Young Bruins accept tough challenge

While the Southland simmers with anticipation prior to Saturday’s battle for the coveted Victory Bell, five former local prep stars eagerly await their opportunity to charge the L.A. Coliseum turf clad in the blue and gold armor that is UCLA football.

Linebacker Mark Cordell (Oaks Christian), offensive guard P.J. Irvin (Agoura), wide receiver Gavin Ketchum (Oak Park), quarterback Ben Olson (Thousand Oaks) and cornerback Aaron Ware (Oaks Christian) are all local football products who now play for the Bruins.

At the conclusion of Monday’s practice session, each player eagerly shared his longing to beat the two-time defending national champion and No. 1-ranked Trojans.

But it was Ware, a two-time Division XI Offensive Player of the Year while at Oaks Christian, who was the most forthright in expressing the prototypical UCLA fan’s distaste for anything or anyone draped in USC cardinal and gold.

“I’ve hated the Trojans since I was a baby,” Ware said. “One of the first songs I sang was our fight song. I hate them with all my heart. It’s really exciting to finally play them and I’m just trying to prepare my squad to go out there and get a win.”

Like Ware, Cordell was also feeling the adrenaline rush as he experienced Rivalry Week for the first time.

“Oh it’s real exciting,” Cordell said. “Everyone’s amped up and can’t wait to play. Practice is so much more intense this week, everyone’s real amped up.”

Cordell, Ware and Ketchum are all freshmen for the Bruins, the No.-11 ranked team in the latest Associated Press poll, and each player said their biggest adjustment from the high school level to college ball has been the speed of the game.

“There is just so much more you have to put in to it,” Cordell said. “You have to watch a lot more film and everyone is just so much stronger. The level of play is 10-times higher.”

Of the three UCLA freshmen, it has been Ketchum, the 6-foot-4 wideout, an All-CIF Southern Section first-team selection on offense as an Oak Park Eagle last year, who has made the biggest on-field impact during his first season as a Bruin.

In seven games this year, Ketchum has 11 receptions for 153 yards and one touchdown. He is averaging 13.9 yards per catch.

“I definitely didn’t expect (playing time) coming in,” Ketchum said. “But a couple of things happened. A couple of guys went down and I tried my best to fill their position. It’s definitely exciting going out there.”

If the young players need any advice on what it’s like to step out on the field and see more than 100,000 fans cheering at the top of their lungs, perhaps they can ask veterans like Irvin and Olsen for a few tips on how the deal with the electric atmosphere.

As a redshirt sophomore, Irvin, a former Marmonte League Offensive Lineman of the Year at Agoura, has already been through a pair of these crosstown rivalry games.

“When you first go out on the field,” Irvin said, “it kind of overwhelms you looking around. And then once you get into the gist of things, you realize that you’ve done this before and let’s do it again—let’s forget about the crowd and get our jobs done.”

After redshirting during his freshman season at BYU—then taking two years off of school to complete his Mormon Mission— Olson’s now in his first year at UCLA.

The prized prospect from Thousand Oaks was the nation’s top-rated high school quarterback when he graduated in 2002. In his final year at T.O., Olson was named a Parade All-American and the National High School Player of the Year by PrepStar and ESPN.

Olson’s decision to transfer to UCLA was an enormous boost for head coach Karl Dorrell and his staff, and it’s only expected to be a matter of time before the former Lancer is behind center for one or more of these grudge matches.

“I believe UCLA is going in the right direction and this year has obviously shown that,” Olson said. “I’m excited for now and I’m excited for what the future holds. We have a great opportunity to come out this Saturday and hopefully shock the world.”