PREP FOOTBALL: ONE WIN DOES NOT ENSURE ANOTHER : PARACLETE WARY DESPITE SUCCESS.

Byline: Chris Cocoles Staff Writer

Falling behind Kilpatrick is not an option for the Paraclete High football team.

The Mustangs can make life a lot more miserable for Paraclete if they bolt to an early lead when the teams meet in the Southern Section Division XII championship game Saturday at Antelope Valley College.

The Mustangs' wing-T offense is capable of devastating opponents and eating up the clock . . . and keeping the Spirits' equally explosive offense off the field.

``You don't want to fall behind too far back and you find yourself needing to get the ball back to get into the end zone,'' said Paraclete coach Steve Hagerty.

So while the Spirits already have beaten their Alpha League-rival Kilpatrick, 36-20 on Nov. 5, there is every reason to be concerned.

Kilpatrick totaled 446 yards of offense in Saturday's 42-35 semifinal win over Riverside Notre Dame. The 340 rushing yards - 204 by record-setting senior Jermaine Marshall - wasn't anything out of the ordinary for a team that depends on the run.

Hagerty also has an inkling of the Mustangs' ability to make something happen when they throw the ball. Quarterback Secel Montgomery attempted just five passes last week but completed four for 106 yards and a touchdown. Hagerty pointed to those passing yards as the turning point in Kilpatrick's come-from-behind victory.

``They're going to get yards and going to get some points,'' he said.

``Throughout the game you'll go through the spurts but you can't get too down about it. It's just like solving the problems in your life. You've got to deal with them and try to stop them.''

Whisler while you work: Spirits tight end Brian Whisler, a 6-foot-7, 225-pound senior, will see extensive playing time on defense against Kilpatrick, lining up technically as a linebacker but in a down position on the line.

Whisler's size and physical play was effective against Kilpatrick in the regular-season meeting between the two teams.

``He's a guy that likes to put his hands on offensive linemen. He has a big body and he played pretty well the first time we played,'' Hagerty said. ``You like to have your best defensive players in there.''

Divine intervention: Father William Caffrey, who retired as Paraclete's principal last season, hasn't missed a Paraclete football game and does his best to bless the parochial school's chances at another title.

Father Caffrey, who wears a championship ring on either hand recognizing Paraclete's 1997 Division XI and 1998 Division XII titles, went on a pilgrimage of sorts to the Vatican.

Meeting Pope John Paul II for the second time in his life, Father Caffrey asked for and received a blessing on each ring by the Pope.

Pacing along the Paraclete sideline in the Rosamond game, Father Caffrey believes his Pope-endorsed rings may have helped the Spirits to a 47-26 win over the top-seeded Roadrunners.

``It would have been great to have all the guys' rings right there for him to bless,'' Father Caffrey said.

Be like Mike: Paraclete junior Michael Washington hasn't been the option on offense like he was in 1998, when he earned Division XII's Co-Offensive Player of the Year with Cathedral's Robert De La Cruz.

Washington touched the ball five times on offense in the Spirits' semifinal win over Rosamond, averaging almost 18 yards on three rushes and two receptions.

``That was probably his best game of the season,'' Hagerty said.

Washington returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown to break open last season's Division XII championship win over Kilpatrick.