LION KINGS OAKS CHRISTIAN TOPS LIST OF AREA'S ALL-TIME BEST FOOTBALL TEAMS.Byline: GERRY GITTELSON Staff Writer With a state title on the line in the CIF (1) (Common Intermediate Format) A standard video format used in videoconferencing. CIF formats are defined by their resolution, and standards both above and below the original resolution have been established. The original CIF is also known as Full CIF (FCIF). State Bowl Championships Div. III final at 11 a.m. today, Oaks Christian High of Westlake Village is on the verge On the Verge (or The Geography of Yearning) is a play written by Eric Overmyer. It makes extensive use of esoteric language and pop culture references from the late nineteenth century to 1955. of becoming the area's first prep football team -- and only the second in state history -- ever to finish 15-0. But is Oaks Christian the best of all-time? We say yes, and that's why they're No. 1 in our Daily News list of the area's greatest teams ever. What has made Oaks Christian so special is the team's great players -- including star quarterback Jimmy Clausen James Richard "Jimmy" Clausen (born September 21, 1987, in Thousand Oaks, California[3]) is an American football player. He is a quarterback at the University of Notre Dame. , the nation's top recruit at any position -- combined with a group of top coaches led by head man Bill Redell Bill Redell (born April 17, 1941 in Red Bluff, California) is an American football coach and member of the College Football Hall of Fame. Redell serves as head coach at Oaks Christian High School in Westlake Village, California, since 2000, and has formed them into one of . The Lions have not had a single letdown, not a misstep, not even an ``almost.'' That's because they have Div. I-college caliber players at every position. Clausen is headed to Notre Dame Notre Dame IPA: [nɔtʁ dam] is French for Our Lady, referring to the Virgin Mary. In the United States of America, Notre Dame . Marc Tyler Marc Tyler (born September 27, 1988 in Palmdale, California) is an American football running back for the University of Southern California Trojans football team. High school career Tyler attended Oaks Christian High School in Westlake Village, California. could be the next great running back at USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. . Meanwhile, receiver Sean Wiser will play at Stanford and left guard Cory Yriarte at Boise State. Defensively, Marshall Jones, who will join Tyler at USC, is considered one of the hardest-hitting defensive backs in the country. Meanwhile, Anthony Gildon is headed to Oregon. On the defensive line, Duke Lemmens is headed to Florida and Michael Ebbitt is going to Texas A&M. The linebackers are led by Casey Matthews, who will play at Oregon. Oaks Christian, plain and simple, is the deepest, most star-studded team in area history. A victory today cements the team's immortality. Yes, they're a small school in a small division, but they've played the best -- St. Bonaventure of Ventura in the third game of the season -- and won by 46 points. Oaks Christian also defeated respectable nonleague opponents Lompoc, Muir of Pasadena and Venice. That makes them the best ever, in our eyes, but clearly not the only great team in the history of the area. AREA'S 10 BEST ALL-TIME PREP FOOTBALL TEAMS 1. Oaks Christian, 2006 Southern Section Northwestern champions Coach: Bill Redell Record: 14-0 Key players: QB Jimmy Clausen, RB Marc Tyler, WR Sean Wiser, LB Casey Matthews, DB Marshall Jones, DL Duke Lemmens, DL Micheal Ebbitt, DB Anthony Gildon, OL Cory Yriarte With several potential All-Americans and perhaps 15 players who eventually will play Div. I football, Oaks Christian is undoubtedly the most talented group ever assembled on one team. And the Lions have perfomed nearly perfectly every week, winning by an average of 46.9 points per game. Oaks Christian more than proved itself with an historic 59-13 victory over national power St. Bonaventure of Ventura on Sept. 22. Oaks Christian also won impressively over perennial power houses Lompoc, Muir of Pasadena and Venice. Clausen and Marc Tyler are considered by many the nation's top players at their positions. Clausen has completed 71 percent of his passes for 3,334 yards, 48 touchdowns and just three interceptions. Tyler, injured in the first week of the playoffs, rushed for 1,700 yards and scored 31 touchdowns. The defense, led by Matthews, has proved equally impressive. ``Considering everything, I would say this Oaks Christian team is the best,'' Redell said. ``You just look at how many Div. I-bound players we have-- 11 seniors and probably 15 all together -- and I don't think there's any other team in the U.S.A that can say that.'' 2. San Fernando San Fernando, city, Argentina San Fernando (săn fərnăn`dō), city (1991 pop. 144,761), Buenos Aires prov., E Argentina. It is a district administrative center in the Greater Buenos Aires area. , 1974 City Section champions Coaches: Bill Marsh and Bill Hornbeck Record: 12-1 Key players: QB Kenny Moore Kenneth ("Kenny") Clark Moore (born December 1, 1943 in Eugene, Oregon) is an American athlete and journalist. At the University of Oregon, Moore was one of Bill Bowerman's finest distance runners. , RBs Charles White Charles or Charlie White may refer to:
