Van Nuys High School is 109 years old and counts the likes of Don Drysdale, Robert Redford, Bob Waterfield and Marilyn Monroe among its famous alumni. Their football program has struggled for years, going 2-8 in 2022 and 0-9 in 2021.
Ken Osorio, a Van Nuys graduate, took over as coach last year and welcomed the opportunity to teach the many inexperienced players who came to the team. One of them was Carlos Herrera, who joined the junior varsity team in 2022 when Osorio was coach. He was a footballer who didn’t know how to put on shoulder pads and said it was “stressful” to put on a helmet for the first time.
Fast forward to Saturday. Van Nuys (8-5) will play Panorama in the City Section Division III championship game with Herrera as the Wolves’ featured quarterback. Herrera has passed for 21 touchdowns and rushed for 10.
Van Nuys drafted another football player who has made significant contributions. Leelen Castro, 5-foot-5, 140 pounds, makes six of six field goals. See what happens when a coach teaches the fundamentals and gets students from other sports to participate? …
St. John Bosco football center Matthew Perdue is one of the smartest players on any field. He has a 4.3 GPA and is considering San Diego, John Hopkins and Amherst among his college options. …
Narbonne’s Ernest Nunley is a junior defensive back who won’t turn 17 until next August. He entered high school when he was 13 years old. He’s been playing against 19-year-olds and hasn’t shown any fear. …
Serrano’s Trevor McSween carried the ball 46 times for 301 yards against Hemet on Nov. 15 and insisted he wasn’t hurt afterward, so who knows how many times he might get the ball Friday night in the Division 8 finale. the Southern Section against St. Pius X-St. Matias. …
St. Bonaventure’s Koen Glover has had a good two-year running career. Last season he ran for 1,189 yards and 15 touchdowns. This season he has rushed for 2,023 yards and 26 touchdowns. He attributes his improvement to increased strength without injuries. St. Bonaventure plays Oxnard Pacifica on Saturday for the Southern Section Division 4 championship in Rio Mesa. …
Here is the complete schedule of the weekend’s football championship for the City Section and the South Section.
This is a daily look at positive developments in high school sports. To submit any news, send it to eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
This story originally appeared on Los Angeles Times.