El Segundo-Nordhoff title game will abound in local heroes

In 21st century high school sports, finding athletes who actually live in the same ZIP Code as their school is a major accomplishment.

That makes Saturday’s Northwest Division championship football game between El Segundo (90245) and Ojai Nordhoff (93023) a throwback final to the days when families went to the school in their own neighborhood.

“It’s an amazing thing,” Nordhoff quarterback Tanner Workman said. “It means playing for something bigger than ourselves.”

El Segundo players arrive at school via bicycle, skateboard, scooter or simply by walking. There’s no 45-minute commute on a freeway.

“It’s a great championship,” El Segundo Coach Steve Shevlin said. “Most of the kids from both towns have grown up and played Little League, played Pop Warner, played recreation basketball together. It’s a real sense of pride.”

Nordhoff (12-1) won the championship last season, and Workman explains what it meant to his community.

“You go to the local grocery store and see people you don’t know wearing Nordhoff hats and people walk up to you and wish you luck,” Workman said.

At El Segundo, which opened in 1929 and has never played in a section championship football game, the Eagles are proud to play in a final with El Segundo teenagers.

“In the era of the transfer, where a lot of athletes are looking for individual needs, we haven’t suffered through that,” said Shevlin, who has been the football coach for 20 years. “They want to play in front of their hometown. There’s a lot of pride and legacy and fun in seeing all the generations come back and support them.”

Jamie Stewart, a standout receiver-defensive back with a 4.6 grade-point average who’s headed to Harvard, moved from Venice to El Segundo as a freshman.

“I moved because of the neighborhood feel and amazing public school system,” he said. “It’s an odd rarity. It’s a sense of a small-town living in a very large city.”

He lives a block from campus, walks to the school and can’t wait to represent his community in Saturday’s championship game in Ojai.

“It’s a very different feeling from any other thing,” he said. “Being part of a team lends itself to being part of something greater, but being part of a team that represents your community in such an intimate way ... you’re not just playing for yourself or friends next to you. You’re playing for an entire town.”

El Segundo (10-3) has been known for its championship baseball teams, and the standout junior quarterback, Lars Nootbaar, is a shortstop committed to USC for baseball. He’s one of at least 10 multi-sport athletes playing for the Eagles.

Nootbaar lives close enough to the campus that he can hear the school bell in the morning. “I love football so much, and I hope I can keep playing,” he said.

He runs into players on all-star teams and said, “It’s all about athletic scholarships.”

At El Segundo and Nordhoff, it’s about representing the community and winning a championship with your best friends.

“It’s an awesome feeling to finally play someone that actually knows exactly how we feel,” Workman said. “It’s amazing to play with our friends that we’ve been playing together since we were 7, 8 years old. I will remember this for the rest of my life, and I’m positive my teammates will, too.”

The communities of El Segundo and Ojai are fired up and bursting with pride for two football teams that are making everyone proud.

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com