Speed kills in high school football, and San Fernando was on a rampage in 1974, winning their first of two consecutive City championships. Few opponents could keep up with the Tigers' lethal wishbone wishbone see furcula. offense. Kevin Williams, who rushed for 1,160 yards, was the fastest. He ran a 9.4 100-yard dash, and the others were just a step behind. The entire backfield, plus Jett, all eventually played college football at major schools-- Kevin Williams, White and Moore at USC, Raymond Williams at Washington State and Jett at Hawaii. ``It was really great for our offensive line because they never had to open a big hole -- just one step and that was all she wrote,'' assistant coach Bill Frazer said. 3. Birmingham, 1963 City Section champions Coach: George Goff Record: 13-0 Key players: WR Marv Adamo, OLs Bill Bruckner, Bill Hayhoe and Mike Scarpace, DL Don McSwain, RB Mike McConahay, QB Craig Shusterick, FB Dave Enrico, LB Dave Drysdale It has been 43 years, but many still consider Birmingham to be the area's best City Section team ever. And it's hard to argue considering the then-Braves, ranked No. 1 in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , finished undefeated and were rarely challenged. Birmingham recorded six shutouts and averaged 40 points per game, finishing with a 21-14 victory over Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. in the championship game at East L.A. College. Adamo was the City player of the year, and Scarpace, Bruckner and Hayhoe all played at USC. ``They were a great team, physically too tough for everyone,'' athletic director Athletic director (commonly, "athletics director") is a position at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, which oversees the work of the coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic Al Ramirez said. ``We were the USC Trojans
Birmingham also featured cheerleaders Notable cheerleaders
As an executive at Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. during the 1980s, Milken used high-yield junk bonds for financing and corporate takeovers. While his personal wealth was enormous, he spent two years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of securities fraud. . ``Anytime you get to the championship it's a big deal. It was a big deal in 1963, and it would be a big deal now,'' McConahay said. 4. Crespi, 1986 Southern Section Big Five champions Coach: Bill Redell Record: 13-1 Key players: RB Russell White, TE John Carpenter, OL Steve Puryear, QB Rob O'Byrne and LB Sean Howard Sean Howard is an Australian entrepreneur, founder of OzEmail, at one time Australia's largest Internet company. In the 1980s Howard developed the email service, Microtex. He also founded Australian Personal Computer, Australia's top-selling computer magazine. White was just a 15-year-old sophomore, but what an amazing running back he was. He rushed for 2,339 yards -- averaging 12.5 per carry -- and scored 31 touchdowns to carry the Celts The following pages provide lists of nations or people of Celtic origin, arranged by branch of Celtic ethnicity or language grouping: Goidelic Celts
With power, speed and amazing cutting ability, White, named CIF Player of the Year, was never more unstoppable than during a 49-14 finals win over St. John Bosco "Don Bosco" redirects here. For other uses, see Bosco (disambiguation). Saint Don Bosco, born Giovanni Melchiorre Bosco, and known in English as John Bosco of Bellflower, rushing for 256 yards and four touchdowns. After the game, said Redell, who is coaching Oaks Christian in today's championship game: ``I think Russell White proved he's the CIF's player of the year, and if he isn't, they ought to fold up the CIF.'' By winning the Big Five title, the Crespi 1986 team remains the only Valley-area program to conquer the Southern Section's highest division. 5. Canyon, 1985 Southern Section Northwestern Conference champions Coach: Harry Welch Record: 14-0 Key players: RB Lance Cross, QBs John Watkins John Watkins could be any of the following:
In Zacharia and Austin, Canyon had a pair of ferocious defensive players who headed the Cowboys' ``Psycho D'' -- an impenetrable group of hitters that keyed Canyon's third consecutive section title. ``Joe wasn't just a great player, he also had an incredible personality,'' Welch said. Zacharia terrorized quarterbacks, and if they were lucky to get past him, UCLA-bound Austin never was far behind. And when opposing teams were fortunate enough to get off a pass, there were no better defensive backs than Zeigler, also a top receiver, and Rusk, who had 10 interceptions. ``The whole team, we lived like celebrities,'' Zacharia said. ``It was a different era in Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, , and everywhere we went, we'd wear our lettermen jackets, and everyone knew who we were. Restaurants would give us free dinners. We'd get free drinks at 7-Eleven.'' The Cowboys allowed just seven touchdowns all season. 