This Could Be the Beginning of a Rivalry : Troy and El Dorado Are Set to Play for the First Time Tonight

Despite the fact Troy High School of Fullerton and El Dorado of Placentia are only about five miles apart, these North Orange County schools have never met in football.

Until now.

At 7:30 tonight in Fullerton District Stadium, the Warriors and the Golden Hawks meet in what could be the beginning of a rivalry.

“A lot of our kids played Little League baseball or Pop Warner football with theirs,” Carl Sweet, El Dorado coach, said. “So that makes it more fun and special for us.

“We used to scrimmage them (in preseason), but never played them. It’s a two-year contract but hopefully it’ll go on after that. It’s good for both schools to get together.”

El Dorado enters the game in good shape after its 20-19 come-from-behind, season-opening victory over La Quinta last week.

“We were reasonably pleased with our performance,” Sweet said, “but we made some first-game mistakes. We beat a good team the other night, but it doesn’t make your season. It’s just the first step.”

The Golden Hawks can ill afford making many mistakes against its next two opponents: Troy and Valencia.

Turnovers plagued El Dorado early against La Quinta, but it rallied behind the play of Rich Chamberlain, who threw a 20-yard halfback-option pass for one touchdown and ran for another.

Troy, meanwhile, is coming off of a 34-10 win over Garden Grove in a game in which Warrior quarterback David St. Clair passed for 113 yards and rushed for 107.

John Turek, Warrior coach, said that he is looking forward to tonight’s game.

“It’s a pretty evenly matched game,” he said. “It should be very physical and fun for the fans to watch.”

In other nonleague action tonight:

Saddleback vs. Santa Ana in Santa Ana Stadium, 7:30--The Saints played Sea View League defending co-champion Newport Harbor last week and now must face the other co-champion tonight. The Saints took a 17-7 lead over Newport Harbor behind the passing of Eric Turner before eventually losing, 22-17. Saddleback edged stubborn Santa Ana Valley, 7-0.

Damien vs. Huntington Beach on Sheue Field, 8 p.m.--This game begins a half hour later than usual in order to give the Spartans time to travel to Huntington Beach from La Verne. What the Spartans will see after they get off the bus is a Huntington Beach team that is vastly improved from last season’s 2-7-1 record. The Oilers beat a respectable Corona del Mar team, 23-7, last week behind the passing of Joe Napoli to Ken Purdue. The pair combined on a 90-yard touchdown pass-play. The Spartans, meanwhile, were shut out by Pasadena, 14-0.

Magnolia vs. Los Amigos at Garden Grove Stadium, 7:30--Running backs Jim Hargis, Tim Schmidt and Dan Falt helped the Sentinels accumulate 362 total yards in defeating Katella, 28-7. Besides having to figure out a way to stop that trio, the Lobos must be careful not to squander a lead, as they did against Los Alamitos last week. Los Amigos lost, 21-13, after leading, 13-0.

Laguna Hills vs. Estancia at Davidson Field, 7:30--The Eagles were stunned last week when they lost starting quarterback Mike Rosellini due to mononucleosis a few days before their opener against El Toro. Nevertheless, Estancia played well in its 21-3 loss to El Toro. Laguna Hills, despite outgaining Woodbridge in total yards, 114-62, lost to the Warriors, 7-0, to spoil the debut of Coach Paul Weinberger.

Katella vs. Villa Park at Fred Kelly Stadium, 7:30--Both schools will be looking to rebound from defeats in their respective season openers. The Knights were beaten by Magnolia, 28-7, while the Spartans were edged by Pacifica, 17-10. Terry Johnson ran for 144 yards for the Knights in defeat and could be the difference tonight.