Looney Boosts Reseda’s Fortunes

VAN NUYS —  Call it the Looney bin, a small room at home where Reseda High middle linebacker Joseph Looney sat all week, watching a film over and over.

The star on the screen was Grant tailback Duriel Carter, speeding through the San Fernando defense for 289 yards two weeks ago.

Stop, rewind, play. Looney plotted how to stop Carter until his eyes were bleary. Meanwhile, the nagging injuries that had kept him from going full speed healed.

Healthy and prepared, Looney dominated against Grant in a 24-7 Valley Pac-8 Conference victory Friday at Grant.

Not only did he spearhead a defense that held Carter to 29 yards in 15 carries, but he rushed for 104 yards and a touchdown in nine carries at fullback.

“I had a good idea of their plays and just beat [Carter] to the hole,” Looney said.

Reseda seized control early, forcing Grant to punt on its first possession and scoring in six plays. Looney’s 14-yard gain on a draw on third and nine set up a 44-yard touchdown pass play from Carlos Hernandez to Eric Ceja.

Later in the quarter, Looney ran 65 yards for a touchdown, but the play was brought back for a 27-yard gain because of a clipping penalty. Reseda scored three plays later on a 33-yard reverse pass from Gerard Jones to Ceja for a 14-0 lead.

Ceja, a senior, has emerged as the Regents’ big-play man. He had three catches for 94 yards against Grant, barely exceeding his season average of 30.8 yards per reception. He also had his sixth interception, which leads City players in the region.

“He’s putting together a real good season so far,” Reseda Coach Joel Schaeffer said.

The same can’t be said for Reseda (2-3, 1-1 in conference play), which was shut out by Van Nuys last week. But with Looney back at full strength, Schaeffer believes his team is improving rapidly.

“We are a better team than we’ve shown,” he said. “We took it to Grant.”

A 20-yard field goal by Kevin Bush with 7:34 to play in the first half increased Reseda’s lead to 17-0.

Grant (2-3, 1-1) responded three minutes later with a 78-yard scoring pass play from Cliff Francis to Robert Mitchell, but that was all the offense the Lancers mustered.

Mitchell had six catches for 137 yards. With the Grant running game managing only 62 yards, Francis completed 10 of 20 passes for a season-high 197 yards.

Reseda protected its lead in the second half, running 38 plays to Grant’s 18. Looney scored on a one-yard run with 3:49 to play in the third quarter for a 24-7 lead.