6. Hart, 1998 Southern Section Div. II champions Coach: Mike Herrington Record: 12-2 Key players: QB Kyle Boller Kyle Bryan Boller (born June 17 1981 in Burbank, California) is an American football quarterback who plays for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Ravens in the first round of the 2003 NFL Draft out of California. , WRs Jerry Owens Jerry Lee Owens (born on February 16, 1981 in Hollywood, California) is a Major League Baseball outfielder currently with the Chicago White Sox. He played most of the 2006 season with the AAA Charlotte Knights (Chicago White Sox affiliation) of the International League, but was and Jared Bazar, OL Paul Dolinsky, RB Billy Brecht, LBs Scott Hunt and Pat Norton, PK Kirk Bardin Already one of the nation's most established passing programs, Hart found its dream quarterback in Boller, perhaps the area's greatest passer since John Elway John Albert Elway, Jr. (born June 28, 1960) played American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Denver Broncos from 1983 through 1998. Elway holds many college and professional records and was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and is the only . With a strong arm, deft precision and an uncanny feel for the game, Boller was unstoppable. He passed for 4,852 yards and 59 touchdowns, despite sitting out during the fourth quarter of most games because Hart scored so many points. Owens, who caught 63 passes for 1,347 yards and 16 touchdowns, was among the nation's leading receivers before missing the playoffs because of a leg injury. 7. Westlake, 2003 Southern Section Div. IV champions Coach: Jim Benkert Record: 14-0 Key players: QB Rudy Carpenter, OL Ryan Sorenson, LB Greg Newman, DLs Michael Stuart Michael Stuart (born January 9, 1975 in New York City) is a salsa singer and actor of Puerto Rican descent. Early years Stuart's parents emigrated from Puerto Rico and settled in New York City in the 1960s. Stuart received his primary and secondary education in there. and Jimmy Miller. Few teams have ever played better top competition, as Westlake capped a perfect season with a 28-6 victory over St. Bonaventure of Ventura. Carpenter passed for 2,652 yards and 36 touchdowns. He also scored four touchdowns on the ground. Although Westlake averaged 40 points per game, the team's strength was defense. Seven opponents were held to one touchdown or less, as Stuart and Miller created havoc for opposing quarterbacks, and linebacker Newman stuffed the run. After defeating Hart of Newhall 25-24 on a Thursday night game televised on Fox Sports Net that featured a controversial two-point conversion In American football and Canadian football, a team may try to score a two-point conversion (score two points) instead of an extra point (one point) immediately after it scores a touchdown. by Tahj Mowry Tahj Dayton Mowry (born May 17, 1986) is an American actor. Family Tahj Mowry was born in Hawaii to Darlene Flowers,[] who manages her children's careers, and Timothy Mowry, who was in the armed services and later became a police officer in California. with 41 seconds left, the Warriors allowed only one other opponent to score more than 20 points all season and allowed a combined 16 points in their final three playoff victories. 8. Newbury Park, 1993 Southern Section Div. III champions Coach: George Hurley George Hurley (born September 4 1958 in Brockton, Massachusetts) is a drummer noted for his work with The Minutemen and fIREHOSE. Hurley's powerful style brought a sense of musicianship to the genre, paving the way for new possibilities in underground music. Record: 14-0 Key players: QB Keith Smith For other persons named Keith Smith, see Keith Smith (disambiguation). Keith Smith(1952-2006) was a former English rugby player; he excelled in playing centre. He first played with Yorkshire Colts rugby then advanced to Roundhay. , WRs Leodes Van Buren and Jason Tucker Jason Tucker (born June 24, 1976 in San Francisco, California) is an American and Canadian football wide receiver. High School Tucker attended Robinson High School in Robinson, Texas where he excelled in football, and track and field, particularly long jumping. , OL Tony Weak, LB Justin Simo With only 28 players in the division of larger schools, Newbury Park was the little team that could, thanks to an innovative passing scheme led by Smith and Van Buren. Smith passed for 4,149 yards and 40 touchdowns, and he was also an excellent runner, scoring on a 98-yard run in a 22-14 victory over favored Hawthorne in the championship game to cap an undefeated season. ``Back then, we had a new offense before everyone was doing it, so it was exciting brand of football,'' Hurley said. Van Buren caught 101 passes for a state-best 1,658 yards and 20 touchdowns. 