Page 4 November 12, 2015 After Forfeits, Lawndale Pulled off Playoff Berth to Fairfax before the 2014 football season ended. Over last summer, Pittman transferred to Lawndale. Pittman touched the football just six times and never scored, according to Clark. He was not cleared in the Cardinals’ season opener against South Torrance (Lawndale lost that game 33-21.), but had one play in the Cardinals’ 35-19 win over Encino Crespi before getting injured and being out three weeks. He returned in Lawndale’s final non-league game against Torrance and was involved in the Cardinals first two Ocean League games against Culver City and Santa Monica. Lawndale had to forfeit to Crespi, Torrance, Culver City and Santa Monica. “The CIF cleared him,” Clark said. “The CIF comes back five weeks later and he is redeemed ineligible.” Clark put the blame on his former high school, Santa Monica, that he thought reported the case with Pittman on the following Monday (on October 19) after Lawndale’s 62-0 rout of the host Vikings on October 16. Clark head coached the Vikings from 2010-14 and played football for Santa Monica, where he graduated in 1984. Clark said that he received threatening text messages and e-mails from the incident. “He’s an innocent human being,” Clark said of Pittman. “I’m disappointed.” Clark says that Lawndale is the Ocean League champion that finished 9-1 overall and 5-0 in league. He plans to appeal the ruling. “It will be corrected.” Clark said. Meanwhile, with the Cardinals currently By Joe Snyder Entering last week, Lawndale High’s football team was in a big position of winning its first Ocean League football championship in 40 years with a perfect 4-0 league record and 8-1 overall mark. That was until Monday, November 2 when the Cardinals received stunning bad news. Reports were made by the Lawndale High administration, who claimed that a player who transferred to the school from Fairfax High in Los Angeles on the residency was not valid. The administration reported it to the CIF-Southern Section, who had cleared that player (sophomore Josh Pittman) five weeks earlier, and the administration, led by Principal Paula Hart, and the CIF-SS agreed that the Cardinals would have to forfeit in four of their wins he participated in. Claimed was that the false statement was filled in by Pittman’s parents. Lawndale head coach Travis Clark, however, was uncertain of the case. “I don’t know if that’s the case,” Clark, whose team ended up 5-5 overall and 3-2 in the Ocean League that tied Lawndale for second place with El Segundo and Hawthorne after the Cardinals shut out the host Cougars 45-0 last Friday in their Ocean finale, said. “The CIF cleared him to play. I don’t know how we can forfeit the games the kid played in. There was no appeal, no process nor communication. We did nothing wrong.” According to Clark, Pittman started out playing his freshman year at Santa Monica at the start of last season, then transferred placing second in Ocean play, behind now official champion Culver City (7-3 overall and 4-1 in league), they will open the CIFSouthern Section Western Division playoffs at Buena High, the second place team behind cross town rival Ventura in the Channel League, Friday at 7 p.m. That could change if Clark wins the appeal well enough before the contest against the Bulldogs. Lawndale was not the only local team to forfeit games. Morningside was forced to forfeit three of its win and Inglewood forfeited its first league win against Bell, due to use of ineligible players. The Sentinels recorded a forfeit win over Peninsula on October 30 since the Panthers dropped their varsity football team for the final three games of the season due to a high risk from lack of players. An angry Cardinals team proved dominant against Hawthorne (3-7, 3-2) in a must-win situation last Friday. Senior Santa Monica transfer Zach Cooper proved dominant against the Cougars. He rushed for 255 yards and four touchdowns on 21 carries. On the first play from scrimmage, Cooper sprinted 73 yards for a TD. Cooper added scoring runs of 22, 14 and four yards. Quarterback Chris Murray rushed for 77 yards on 10 carries that included a 32-yard touchdown run. He passed for only 42 yards but one of those went for a TD to wide receiver Bryant Perkinson late in the fourth quarter. In the game, Lawndale rushed for 384 yards. For the Cougars, who will not make the playoffs despite its best league record since their Ocean championship team from 2004, quarterback Marte Mapu passed for 120 yards with one interception. Hawthorne, though, mustered just 14 yards on the ground. It was the Cardinals’ sixth shutout of the season. Leuzinger Wins League Finale; Morningside Routs Inglewood Leuzinger High’s football team finished in third place in the Pioneer League after shutting out host Centennial 39-0 last Friday in Compton. The Olympians, who ended their season at 5-5 overall and 3-2 in league, did not get invited to the CIF-Southern Section Western Division playoffs due to six leagues and 16 berths that allowed only four third place squads to advance. Co-champions North Torrance and West Torrance advance