JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers CONVERTED-Rob Fierro played quarterback at Simi Valley High. These days he's catching passes for California Lutheran. It isn't like going away to a college far from home, but for student-athletes who played football for local high schools and now attend California Lutheran University, the Thousand Oaks campus was every bit as attractive an academic and athletic venue as any outside Ventura County.

Among the local players at CLU are sophomore wide receiver Rob Fierro of Simi Valley High, freshman offensive lineman Alexander Ponce, a Royal High graduate, senior nose guard Adam Smylie of Simi Valley, senior defensive back Jason Spratt, a Simi Valley resident who attended Montclair Prep, and freshman defensive back David Woolever, also a Royal grad.

Three other former Marmonte League players are sophomore free safety Garrett Mosley of Westlake High, sophomore offensive lineman David Romano, who played at Westlake his freshman and sophomore years before transferring to Central Dauphin in Harrisburg, Pa., and freshman offensive lineman Mike Williams of Newbury Park.

Others on the team from the county are sophomore defensive back Collin Boswell of Hueneme, sophomore wide receiver Hector De Alba of Buena High and sophomore wide receiver/defensive back Kevin Shaifer, a Ventura High product.

In addition, freshman linebacker Jaymes White, who attended Saratoga Springs in New York, resides in Newbury Park.

CLU head football coach Scott Squires is pleased to have these studentathletes playing this season because with them on the

team, the NCAA Division III Kingsmen are 40 overall and 20 in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

"We love the local kids because we're the only local fouryear institution that plays football," Squires said.

"The more local guys we have, we feel the better chance we have to win. You look around at past success-we've had guys like Charlie Brown, Chris Czernek, Tony Weak. We've had some great success with guys from Thousand Oaks High," he said.

Being close to home for the local players "is an interesting dynamic," the coach said.

Coaches "always talk in recruiting that if you are making your trip over here, you want to feel that you are going away to college. We have them kind of drive through the valley first and then come back up this way. Go down the (Highway) 101 over to the (Highway) 118 and come into Cal Lu that way."

While CLU is on the road this Saturday to play an afternoon game at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, the Kingsmen will be home on Oct. 21 for a 1 p.m. homecoming game against Chapman University at Mount Clef Stadium.

"I think we're going to be okay," the coach said. "We'll see. We might lose one or two games, but we're in good shape right now. We're proud of the fact that we've won 18 of our last 19 games. We're going to consider this a roll, and we're going to try to keep rolling. We'll keep playing football as good as we can play. We love to have people come out and watch some of these local guys do well."

Squires said Fierro had a great career in high school as a quarterback, but at CLU he has turned him into a receiver and utility player because he's such a good athlete.

"If we had something devastating happen at quarterback he could probably go over and play some quarterback for us," Squires said. "He played all spring football at quarterback, but he's making contributions as a wideout. Rob's a terrific person, too. It's fun to have him. He's a very hard worker here."

Competing on a team that has 92 players, Fierro said the numbers create solid competition.

"You want to have as many guys out here as you can," Fierro said. "To me, it's just more fun to have more guys. On a smaller team you have to focus on one thing for one day. Here you have two fields-offense and defense. It gives you more time to learn your skills and work on something you need to work on and improve."

Squires said Ponce is a scrappy player who's expected to come into his own very soon.

"He's very tough," Squires said. "We're happy to have another kid from Royal. So far, so good. He's working out really well. He's in a backup role right now."

Ponce said CLU's location rates high with him.

"It's close to home," he said. "I can play football. I get to work with great athletes every day. They just make me better through what I get to do."

Although Smylie is listed as a senior, Squires thinks CLU can retain him for another season. Smylie could come back as a graduate student if he graduates on time, and if he's not on time, he could return and use his last year of eligibility because he redshirted one year.

"Adam was a guy who was in the program, fell out, came back, and is really making some strong contributions as a backup player this season," Squires said.

Smylie said he appreciates his teammates and coaches.

"There are no individual players," Smylie said. "Everyone's committing to their job and watching film and trying to get the opponent the best they can. I'm just working on staying focused, knowing who I'm playing and knowing my job and what I'm supposed to be doing at all times."

Spratt's presence hasn't gone unrecognized by the coaching staff.

"Jason Spratt is more or less the marquee guy," Squires said. "He's a significant player and a local guy who went to Moorpark College."

For Moorpark College, Spratt was a defensive end, and he's remained at the position since transferring to CLU.

"He makes some significant contributions," the coach said. "He's a great player, one of our fastest and strongest players we have in the program."

Spratt said the team has come together following a slow start.

"It took us a while to develop some leadership roles," Spratt said. "But it seems like everyone is starting to become a leader. Everyone is doing their part and putting in their little pieces to create a team."

Squires said CLU tried to recruit Woolever out of high school, but he attended Texas Lutheran University in Seguin to play baseball.

"After he got down to Seguin, he realized that Thousand Oaks is

a pretty neat place," the coach said. "We got him to come home, and he's making some significant contributions on special teams that are huge for us."

Woolever is delighted to be attending college in Thousand Oaks.

"It's definitely brought up my social skills," he said. "It's good to be on the team again. Playing sports keeps me active, keeps me pretty in tone. It's a little tough on the studying, but I get it done. It's some extra late nights on test days, the day before."