Dons Looking To See the Light

For several seasons, Verdugo Hills and Grant High were the only area City Section football teams to play daytime home games, mostly because their field didn’t have lights.

El Camino Real and Cleveland joined the daytime trend this year, scheduling at least one daytime home game.

Now the Dons want to reverse the field by playing at night.

Verdugo Hills Principal Gary Turner said the school recently passed the $100,000 mark in donations in stadium lights and plans to complete a 200-page study in the next week that will be passed on to the school district and state officials.

If approved, construction on the lights would begin immediately and home games would be moved to the opponent’s field.

“This has been 12 years in the making, when we took a $2,000 donation at the football banquet,” Turner said.

El Camino Real received state approval for lights last month but must raise nearly $100,000 for the installation.

Hat edict: At the end of a practice last week, Paraclete football Coach Steve Hagerty issued a heads-up warning to his players.

“During the season, if you want to wear a hat, it better be a Paraclete hat and preferably a Paraclete football hat,” Hagerty said. “I don’t want to see any Giants or Cowboys hats out there. They get enough exposure. You need to advertise for us.”

Say this twice: The St. Francis football coaching staff was stumped on what to name a play featuring senior quarterback Kjell (pronounced “Shell”) Nesen.

The eventual choice was “Sea Kjell Special.”