CITY SLICKERS TAFT'S QB PROVING ALL IT NEEDS IS DOVE.

Byline: Matthew Kredell Staff Writer

Cary Dove entered varsity so skinny he could hide behind the goal post. Surround him with three elite receivers - one possibly the best ever to come through the San Fernando Valley - and it's easy to see how Dove could be overlooked.

The Taft of Woodland Hills quarterback has the Toreadors in the City Section final, Friday against Birmingham of Lake Balboa at the Coliseum, for the second year in a row.

Quarterbacks usually are the most visible member of a football team. But with Steve Smith challenging the state record in receptions, Noah Smith running the fastest of any football player in Los Angeles and Paul Pratt among the area leaders in touchdown catches, Dove doesn't see much of the spotlight.

``The average Joe would overlook him,'' Noah Smith said. ``But the people who are in the game and know what the game is about know that without Cary, there's nothing here. Cary is the nucleus of the team.''

When Dove came out to earn the starting job as a junior, Taft was coming off having the best quarterback in the City Section the previous three years. Rick Clausen had just left for Louisiana State after one season with the Toreadors. Brandon Hance, who started the previous two years, was starting as a freshman at Purdue before transferring to USC.

Dove was 6-foot-3 and 165 pounds. Taft coaches looked at him and didn't see a quarterback. They had been talking to him about switching positions.

``We didn't think it would be him,'' Taft coach Troy Starr said about the search for a quarterback. ``He was too tiny, too frail. But he outperformed the other kid, and we knew he'd be all right.''

The other kid was Clarence Simpson, who transferred to Sylmar and became a standout defensive back and receiver.

Dove came out the first game against Crenshaw and threw four interceptions, one on each of the final two possessions, as the Toreadors lost. People were wondering whether Steve Smith, already a star as a sophomore, was going to be able to continue posting huge numbers with Dove throwing to him.

That first game turned out to be the only really bad game of his prep career.

``I knew it couldn't get any worse than that,'' Dove said. ``It was my first game on varsity, so I knew it wasn't going to be the greatest game of my life. I had to learn from that game and take steps forward.''

Dove even managed to keep all of his elite receivers happy.

``I'm just glad that they're all friends,'' Dove said. ``We've been around each other so long, there's no bitterness at all. I never hear `He's getting more passes than me.' ''

Having great players around him not only makes life easier but also drew him attention. Recruiters already there to watch the others noticed Dove's stellar performance in last year's playoffs. Dove orally committed to California before the season, becoming the first Taft player to decide on a college.

Dove is up to 175 pounds now. On the season, he leads area City Section players with 30 touchdown passes and is second to Birmingham's Ryan Lombardo with 3,063 yards. On his career, he has completed 399 of 676 passes for 6,293 yards and 63 touchdowns. More importantly, Taft is 23-3 during that span.

But Dove knows he has a lot of work to do before college. He wants to be 200 pounds before Cal plays its first football game next year. That's why he worked all summer to take extra classes and graduate from Taft early.

He is starting at Cal in the spring and asked to have his finals at Taft bumped up a week in order to be at Cal when the semester starts in late January.

``I wanted to get a head start on college with spring football so they can beef me up a little bit more,'' Dove said. ``With (former Hart of Newhall quarterback) Kyle Boller graduating, I'll be competing with a junior college transfer and the rest of the guys left behind to play as a freshman.''

Dove has one last game with a group of players he has known for a long time. Noah Smith and running back Litrele Jones were friends with Dove in first grade. Paul and Mike Pratt played Pop Warner ball with Dove. None of them were in Taft's area but Smith, Dove and the Pratt brothers all decided to go to Taft under open enrollment after the Toreadors won the City title in 1998.

Now they want a title of their own.

``The season has gone so fast,'' Dove said. ``I want to finish it off right. A victory would cap off our prep careers nicely. I just hope my college receivers are as good as my high school receivers.''

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Photo:

(color) CORY DOVE