9. Granada Hills, 1970 City Section champions Coach: Jack Neumeier Record: 12-1 Key players: QB Dana Potter, RB Brad Mosher A mosher is a person who is crossed between goth/punk/skater they have long hair and listen to music like slipknot and metal music. Some people call them headbangers. At certain music shows they have something called a mosh pit, basically its a fight pit with loads of people bashing each other. , WRs Tom Weinert and Jim Snowden, OLs Nick Augusa and Phil Factor, LB Tom McFarlan, DB Jim Mitchell Led by Potter, who passed for 3,227 yards in an era when few QBs cracked 1,000, the '70 Granada Hills team always will be remembered for its 38-28 championship victory over rival San Fernando before a Valley- record 18,000 spectators at Birmingham -- still considered the area's largest football crowd ever. The championship was a rematch of Granada Hills' 25-point regular-season loss to San Fernando, which featured ultra-fast quarterback Anthony Davis, who would go on to stardom as a USC tailback. ``I don't think a month goes by where I don't run into somebody who says they were at that game,'' Potter said. Potter scored three times and finished the season with 36 touchdown passes and 12 rushing touchdowns. Birmingham athletic director Lou Ramirez helped to organize the championship game, installing temporary bleachers 20 rows high around the stadium. ``We had people standing, walking, crawling to see that game,'' Ramirez said. 10. Crescenta Valley, 1973 Southern Section 3A champions Coach: Gordy Warnock Record: 12-1 Key players: QB Brad Holland, RB Mark Miller, FB Al Stai, WRs John Swonger and Rick Fry, LB Dave Estep, OLs Mark Chandless and Art Chandless, DLs Randy Grosh and Paul Steinbacher Considered the Glendale/Foothill area's greatest team ever, Crescenta Valley was led by Holland, a 6-foot-3 junior who is among the Southland's all-time athletes. He was a standout option quarterback and helped lead the defense as an all-league defensive back. Holland also was an All- American basketball player who eventually played for UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX and the Lakers. ``I'll never forget that last 14-7 win against Monrovia,'' Holland said. ``It was at Citrus College, we were down 7-0, and I'd never been hit so hard in my life. Monrovia was driving at the end, and I think the game ended with them on our 10-yard line.'' Holland decided not to return to the football team for his senior year to concentrate on basketball. ``It was a hard decision because I loved football, but I thought my best opportunity to play pro sports would be basketball,'' Holland said. HONORABLE MENTION Antelope Valley, 1976 Southern Section 2A champions Coach: John Lowry Record: 12-0-1 Key players: TE Pat McCool, FB/LB Lee D'Errico, RB Billy Hilliker, QB Ed t'Sas Antelope Valley has won five titles through the years, some in divisions larger than 2A, but many believe the school's first championship team in 1976 was the best. ``It's real tough to pick one because I like them all, but I think the 1976 team had the most talent,'' assistant coach Brent Newcomb said. The key was USC-bound McCool and Hilliker, who rushed for more than 2,000 yards and scored 22 touchdowns. ``You can put all the A's you want to in front of a school's name -- 5A, 4A, 3A -- and I don't care,'' Newcomb said. ``That 1976 team, I don't think anybody could beat those guys.'' Sylmar, 1994 City Section champions Coach: Jeff Engilman Record: 14-0 Key players: RB Durrell Price, OLs Frank Fuentes and Brandon McGee, QB Greg Marquez, WR Davon Young Sylmar enjoyed several terrific seasons under longtime coach Engilman, but the 1994 squad finished undefeated and was among the area's most dominant teams of the decade. Price was too big, too strong and too fast for opposing defenses, rushing for 1,966 yards with 30 touchdowns to earn City Player of the Year honors. Taft, 1998 City Section champions Coach: Troy Starr Record: 12-2 Key players: RB Marquis Brignac, QB Brandon Hance, WR Lawrence Wallace, LB Dionte Hall Under Starr, Taft of Woodland Hills put it all together in 1998 -- with a great passing and running scheme, terrific execution and a hard-hitting defense -- to win the City title, by defeating Banning 41-29 at the Coliseum. It was quite a celebration before more than 10,000 spectators for Taft, a runner-up the previous two seasons. Brignac rushed for 189 yards in the title game and finished with 1,884 and 20 touchdowns to earn Co-Player of the Year honors. He also was a top linebacker. Notre Dame, 2004 Southern Section Div. III champions Coach: Kevin Rooney Record: 14-0 Key players: QB Garrett Green, OL Anthony Santa Croce, PK Kai Forbath, DB Cary Harris, DL Josh Cordray, RB Rodney Glass Loaded with talented skill players, blazing speed, terrific blockers and standout defenders, Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks had no weaknesses in 2004, defeating Dominguez of Compton 38-21 to win its third consecutive Div. III title. Green was a force and Glass was a great breakaway threat, but perhaps the team's top offensive performer was kicker Kai Forbath. He finished with 19 field goals, including several 50-yarders. Santa Croce, Cordray and Harris anchored a defense that held five teams to fewer than 10 points. CAPTION(S): 4 photos Photo: (1 -- color) MARC TYLER (2 -- color) JIMMY CLAUSEN (3 -- color) no caption (Oaks Christian football team) (4) Oaks Christian quarterback Jimmy Clausen looks to throw during the Southern Section Northwest Division title game against Oak Park. Oaks Christian won 46-7. Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News |
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