Prep Review / Mike DiGiovanna : Bad Deed Does Esperanza Soccer Team No Good

A scout from the University of Santa Clara came to Hacienda Heights Wilson High School last Wednesday to watch Esperanza center forward Paul Good, who was suppose to be playing against the Wildcats in a Southern Section 3-A playoff soccer game.

But when he arrived at the second-round game, there was no No. 13. Good, the Aztecs’ leading scorer and best player, had been suspended for a week by school authorities and was not allowed to play.

The scout eventually caught up to Good--during halftime, behind a fence, several hundred yards away from the field. That’s where Good, who was prohibited from school grounds, watched the top-seeded Aztecs get upset by the unranked Wildcats, 4-3, on penalty kicks.

It was a disappointing end to an undefeated season for Good, his teammates and Coach John Coppage. Because the Southern Section doesn’t recognize a penalty-kick shootout as a loss, Esperanza completed the season at 20-0-2.

But the Aztecs will be watching this Saturday’s 3-A final instead of playing in it.

Good, a senior who had scored 10 goals in Esperanza’s previous four games, was suspended for disciplinary reasons, stemming from an incident that occurred at a school dance on Friday, Feb. 22.

According to Good, he and All-Orange County tailback Jim Farrell had entered the dance but wanted to leave shortly after their arrival to pick up another friend. When a teacher saw them heading out the door, Good said that the teacher told them to keep walking.

Good and Farrell told Joan Stewart, another teacher, that they had just paid their admission to the dance and would want to re-enter. But Stewart told the boys that it was against school policy to return to a dance after leaving.

Good said that, after pleading his case with Stewart for a few moments, the teacher still insisted they leave. On his way out, Good said he uttered a profanity to no one in particular, but Stewart thought it was directed at her.

Both Farrell and Good were suspended for two days for trying to return to the dance, while Good received an additional three days for profanity.

Good and his parents, Dale and Patty, appealed to assistant principal Kjell Taylor and principal Al Hawkins, but the penalty was still invoked.

“I’m a little disappointed that Paul didn’t walk away from the situation, but I don’t think the punishment should have been so severe,” Dale Good said. “They not only punished him, they punished the entire team. They should have just given him some work detail, or something.”

Good, a senior, is remorseful. “I guess I let the team down,” he said. “I never thought I’d have to miss a game. I feel pretty bad about it, and watching from behind a fence was no fun.”

Hawkins, the Esperanza principal, refused to comment on the matter.

Esperanza also lost the services of its second-leading scorer, Ed Quigly, when he broke his nose 20 minutes into the game.

“It’s extremely frustrating to have a CIF championship elude us that shouldn’t have,” said Coppage, a walk-on coach. “And it would be tragic if the kid missed a chance at a scholarship because of this.”

High five: When the Southern Section decided last year to form a 5-A division, joining three parochial-school leagues and the public-school Sunset and Moore Leagues for its basketball playoffs, the Sunset League coaches voted unanimously to oppose the move.

They sent a letter to the Southern Section office urging it not to include the Sunset League with the Angelus, Camino Real, Del Rey and Moore Leagues for postseason play. They argued that they’ve had little success in the 4-A division and would not be able to compete with the likes of Mater Dei, Long Beach Poly, Serra and St. Bernard in the 5-A.

It was a valid complaint. In the past 11 years, only two schools--Ocean View in 1980 and Marina in 1975--had made it to the 4-A Final Four.

But the Seahawks, who advanced to the semifinals by defeating St. Bernard Friday night, seem to have disproved that theory this season. Ocean View will play Long Beach Poly, a team it has split two games with this season, Wednesday night, and the second-seeded Seahawks have a good shot at reaching the 5-A final.

But that still hasn’t appeased Ocean View Coach Jim Harris, who feels the Seahawks’ berth in the Final Four at the Long Beach Arena is more the exception for the Sunset League, rather than the rule.

“We can compete with the 5-A teams, but as far as having a legitimate chance, year in and year out, to get to the Final Four, we’re looking up,” Harris said. “I think everyone in this league wants a chance to get to the semifinals, and we’d have a lot better chance in the 4-A division.”

Prep Notes

The Ocean View High School basketball team has been invited to participate in the third King Cotton Tournament next season in Pine Bluff, Ark. The eight-team tournament, scheduled for Jan. 2-4, features Riordan of San Francisco, Flint Hill Prep of Oakton, Vir., Garfield of Seattle and Gonzales of Louisiana. . . . University tight end Brad Arnold has signed a national letter of intent to attend Cal State Long Beach on a football scholarship. . . . The Santa Ana High School freshmen basketball team, under the direction of Coach Greg Katz and led by 6-foot 5-inch center Bobby Joyce and point guard Scootey Lynwood, finished the season with a 23-0 record. . . . University’s Heidi Brown has been named the Sea View League’s most valuable player in girls soccer. . . . Dana Hills fullback Jon Kelly has been named the South Coast League boys soccer Player of the Year, and Buena Park’s Keith Penrod won the same honor in the Freeway League.