THE HIGH SCHOOLS : Nordhoff Fast Out of Chute in 2nd Half

There was a mass Elvis sighting--that is, a mass of people spotted a massive Elvis--in Ojai on Friday night during Nordhoff’s homecoming football game against Santa Clara.

Where were the supermarket tabloids? The paparazzi? He had the sideburns, the pompadour ‘do, the silver sequins and the Vegas-style jumpsuit.

Definitely the jumpsuit.

The setup: During halftime ceremonies, each of Nordhoff’s candidates for homecoming queen stood at midfield as the public-address announcer read off the names of the nominees. When the big moment came to announce the queen, the announcer feigned confusion.

Uh-oh. Who has the envelope?

Let’s ask the king.

He’ll know who won.

There’s the homecoming king, announced earlier in the day, and there’s The King. Seconds later, out of a dark and cloudy sky, appeared a single white parachute.

Despite a somewhat tricky breeze, the Elvis impersonator deftly steered his parachute toward the stadium, landed smoothly on the field, crowned the queen and handed her a bouquet of flowers.

Man, did the tabs blow this one. Think of the headlines they missed.

Elvis Chutes Self at Ballgame!

Presley Makes Gracelanding in Ojai!

Elvis Bails Out on Priscilla for New Queen!

“Last year, they had fireworks at halftime,� said Jenny Johnson, a senior and the special activities coordinator at Nordhoff. “Every year, they try to do more and more.�

This stunt will be tough to top. The homecoming throng, of course, went bonkers.

“They loved it,� Johnson said. “Everybody just loved it.�

The goose bumps must have carried over to the players. Nordhoff scored 20 points in the third quarter and pounded Santa Clara, 48-6.

Lights, camera, ouch!: Like any good cameraman, J.R. Berardinelli kept his eye on the ball.

Berardinelli was on the sideline videotaping Friday’s game between Newbury Park and Royal at Moorpark College when the ball came his way.

The slow-motion replay: Newbury Park receiver Leodes Van Buren runs a pass pattern in the flat. Quarterback Keith Smith lofts the ball. Several defensive backs hammer Van Buren. The group collides near the sideline, where Berardinelli is instantly buried under a pile of bodies and banged-up camera equipment.

“Keith rolled right and lobbed the ball,� said Berardinelli, whose brother Jonathan is a Newbury Park linebacker. “I followed the flight of the ball through the air . . . and before I knew it, I got nailed .�

Camera and man were separated. Fans snickered. Radio broadcasters on KNJO-FM described the collision on the air and couldn’t resist a chuckle. The broadcasters first believed that Van Buren was injured on the sideline.

But within a few minutes, Berardinelli gamely bounced back despite a world-class shiner caused when the camera slammed into his eye socket. Berardinelli was soon laughing about the incident.

Folks were still chortling the next day, whether they believed his story or not. When Berardinelli reported to his job as a technician at a Simi Valley cable television company Saturday morning, he explained his black eye and was met with a few incredulous looks.

Said one co-worker: “He looks like he got the you-know-what beat out of him.�

To the point: For Alim Ball, honesty is the best policy.

Ball, a free safety for Taft, said that shutting out high-powered Chatsworth in a key West Valley League game Friday wasn’t on anybody’s mind. Never talked about it, never thought about it.

“Not at all,� Ball said.

For good reason. Chatsworth entered the game with the area’s leading City Section passer in David Muir and leading rusher in Nestor Davila. What’s more, the latter had rolled up more than 600 yards in his three previous games.

“The main goal was to shut down (Davila),� Ball said. “No more 200-yard games for him.�

Ball was one of two Taft defensive backs making a comeback of sorts. Randy Shelton, sidelined with a broken right wrist, made his first start of the season at cornerback and intercepted a Muir pass that led to a second-quarter touchdown. Ball missed the first five games with a broken right thumb.

Taft scored only two touchdowns, but the defense made them hold up and the Toreadors hung on for a 12-0 victory. Davila was held to 63 yards in 19 carries. Muir passed for 171 yards, but the Taft secondary took away the big play.

Success has bred the kind of confidence that was unheard of, say, a few hours ago.

“We’re on a roll,� Ball said. “We’re on a big high.�

Forgive and forget: If only the IRS, Highway Patrol and school principals were as forgiving.

With his team struggling during a 40-7 loss to Poly on Friday, Monroe assistant Greg Martinez yapped too strenuously to officials, who weren’t in a receptive mood. Martinez was ejected before halftime.

Funny thing is, when the second half started, Martinez was back on the sideline. According to one official, the ejection was rescinded after Martinez, well, apologized.

Quipped an official: “They needed him worse than we needed him (out of here).