Sea Hawks Will Try to Cut Serra Off at the Pass

It would take a village to contain the Serra High Cavaliers, which is why an assembly of Redondo Union defensive backs hung around at the conclusion of practice on Thursday to discuss the challenges that come with facing one of the top prep passing attacks in the state.

The Sea Hawks' secondary has listened to the banter leading up to Friday night's game at Serra, a common theme that Redondo is in deep.

"For our defensive back corps, this is the biggest challenge since last year's Serra game,'' senior cornerback Kim Richards said.

A repeat of last year is not something that Richards and his mates want to experience. Serra pulverized the Seahawks 49-12 in that meeting en route to a perfect 15-0 season. Serra enters this game ranked No. 16 in the nation and No. 3 in California. Truthfully, it would take an upset of magnificent proportions for Redondo Union to prevail.

But the scoreboard in this case might not be the final judge for an up and coming Sea Hawks' squad that is hoping to make noise in the Bay League this fall.

"I don't think we can really lose here,'' Coach Gene Simon said. "Yes, we obviously can lose a football game. But our guys will play hard. They will step up and some of them will improve. I've told our guys that we're going to play the best teams that we can schedule. We want a challenge and we've got it.''

Serra graduated two of its top receivers from last year's state championship team – Robert Woods, who is a freshman starter for USC, and Paul Richardson, who would have contributed at UCLA this fall but was denied enrollment after he was expelled from summer school for an on-campus incident.

However, according to Simon, the Cavaliers' offense might be even more prolific this year. That's because senior quarterback Conner Preston is more experienced, more poised and has another talented array of pass catchers in senior George Farmer, arguably the nation's best high school wide receiver, senior Marqise Lee and junior Raymond Ford. Should that trio need a brief rest, seniors Pete Lauderdale and Lonnie Turner provide more than adequate depth.

"We're playing a harder team than we did last week,'' senior safety Brandon Engel said. ''We have to stay focused on our responsibilities.''

It will be an arduous task. Farmer, who at 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds is both fast and physical, could even be better than Woods. That's saying a lot because the latter last week became the first true freshman receiver at USC to ever make his college debut as a starter.

"Everybody keeps asking me how I'm going to guard (Farmer),'' the diminutive but quick Richards said. "In my mind, I have to look at him as though he's just another receiver. I have to guard him, whether I'm scared or not, so there's not any difference. Don't get me wrong, though. He's a great receiver.''

Serra showed just how lethal its passing game would be this fall during the summer passing league tournaments and opened the season with a 34-7 victory at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.

"They have a quarterback who understands their system and because of that, the ball doesn't stay in his hands long,'' Simon said. "They have three or four guys who are confident, who can make plays, and who want the ball in their hands on every play.

"But they're not perfect. They're going to make their share of mistakes, too, and if they fumble and we play hard, we're going to get the ball.''

Redondo Union could be without its stellar senior safety Jon Catsavas, who suffered a left shoulder injury in last week's win at Torrance North. Catsavas was unable to practice this week but a final verdict on his availability might come down to a game-time decision. If Catsavas is unavailable, sophomore Christian Fernandez will start.

Even at full strength, Redondo Union appears outmanned. So what is the Sea Hawks' secondary to do? Will Redondo Union be able to pick off Preston or will it be picked apart by the Cavaliers' wily quarterback?

"You can't be scared and run 30 yards off the ball, like we saw Notre Dame doing,'' senior cornerback Drew Wright said. "We watched tape of (Serra's victory over Notre Dame) and the DBs were turning and running downfield before the ball was even snapped. It's about courage and heart in this game. It's all about desire.''

Redondo Union spent the week of preparation with its scout team players running the Serra pass plays. But the facsimile was far from the real thing.

"You can't come close to matching and simulating their speed in practice,'' Sea Hawks' senior Joey Ardesich said.

Watching tape helps, to some degree.

"We have a pretty good idea on what they're going to do,'' Richards said. "They get a lot of YAC (yards after catch) and they have great speed. But you can never slack off because the one play that you do, is the one that they'll score on.''

Wright, who clinched last week's victory over North with a 50-yard pick six interception, begs for that fortune comes his way again Friday.

"I hope so,'' Wright said. "Only this time, I'll have faster guys chasing after me.''

Like defensive backs on every level – Pee Wee to the NFL, the Redondo Union unit collectively has thick skin. So, if any of them get burned for a touchdown, the attitude is forget about it, and on to the next series of plays.

"I'll be hard on myself until the next kickoff,'' Richards said, "Because even the best of cornerbacks get beat.''

"It's just something that you have to accept,'' added junior Eric Brown.

And with that, the village dispersed and headed for the locker room, game preparation done. One by one, junior Will Allagoa, junior Davion Goodall, senior Sean Towns, senior Brian Tran and junior Londone Hawkins trudging up the hill with their aforementioned teammates.