Beverly Hills Football Seeks Forward Progress

After the Beverly Hills High varsity football team won one of four games at its annual "Best in the West" Passing League Tournament Saturday at Nickoll Field, head coach Donald Paysinger had good news and bad news for his players.

"The bad thing is we have a long way to go," the Normans' third-year coach said. "The good news is it's only June. Now is the time to learn. That's why we play these games. We're going to make mistakes, but let's not make the same mistakes twice."

The tournament was moved back one week and as a result not as many teams showed up because several other significant passing leagues were also taking place Saturday. Many of the 13 other schools that did participate had already played one or more seven-on-seven tournaments whereas the Normans were playing their first.

"We've only had four weeks of spring practice and we have some players trying out new positions," Paysinger said. "I feel really good because we have a lot of returning guys. It's hard to say who the favorite is in the [Ocean] league. Last year, it was supposed to be us and Culver City, but Inglewood went undefeated."

Saturday's games lasted 35 minutes and were played on fields shortened to 40 yards. Quarterbacks had three and a half seconds to throw the ball or play was blown dead. There were no pads and two-hand touch on the receivers instead of tackling. Touchdowns were worth six points and interceptions were worth two points. 

In pool play, the Normans lost to St. Bernard 20-16, beat Dorsey 28-26 and lost to West Torrance 22-6. The Dorsey win was significant because the Dons ended up reaching the championship game later in the afternoon.

After a 45-minute break, Beverly Hills lost to Lynwood 18-6 in the first round of the single-elimination playoffs. The Normans scored first when Willie Green caught a touchdown pass from Brandon Adams, but that was all the points the host school would get.

"The main things we need to work on are being on the same page offensively and not giving up when we get behind," said Adams, an All-League safety and back-up quarterback last season who will play both ways again in the fall. "Playing safety has really helped me be a better quarterback because I know, for instance, how their safety is going to play a Cover Two [defense]."

Returning All-City receiver Cameron Countryman will play both ways as well, at quarterback and cornerback. He only snapped the ball Saturday, still sore from a long track season in which he ran on the Normans' 4 x 200 relay team that won its heat at the in April. He also competed in the 200-meter dash and 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 relays.

"I'll be back playing next week," Countryman said confidently. "I just want to help the team win, no matter what position I'm playing."

Both Normans quarterbacks bring different tools to the task and Paysinger refers to the duo as a "two-headed monster" that he hopes will give opponents fits come September. 

"We probably have one of the more experienced teams [in league]," Paysinger said. "We always like to mix it up between the run and the pass and we have our top two running backs and an All-CIF receiver back so we should be a balanced team again."

Beverly Hills plays in a four-team passing league Wednesday at Loyola, then plays in two more seven-on-seven tournaments—at Arroyo Grande the second week of July and at Buena Park the third week of July.

Selma of Fresno County won Saturday's tournament, defeating Dorsey 20-18 in the final. The other teams included Atascadero, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, El Monte, Santa Ynez, View Park, Mira Costa and Hawthorne. 

"Our goal is to win the Ocean League and compete in the CIF playoffs," Adams said. "The first step is to go undefeated in nonleague. We have a tough schedule with games against Canyon Country and Alemany that should prepare us for the postseason."

Beverly Hills opens its season September 9 at Santa Barbara.

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