Puyallup Quartet Seen - And Huard -- Family Continues To Turn Out Good Football Players

The Puyallup High School football team appears to have a steady supply of Huards.

Mike Huard, the school's football coach, doubles as father to Damon Huard, a prep-celebrity quarterback who succeeded Billy Joe Hobert, now at the University of Washington.

And Brock and Luke are not far behind.

Brock, 14, already is 6 feet 2, weighs 170, and is the starting quarterback at Aylen Junior High. In the team's season-opener, he threw a 50-yard touchdown pass.

Luke, 10, plays tackle and linebacker for the Puyallup Roughriders, an age-group team. He weighs 100 pounds and, according to Brock, is bigger and faster than he and Damon were at age 10.

Already there is talk around the house of Brock starting as a sophomore.

``It hasn't gotten too bad yet,'' Brock said. ``I'll probably start hearing more about it next year. I hope I can start. I figure I have a chance.''

Brock currently is the ball boy at Puyallup's games and works out with Damon.

``It really helps playing with him, then playing with my team,'' Brock said. ``He throws so hard, I dislocated a finger playing with him.''

That top-10 feeling

-- For two recent Seattle-area graduates, being ranked No. 1 is old hat. Back home, the Washington Huskies are striving to break into the top 10; in South Bend, Ind., Lake Dawson and Demetrius DuBose don't know what it is to not be in the top 10.

Dawson, a 1990 graduate of Federal Way High School, and DuBose, an '89 graduate of O'Dea, are becoming sizable parts of the top-ranked Fighting Irish football team. Both had significant playing time in Notre Dame's nationally televised 28-24 victory over then fourth-ranked Michigan.

``Being No. 1 doesn't bother us,'' said Dawson, a wide receiver. ``It just means we have to be better than the other team that's on the field.''

Both Dawson, a freshman, and DuBose, a sophomore, were all-state selections and are listed on the second unit of Notre Dame's depth chart. Dawson caught a 45-yard pass, his only reception, against Michigan. DuBose, who plays inside linebacker, has nine tackles, one for a 2-yard loss.

``I was thinking more about redshirting before the season,'' Dawson said. ``Now I just want to make a name for myself, for next season. It's been very exciting. At first I was nervous because there's so much tradition. I feel God has blessed me with far more than I deserve.''

Dawson's first trip back home will be for Christmas, but only for a few days - he is counting on his team being in a bowl game.

Getting their kicks

-- The University of Santa Clara men's soccer team hasn't lost a game in two seasons, and largely has the KingCo Conference to thank.

Santa Clara was the only unbeaten team in the country last season at 20-0-3 and shared the national championship - the only national title of any kind Santa Clara has won - with Virginia. This year, the team is unbeaten at 4-0-3 and ranked No. 1.

Four of the team's starters played for KingCo schools and another in the Metro League.

Goalie Chris Bauer of Mercer Island has an 0.42 goals-per-game average with four shutouts and 15 saves. Paul Holocher of Inglemoor is the leading scorer with four goals and one assist. Bruce Broughton of Redmond has three assists. Tim Rogers (Seattle Prep) and Brandon Schmidt (Sammamish) each have an assist.

Other Washingtonians on the team are Jeremy Smith of Woodinville, Shawn Alire of South Kitsap (Port Orchard) and Chris Stiles of Mead (Spokane).

Belmonte to Roosevelt

-- Dave Belmonte, who coached the Franklin boys' basketball team for 16 years, was named the girls' basketball coach at Roosevelt. Belmonte, 46, quit his job at Franklin in the middle of the 1988-89 season.

The move was a shock and surprise to everyone involved with the program.

Belmonte, who won about 65 percent of his games at Franklin, coached the Quakers to Metro AAA championships in 1987 and 1988 with Mario Bailey, now a wide receiver for Washington.

``I'm in a good situation here. Hopefully, I can improve it,'' Belmonte said. ``I was looking at other schools, but this turned out to be the best.''

Juanita forfeits game

-- The Juanita football team, ranked No. 6 in the Class AAA state poll, has forfeited its 14-6 victory over Bellevue on Sept. 14 because the Rebels used an ineligible player.

Juanita, which also beat Sammamish and Interlake, fell to 2-1 with the forfeit.

Juanita Athletic Director Rom Castilleja would not identify the player, who was ruled ineligible by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association because he enrolled in an out-of-state school last fall and attended it for about a month before returning to the Lake Washington School District.

The ineligibility was discovered before Juanita's game against Interlake last week. He is a junior and lives outside the school's boundaries, a condition that doesn't affect his eligibility.

``The ruling is very complicated,'' Castilleja said. ``We thought we had cleared it up, but in further clarification (of the non-resident) ruling, we found out he was ineligible. We were acting in his best interests. He clearly intends to stay here.''

Huskies sign Boston

-- Garfield's Bryant Boston has orally committed to play basketball at the University of Washington.

Boston, a 6-2 guard, averaged 12.5 points, four assists and three steals per game last season as the Bulldogs compiled a 29-2 record.

Boston said location was Washington's most appealing quality. He also was considering BYU, Stanford, Oregon State and Oregon.

``Bryant is an asset as a perimeter shooter,'' said Garfield Coach Al Hairston, whose Bulldogs lost to Shadle Park in the 1989 Class AAA final. ``He's also an outstanding defensive player and should help (Washington) extend the defense and pick up the running game.''

Boston, who carries a 3.5 grade-point average, said he made his decision after UW Coach Lynn Nance visited him at home.

``I think I can play right away,'' Boston said.

Lynden guard undecided

-- Lynden's Derric Croft, a 6-4 guard, will choose between Washington and UC-Santa Barbara in two weeks. He eliminated BYU, Pepperdine and Colorado from his list after a campus visit to Washington during the weekend of the USC football game. He said he will announce his choice after visiting Santa Barbara Oct. 13-15.

Croft, who averaged 21 points per game, is a wide receiver on Lynden's football team and a pitcher-shortstop for the baseball team.

Sehome's Jon Kinloch, a 6-6 guard, remains up for grabs. He has been described as a pure shooter who won every three-point shooting contest he entered over the summer. He helped Sehome win the team basketball-camp tournament at Pepperdine University during the summer.