month to get their secondary ready for All-Southern Section quarterback Kyle Matter. They’ve played dozens of summer passing games in preparation.

Van Nuys: Eight starters return on offense. The development of both lines will be crucial to improving on a 2-8 record. Senior Johan Colocho could become the fifth All-City kicker for Van Nuys since 1993.

Poly: Has any program suffered more bad luck than the Parrots? One year they were thrown out of the playoffs when their coach forgot to exchange game films at the seeding meeting. Another year they were booted out because of an ineligible player. Last year they lost the chance to play for the Sunset League title because of an asbestos scare at school. Quarterback Zach Sims, an All-City baseball player, running back Alex Diaz and linemen Rosario Ramirez and Henry Renteria provide a nucleus to build a championship team.

Canoga Park: Tommy Lasorda bleeds Dodger blue. Coach Rudy Lugo bleeds Hunter green and white. He graduated from Canoga Park in 1965, became an assistant in ’69 and hasn’t left. This will be his 15th year as head coach. It should be an emotional season because his son, Chris, is a senior receiver. Maybe Chris’ presence has helped convince Lugo to pass more. Junior Jeremy Egan, promoted from the freshman-sophomore team, is in position to win the quarterback job.

North Hollywood: The double-wing offense has been abandoned, replaced by a wide-open passing scheme. First-year Coach Brad Ratcliff has spent the summer working hard to teach his players the new offense. Is Ratcliff fired up? All you need to know is that North Hollywood opens against Granada Hills, the team Ratcliff coached from 1995-97.

Grant: Could it be true? Is that really a football spiraling through the air at Grant? The Lancers seem determined to pass the ball with returning quarterback Alfonso Estrada and receivers Eric Szubota and Carlos Mendez. Running back Perry Clayton could be a 1,000-yard rusher.

Verdugo Hills: First-year coach Darren Fitzgerald, a former Verdugo Hills quarterback, wants to pass the ball. But his best player is Billy Parra, a senior running back and strong safety.

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Eric Sondheimer can be reached at his e-mail address: eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.