Central Conference : Recktenwald Wrecks Giddings’ Farewell

Mike Giddings, Newport Harbor High School football coach, announced his resignation earlier this week so that he could spend more time with his business, Pro Scout Inc., a scouting service for nine National Football League teams.

Giddings plans to spend his time studying films of players rather than coaching them. The veteran coach will probably cringe every time he rolls the projector and sees a player wearing No. 32.

That number will bring back memories of his last game as a coach, a game in which La Quinta’s No. 32, Bart Recktenwald, ruined the Sailors’ aspirations of a Central Conference championship in Giddings’ final season.

All Recktenwald did was gain 151 yards and score 2 touchdowns in 11 carries and added another touchdown on a 92-yard interception return to lead the Aztecs to a wild, 42-29 victory over the Sailors Friday night in front of 1,500 fans in Bolsa Grande Stadium.

The victory advanced La Quinta (11-2) to the conference championship for the first time since the school opened in 1963. The Aztecs will meet Saddleback (12-1) for the title.

Recktenwald’s superb performance overshadowed an equally outstanding game by Newport Harbor quarterback Shane Foley and junior wide receiver Mark Craig. Foley completed 36 of 55 passes for 381 yards and 4 touchdowns. Craig caught 15 passes for 175 yards and one touchdown.

Foley became Orange County’s all-time career passing leader with 5,264 yards, surpassing former Capistrano Valley star Burt Call’s mark of 4,956. He also finished second on the all-time, single-season passing list for county quarterbacks with 3,026 yards. Scott Stark of Capistrano Valley established the record last week with 3,154 yards, also in a losing cause.

And so, there will be no swan song for Giddings, the former Marine who has coached on the professional, college and high school level.

On Friday night, speed killed the Sailors.

“Our downfall was speed and we knew that all along,” Giddings said. “Recktenwald is awfully fast. They got that touchdown late in the first half and that’s not supposed to happen. It was a bubble-burster.”

In a game that would have delighted any statistic freak, the teams combined for 23 points in the final 3:28 of the first half to set the tone for the evening. The score that hurt Newport Harbor the most was Kevin Rice’s 61-yard run with only 13 seconds remaining that moved La Quinta in front for good, 21-15.

Foley had given the Sailors a 15-14 lead only 23 seconds earlier when he threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Andy Sheppard and it appeared that the momentum in the whacky game had gone the Sailors’ way.

“No question the touchdown just before halftime was a big boost, but I could have hardly called it the turning point in a game like this,” said Joe Zeno, La Quinta coach. “It was more a question of surviving than winning the way Foley was throwing.

“But when a quarterback throws that much, sooner or later, he’s going to throw a bad pass. Fortunately, he threw a couple of bad ones.”

Foley was intercepted three times and the most costly mistake was returned 92 yards by Recktenwald with nine seconds remaining in the third quarter. The touchdown increased La Quinta’s lead to 35-22 and put the game out of reach.

“Recktenwald’s performance was fantastic,” Zeno said. “It was a super, super effort. I thought we got a great effort from all the kids.”

La Quinta is averaging 41 points in the playoffs and Zeno said his team is peaking for the title game.

“There’s no question we’re playing our best football of the year,” he said. “When Eric (Zeno, his son) returned to the lineup, we went to a double-tight end offense which made our running game unpredictable because we can run to either side.”

But one thing is predictable about La Quinta. The player who wears No. 32 for the Aztecs is going to have a good game. Just ask Mike Giddings.

Orange County Career Passing Record

1. Shane Foley Newport Harbor 84-85 5,264 yards 2. Burt Call Capistrano Valley 81-83 4,956 yards 3. Mark Larson Kennedy 73-75 4,815 yards 4. Jim McCahill Estancia 79-81 4,609 yards 5. Matt Stevens Fountain Valley 80-81 4,442 yards