to the Western Division playoffs. Morningside High’s football team finished its season in the same way it played in winning its first six games (three of those forfeited after reports by the CIF-SS last week) when it routed cross town rival Inglewood 50-12 last Friday at Coleman Stadium. The Monarchs were 7-3 on the field and 2-3 in the Bay League, but 4-6 overall after the forfeits. The Sentinels finished at 1-9 overall and 1-4 in league but were 2-8 on the field. Champion Palos Verdes, runner-up Redondo and third place Mira Costa all advanced to the Western Division playoffs which start on November 13. • Napolitano from page 3 a way to track those programs and ensure that the money spent leads to positive results. Calling it the “best anti-crime program” as well as the “best employment program,” Napolitano stressed that it is also critical to support early child education. “We’re facing shrinking resources and need to look at prioritizing prevention through early childhood education in addition to diversion for long-term success,” he said. Napolitano additionally pledged to continue Knabe’s efforts in supporting the Safe Surrender program and keeping up the fight against sex trafficking. Napolitano explained that he applies certain values to all of his decision-making--first and foremost putting people and communities first by solving problems, keeping citizens safe, supporting non-profits and always being accessible. “We need to make LA County more business-friendly and jobs-focused,” he said. “I want to continue to find ways to reduce costs and regulations to get businesses running and keeping them running.” Napolitano emphasized the need to protect the environment by reducing air and water pollution, creating more open space, recycling/reusing, and taking the lead on water conservation. Other focuses include fiscal responsibility by making sure the County does not spend more money than it has; not approving taxes without a vote of the people; and making government smarter, more open and accessible. “Dealing with the County should be as easy as dealing with Amazon,” Napolitano said. “We need to use technology to better engage the public and measure our programs and adjust for improvements.” Next fall’s election will include no less than races for President, State Senate, Congress, and Governor. While Napolitano acknowledges that citizens will have huge choices to make across the board, he believes that the vote for Supervisor will be the most important one for those living in the Fourth District. “They’ll be electing one-fifth of the governing body of the nation’s largest county with over 10 million people, a $27 billion budget, and the 19th largest economy in the world,” he explained. “No other level of government has a bigger impact on people’s daily lives than LA County—from public safety to transportation, from education to the environment, from the local economy to healthcare, to the arts and beyond. LA County does it all, and the politicians and special interests are scrambling to create a supermajority to take over the Board and its budget. That’s why it matters who gets elected next. This isn’t a job you inherit. It’s one you have to earn. I’m not a politician. I’m a problem-solver with 25 years of experience in local government who wants to keep LA County working for all of us…” • Police Reports Every Visit our Website www.heraldpublications.com issue always available online! New Issues/Old Issues • Out-of-town? Read the Herald newspapers online • Interested in an article from a prior date? See it online • Excited about an ad, photo, or article? Refer your friends, family and associates to the website, so they can see it too • Want to read the Torrance Tribune or other Herald newspapers not in your area? All available on our website! Check it out! www.heraldpublications.com Tue 10/27/15 to Sun 11/1/15 ROBBERY 4000 W 134TH ST STREET, HIGHWAY, ALLEY Tue 10/27/15 10:20 Property Taken: Louis Vutton Brown Leather, Rose Gold ATTEMPT CARJACKING 13700-BLK S PRAIRIE AV AUTO/VEHICLE AUTO/ VEHICLE Fri 10/30/15 10:17 ROBBERY W 119TH ST/S CHANERA AV STREET, HIGHWAY, ALLEY Sun 11/01/15 01:27 Property Taken: Thin Gold Chain With Gold Heart + “D” Pendent ROBBERY 4500 BLOCK W 140TH ST STREET, HIGHWAY, ALLEY Sun 11/01/15 22:08 Property Taken: Victim #1’s Atm Card BURGLARY – COMMERCIAL 15000 S PRAIRIE AV DOCTOR & DENTIST OFFICE, CLINIC Wed 10/28/15 10:53 BURGLARY – RESIDENTIAL 4500 W 131ST ST HOUSE Mon 09/28/15 12:00 BURGLARY – RESIDENTIAL 14700 S PRAIRIE AV HOUSE Wed 10/28/15 13:00 BURGLARY – RESIDENTIAL 14900 S FONTHILL AV HOUSE Sat 10/31/15 21:31 Property Taken: White Gold Ring With One Lrg Diamond, White Gold Ring With 1 Diamond Sur By 4 Small Dia, Gold Earrings With Diamond Studs (2 Pair), Two Thousand Dollars From Dish Network Envelope, Three Hundred Dollars From Wells Fargo Envelope BURGLARY – RESIDENTIAL 13900 S KORNBLUM AV APARTMENT/CONDO Sun 11/01/15 03:35 Property Taken: 34” And 38” 10ct Rope Necklaces, Us Currency ATTEMPT RESIDENTIAL BURGLARY 11700 S OXFORD AV APARTMENT/ CONDO Sun 11/01/15 08:30 •
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