First scrimmage for Laguna Beach
The second week of the summer session for the Laguna Beach High football team sent the Breakers into their first scrimmage of the season.
Tuesday at Guyer Field, the Laguna Beach hosted Laguna Hills for a 7-on-7 passing game. Breakers Coach Corey Brown said he saw both positives and areas where work needs to be done come out of that first scrimmage.
“Overall, it was a good start,” Brown said. “I wish we would have been a little more sharp on offense, and defensively, we did OK. We missed a couple of throws and dropped some balls on offense, and got beat a couple of times deep on defense.
“The most important thing, to me, was to get everybody in, and we did that. We had guys playing positions for the first time and a lot of the competition for spots is still wide open, with guys battling neck-and-neck for spots. That makes for good competition. For us, the scrimmage was a good opportunity to compete against someone else.”
Returning starting quarterback and junior-to-be Jack Simon quarterbacked the Breakers throughout the hour-long scrimmage. Simon threw four touchdown passes and only had one ball intercepted, a pass that went through a receiver’s hands and deflected into the arms of a defender.
“Jack had a pretty good day,” Brown said. “He’s a very coachable kid and he wants to learn and do well. Decision-making is an area we continue to work on, making sure he understands what he sees, making the correct reads, and that he and I are on the same page. We’re emphasizing ball security. Last year, we had too many turnovers.”
The Breakers’ final 7-on-7 passing scrimmage is at 4 p.m. July 24 at Northwood.
Laguna starts its fall camp Aug. 15 in preparation for its 2014 season opener Sept. 5 at Bolsa Grande.
“We still have plenty to work on before fall camp,” Brown said. “Tuesday gave us our first look at some guys in game situations. I was really appreciative of Coach (Bruce) Ingalls for bringing his team (Laguna Hills) down to scrimmage. They (Laguna Hills) looked good and have some athletes and I think they will do well this fall.”
Prep Football All-Star Game
The 55th edition of the Brea Lions Orange County All-Star football game came down to a late touchdown pass July 10 at Orange Coast College.
That pass, a 41-yarder from quarterback Scott Lloyd of Fullerton to receiver Neil Pau’u of Servite, put the North ahead for good and lifted the team to a 12-6 victory over the South at LeBard Stadium.
With the win, the North was able to put an end to a five-game win streak in the series for the South.
The South, whose roster included Nathan Lancaster of Laguna Beach High, took a 6-0 halftime lead thanks to the recovery of a high snap in the North end zone for a touchdown in the first quarter by South defensive end Jack Bares of Tesoro.
Bares went on to be named the game’s defensive MVP. Lloyd, who also scored the North’s first touchdown on a short run in the third quarter, was selected the game’s offensive MVP.
“It was so much fun to be around our players,” South Coach Eric Lo of Huntington Beach High said. “The outcome didn’t go our way, but it was a great experience.
“The North guys were making plays and when you have as many turnovers (four) as we did, you can’t expect to win the game.”
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Girls’ Basketball
A summer season that included several setbacks came to an end July 9 for the Breakers who completed play at the Ocean View Summer League.
Laguna, aided by the supporting role of players from Ocean View to compliment the Breakers’ depleted lineup, ended its summer run with a 62-40 victory over San Juan Hills.
The Breakers set the pace for the game offensively and defensively, and each player scored and contributed on defense.
“While our summer league season was cut a bit short due to absences, illnesses, and injuries, the girls showed good development in such a short period of time,” Laguna Coach Mark Lewis said. “While we are still young (no seniors), the additional year of maturity and playing at the varsity level showed real positive signs as the girls displayed more confidence and poise.
“We enter our ‘dead period’ a bit earlier than anticipated. During the ‘dead period.’ the girls will be training on their own to continue with their basketball skills (ball handling and shooting) as well as enhancing their conditioning level so we can continue on when we return to school in September.
“As I said, we are still a young team, but the experience at the varsity level, two years for some, showed great signs of poise and confidence.”
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Baseball
The Breakers scrimmaged at University Monday and senior-to-be Anthony Norelli had two hits and played “great defense,” Laguna Coach Mike Bair said.
The Breakers previously scrimmaged Beckman July 9.
“We played very poorly against Beckman in all aspects but bounced back nicely against University and put together a decent game,” Bair said.
Remaining summer schedule
Monday : at La Habra High, 4 p.m.
Wednesday: home vs. Foothill, 5 p.m.
July 28: at Irvine, 5 p.m.
July 30: home vs. Capistrano Valley Christian, 5 p.m.
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Twitter: @MikeSciacca