Muir Will Have to Be at Level Best This Week

The Pasadena Muir football team tuned up for its Pacific League schedule by taking its lumps against La Puente Bishop Amat and Long Beach Poly and by defeating Anaheim Esperanza--all perennial Division I powers.

The Division III Mustangs, who last won a Southern Section title in 1986, annually play one of the most challenging nonleague schedules in the Southern Section.

“To be quite honest, we do it because no one else will play us,” Muir co-coach Tony Crutchfield said. “In the long term, we know it will help us when its comes time to play teams with big, physical offensive lineman that we may not see until the playoffs.”

Muir (6-2), ranked No. 10 by The Times and third in Division III, is confident its preparation will pay off Friday night when the Mustangs play unbeaten Crescenta Valley at Glendale High.

Crescenta Valley, ranked second in Division III, is led by running back Kenny Pritchett, who has gained 1,322 yards and scored 17 touchdowns. The Falcons have not defeated Muir since 1978, a streak of 18 games. But that didn’t stop Coach Alan Eberhart from designating Muir as the homecoming opponent.

“We feel this is our year,” Eberhart said. “We picked [Muir] because we want the whole world to see this game.”

A victory would clinch the Falcons’ first league title since they won the Foothill League in 1976.

Meanwhile, Muir is trying to win its sixth consecutive Pacific League championship. Senior tailback Sultan McCullough has rushed for 1,458 yards and 17 touchdowns in seven games for the Mustangs.

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Glendora will play Chino Hills Ayala, Santa Ana Mater Dei will play Encino Crespi and Los Alamitos will play DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) in the inaugural John R. Wooden boys’ high school invitational Dec. 4 at the Pond in Anaheim.

The tripleheader is being held in conjunction with the Wooden Classic college basketball doubleheader featuring Georgia against Stanford and UCLA against New Mexico on Dec. 6.