Oaks Christian's celebrity-filled opening game. Plus, Ron Lancaster at it again in Oklahoma, Ashton Kutcher on Harvard-Westlake sideline and key commitment from Corona Centennial standout.

By Mark Tennis, Executive Editor

When Fresno State football coach Pat Hill goes to games in his region of California, he's frequently the big name in the stands or along the sidelines.

At last Friday's game in Bakersfield between Oaks Christian of Westlake Village and host Bakersfield Christian, Hill was more like Kathy Griffin at the Oscars.

Hill, fresh off Fresno State's big win over Rutgers and enjoying the week off, was there to check out Fresno State commit Derek Carr, the quarterback for Bakersfield Christian. But Hill is almost a relative unknown compared to who was present on the Oaks Christian side.

The Lions' quarterback is junior Nick Montana, the youngest son of NFL legend Joe Montana, and his father was standing along the highest row to get the best view possible. Also spotted was the greatest hockey player of all-time, Wayne Gretzky, who has a son, Trevor, who plays on Oaks Christian's sophomore team.

Still, neither Gretzky or Montana attracted the most oohs and aahs from onlookers. That's what happens when perhaps the biggest movie star in the world, Will Smith, is nearby. Smith's son, Trey, is a wide receiver for Oaks Christian's sophomore team and after a short time it became necessary for Smith's handlers to keep people away.

When Oaks Christian plays home games or in other nearby locations in Southern California, the celebrity atmosphere probably will be more muted. Folks in the San Fernando Valley, from Hollywood through Malibu and up into Ventura County, have simply been through this before and the sight of famous actors or even former child actors on the field is simply not that much of a spectacle.

Just last year at the CIF Southern Section Northwest Division championship game, actor Jack Nicholson and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger were present due to family connections at Brentwood High of Los Angeles.  Also, a few years ago, actor Denzel Washington's son was a standout running back at Campbell Hall High of North Hollywood.

Former child stars who later played high school sports in Southern California include famed movie director Ron Howard, who played basketball at Burroughs High in Burbank after he was on The Andy Griffith Show, and actor Fred Savage, who played football at Brentwood after he starred in The Wonder Years.

We hope the famous dads at Oaks Christian can be dads as much as possible  and that other people at their games leave them alone, especially when the game is going on and their sons are on the field. To us, it's the same as if they are at a restaurant eating dinner.

And as far as us doing big stories on the sons of famous dads, we've been there and done that, too. We don't want to put extra pressure on the kids in these situations, so we don't do the stories unless the kid in question starts to get real good.

MORE CELEBRITY SPOTTING

A familiar face along the sidelines at last week's first Harvard-Westlake of North Hollywood freshman game was actor Ashton Kutcher, serving as an assistant coach. According to People magazine, Kutcher has been friends for several years with Harvard-Westlake head coach Scott Wood and expressed an interest in coaching. Kutcher, 30, who played high school football in Iowa, told other coaches at Harvard-Westlake he's always loved football and always wanted to coach. He is married to actress Demi Moore and has three daughters.

NATIONAL COACH OF THE WEEK HAS CALIFORNIA CONNECTION

It had been 19 years since the fans at Broken Arrow High in Oklahoma could celebrate a win over Union of Tulsa, so there was plenty of pent up energy released after the team's 24-9 triumph last Friday night. Broken Arrow not only knocked off the No. 31 team in the ESPN RISE FAB 50 before a crowd of 12,000, but stamped itself as a team to beat in the Sooner State.

Smack dab in the middle of the hollerin' was second-year head coach Ron Lancaster, a longtime veteran of Oklahoma prep football, known mostly for his success at Enid and Jenks in a career that spans three decades and 285 victories.

Lancaster also is known in California where he began his coaching career in the late 1970s. In fact, Lancaster's 59-3 record over four seasons from 1976 to 1980 at Cordova High of Rancho Cordova (near Sacramento) is still listed as the state record according to CalHiSports.com in the category of all-time best coaching record. Lancaster's winning percentage at Cordova was 95.3 percent.

COLLEGE COMMITMENT

Ricky Marvray, a 5-11, 185-pound receiver from Corona (Calif.) Centennial, has committed to UCLA. Marvray called the Bruins his dream school and committed on the spot after receiving the offer over the phone from coach Rick Neuheisel. Marvray was one of the stars of the NIKE Camp at USC and had a solid junior season with 33 catches for 753 yards and eight touchdowns. He chose the Bruins over offers from Northwestern, San Diego State, Wyoming, Utah and a few others.

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