Orange County Prep Review / Tom Hamilton : Mission Viejo Understands Power of the Word

Bill Crow, Mission Viejo coach, has developed a method of mentally and emotionally preparing his team on game night that’s purely “prose” football.

Crow gives each of his players a written test that briefly covers an opponent’s formations and tendencies and emphasizes what he thinks will be a key element in the game. The players are also asked to write a short essay on a variety of subjects.

The veteran coach introduced the exams six years ago. Mike Rush, the Diablos’ defensive coordinator, and Crow screen the essays, select the best ones and then have the authors read them to their teammates just before going onto the field.

“I think the tests get the players mentally ready, and the essays help to get them emotionally ready,” Crow said. “Sometimes, a player will get through to another player better than a coach.”

The topics this season have ranged from preparing for the South Coast League title showdown against El Toro to avoiding a letdown in the Diablos’ homecoming game against winless Laguna Hills.

Some of the players overcome their writing deficiencies with emotions and others make basic spelling errors that would make an English teacher cringe. But no one can fault the results on the field.

Mission Viejo qualified for the Southern Conference playoffs with an 8-1-1 record and opened play with a 35-6 first-round victory over Nogales on Friday night.

Here are some of the essay topics and player responses:

“What do each of you have to take pride in doing for the team tonight?”

This question was posed to the players prior to the game against rival Capistrano Valley. The teams tied, 29-29.

Wrote senior defensive end Greg Rende: “Something happened to me last Tuesday (knee injury) that almost made me miss this game. But God had it in his will that I would be an active part in it. I cried after I hurt my knee, not out of physical pain, but out of the painful thought of missing the game. Now that I’m all right, I’m going to go 100% every play.”

Rick Costello, senior center and class valedictorian: “We lost last year (28-0), but we didn’t try to forget. Instead, we remembered and it burned us a little. Tonight, remember that pain and turn up that burn into a raging inferno.”

David Bancroft, junior linebacker: “This game sets the field on fire. We need to express ourselves with emotion and sparking the flames with big plays will be the factor.”

While the trio was somewhat creative, Ron Skiles, senior linebacker, saw his pride going in a different direction. “Capo will mouth off, so we must not hit anyone after the whistle.”

“What do you, the Diablos of 1985 football, want to show tonight?”

The subject was presented to the players before the homecoming game against Laguna Hills. The Hawks will move to a new league next year and it was their final league game against the Diablos.

Senior punter Marc Preston had a message for alums: “Homecoming means a time when players and students from the past come back to see their alma mater. We must show the people what kind of team we are. Emotion, pride and hustle are still a Diablo trademark.”

Matt Fagan, senior offensive lineman, had a short farewell to Laguna Hills: “We want to make Laguna Hills thank God they are leaving our league.”

“What is it going to take tonight for a victory?”

Nothing philosophical here. Mission Viejo was meeting El Toro for the South Coast League championship and the subject was right to the point.

Ben Morgon, senior tackle: “A victory tonight is why we sweated through the summer. It’s why we practice until 6:30 every night. Tonight is what our whole season is based on.”

Eric Hulsy, senior defensive back: “The outcome of tonight’s battle will be determined by our collective intensity. This intensity must come from within and flow through all of our blood.”

Jeff Pease, sophomore linebacker, appealed to his team’s sense of fashion, writing: “Don’t you want that nice looking South Coast League champs patch on your jackets?”

They didn’t get them. The Diablos lost, 24-17.

“What impression do you want to leave with Nogales?”

Mission Viejo had to travel to La Puente for its first-round playoff game against Nogales. Some of the players thought their reputation had preceded them.

Jay Phillips, senior defensive back: “Let’s show them that we aren’t a pansy rich team that can’t hit.”

Brett Varner, junior running back: “They call us ‘Beach Boys.’ We have to show them what physical football is all about.”

Anthony Callas, senior offensive lineman: “We must prove to Nogales that the ‘rich kids’ from Mission Viejo can outrun, outhit and outplay them.”

Rende took into consideration that the game might be his last one: “In the playoffs, if you lose, you never play football with the same teammates again. Personally, I want to cherish every minute I wear a uniform. If we lose, I know I’ll never get to go out on the field with the team I love playing the game with.”

Finally, Skiles summed up the feelings of the teams who qualified for the postseason tournament, writing: “Tonight is a great thing to be in, and we’re in it.”

Awkward, but effective.

Prep Notes

Loara is hosting a socializer for cancer victim Gib Dear, an assistant under football Coach Herb Hill for 31 years, at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Grand Hotel in Anaheim. All former players are invited to attend the no-host affair. For more information, call event coordinator Alden Esping at 956-8685. . . . Buffy Rabbitt and Maggie Henson of Newport Harbor and David Moore of Orange have entered the Kinney Western Regional cross-country championships scheduled for Dec. 7 at Fresno’s Woodward Park . . . . Ken Fagans, Southern Section commissioner for 21 years before retiring in 1975, has been named a winner of the Distinguished Service Award by the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Assn. and will be honored at the organization’s national conference Dec. 16 at the Anaheim Marriott. Fagans, now retired and living on Balboa Island, also served as Compton High basketball coach for 10 years where he posted a record of 248-23. . . . The Foothill and Edison boys’ soccer teams have been ranked in the Southern California Soccer Coaches’ Assn. preseason top 10 poll among 4-A division schools. Foothill is rated third and Edison is eighth. Estancia is top-ranked in the 2-A division. . . . Fountain Valley lineman Lance Zeno has decided not to participate on the Barons’ basketball team this season, according to Coach Dave Brown. . . . Erik Blum of Sunny Hills was named the Most Valuable Player by the Freeway League’s water polo coaches. Five members of the Lancers’ 5-A division runner-up team were named to the first team.