Even Hurting, Solis Is a Handful to Block

By PAIGE A. LEECH

Dec. 5, 1997 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

SYLMAR — At 6 feet 4 and 260 pounds, Ray Solis of Sylmar High is hard to miss . . . and even harder to block.

Taft’s Troy Starr, who has coached against Solis once and watched plenty of game film, can attest to that.

“I think he’s exceptional,” Starr said. “Best lineman I’ve seen all year.”

Tonight, Starr is relying on 6-1, 265-pound Carlos Meza--among others--to keep the aggressive left tackle out of Taft’s offensive backfield.

Tall order considering the show put on by Solis in a quarterfinal victory over Franklin last week. Thirty seconds into the second quarter, Solis had four sacks and twice tackled running backs for four-yard losses.

It was the kind of performance Sylmar Coach Jeff Engilman has come to expect from Solis, a two-way starter the past two seasons.

“He’s rarely off,” Engilman said. “He’s the best defensive lineman in the City. There’s no doubt about it.”

More impressive, however, is the fact that the senior--who starts at right tackle on offense--was playing one-handed.

“I’ve been fighting this [injury] the whole season,” said Solis, who broke his left wrist against Chatsworth in the second week of the season and also has two broken fingers. “I’m used to it now.”

Solis, who has played seven games with his left forearm and wrist padded and taped from his elbow to his knuckles, has made the best of a bad situation.

Even though he cannot grab anything with his left hand, which is taped into a fist for games to protect his broken fingers, he is a force.

“Yeah, we definitely have to account for that guy,” Starr said. “We need to know where he is at all times.”

Although Solis played against Antelope Valley the week after the wrist injury, he sat out games against Van Nuys and Poly, to mend. But he couldn’t stay away any longer.

Solis, a self-proclaimed lazy, fat kid who didn’t play football until he was a sophomore, returned to the lineup but had to learn to compensate for a heavily wrapped hand.

“When I was first getting used to it, I would tackle people and I couldn’t wrap this big thing around them, so I was dragging them down with one hand,” he said.

Early on, the injury was a detriment, Solis and the coaches said.

“It really hampered his play because he was tentative,” said Darrell McIntyre, an assistant. “He wasn’t as dominate as he could be.

“I think he’s just now getting to the level he should be at.”

The turnaround, McIntyre said, was against Canoga Park in the final game of the regular season.

Perhaps Solis’ surge has something to do with the end of his high school career. The three-year starter can think of nothing else but football: “Each game could be our last.”

Said McIntyre: “‘He’s one of those kids that is an emotional ballplayer. He doesn’t have a lot to say, but you can look into Ray’s eyes and know he’s ready to play.”

Solis said his performance against Franklin was inspired by the thought of playing Taft.

“Anything to get to Taft,” he said. “It’s time to let everyone know that we’re coming. We’ve got a City championship to win.”