ORANGE COUNTY : TOP GUNS : THE SCHOOLS : Westminster Ranks No. 1 in The Times’ County Poll

As another season approaches, it appears that many of the staples of Orange County high school football will be conspicuously absent in 1986.

El Modena High School, which has qualified for four Southern Conference championship games in the past six years, has failed to crack The Times’ or the Orange County Sportswriters’ Assn. preseason polls.

An area known for producing major college quarterbacks--Steve Beuerlein (Notre Dame), Jim Karsatos (Ohio State) and Matt Stevens (UCLA) played high school football in Orange County--has but two legitimate college prospects this season: Bret Johnson of El Toro High School and Todd Marinovich of Capistrano Valley. And they’re both juniors.

The new look in the county starts at the top. Westminster, which hasn’t won a league title since 1975 when the Lions went 9-2 under Coach Bill Boswell, is the overwhelming choice as the No. 1 team in The Times’ county poll.

The new look continues in offensive backfields around the county. An area that has rarely produced quality running backs has Robert Lee of Santa Ana, Kaleaph Carter of Edison and Tony Goulet of Valencia on most college recruiting lists. Lee and Carter are only juniors.

The addition of 15 new head coaches and a new league (Pacific Coast) should keep things interesting. Here’s a look at The Times’ Top 10:

1 Westminster: Only a year ago, there were few expectations. Sure, Westminster had its share of big linemen and plenty of potential with a couple of linebackers named Smith.

But the Lions also had the misfortune of playing in the Sunset League where Edison, Fountain Valley and Marina have dominated play for the past 10 years. It seemed another mediocre season was in store for Westminster in 1985.

Then, a funny thing happened to the Lions on the way to another 5-5 season. They beat Edison in league play to qualify for the Big Five Conference playoffs. Then, they upset the state’s top-ranked team, Riverside Poly, 14-2, in the first round of the playoffs.

Suddenly, a struggling football program was turned around with one big upset. Westminster, coming off an 8-5 season with 14 starters returning, now finds itself in the enviable position as Orange County’s top-ranked team for 1986 in The Times’ preseason poll.

And why not? Co-coaches Jim O’Hara and Jack Bowman have six starters back who earned either all-league, all-Southern Section or all-county honors. The offensive line averages 233 pounds. The defense features the finest three linebackers in the county.

The Smiths--Mark and Ray--are the mainstays of the defense. Mark, 6-feet 2-inches, 217 pounds, was an all-Southern Section selection as a junior. Ray (6-0, 235) was a second-team Times’ all-county choice as a sophomore. (They are not related.)

They will be joined by Todd Weaver (6-2, 225) who is starting his third season but missed most of last season with injuries. Add two fine defensive ends--Jim Rubalcava (6-0, 206) and Mike Cover (6-2, 205)--and it’s easy to see why opposing teams won’t be scoring much against the Lions.

Westminster’s offense is another story. As good as Westminster was defensively last year, the offense often sputtered. Mark Austin, a second-team all-league choice as a defensive back in 1985, moves to quarterback. He played four games at quarterback last year for injured Steve Gulley and passed for 398 yards.

Tailback Cory Dickson, who carried only 10 times for 19 yards as a junior, is the top running back. Dickson should benefit from a huge offensive line anchored by tackle Gary Lewellen (6-4, 265).

If Westminster’s offense can complement its defense, the Lions could enjoy their best season since 1975.

2 El Toro: The Chargers gave an early indication of what to expect this season as quarterback Bret Johnson threw two touchdown passes in the final quarter in a 20-19 come-from-behind victory over Whitehall of Allentown, Pa., last week.

Johnson passed for 2,078 yards and 14 touchdowns as a sophomore. He engineered upsets over Mission Viejo and Capistrano Valley as the Chargers won their fifth league title in the past six years.

“We’ll throw more this season,” promised Charger Coach Bob Johnson. Which means opposing secondaries should be wary of wide receiver Scott Miller, who caught 51 passes for 834 yards and 6 touchdowns last year.

Defensively, the Chargers have two starters--Shane Brisbin and Adam Brass--back in the secondary. El Toro led the county with 30 interceptions last year. Preseason All-American tackle Scott Spalding (6-5, 250) and linebacker Scott Ross (6-3, 215) are blue-chip players.

Here’s a date to mark on your calendar: El Toro will host Westminster on Friday, Sept. 26, at Mission Viejo Stadium.

3 Santa Ana: What are the Saints going to do for an encore after winning the Southern Conference title last season? Perhaps win the Century League title that eluded them in ’85. Remember, Santa Ana was only a third-place representative from the league going into the playoffs.

The Saints’ main man will once again be tailback Robert Lee, who rushed for 231 yards and a touchdown in a 33-21 victory over Mission Viejo. That gave Santa Ana its first football title since 1945. Lee, only a junior, is the premier back in the county.

Veteran Coach Dick Hill, who has won Southern Section titles at Downey, Santa Ana Valley and Santa Ana, has an experienced offensive line in center Sergio Rocha (5-11, 245), guard Jose Avelos (6-0, 210), tackle Basilio Sanchez (6-1, 235) and tight end Albert Ruiz (6-3, 220).

4 Foothill: How good is the Knights’ defense? It’s so good that two-year starting linebacker Brian Healy has been moved to fullback. Middle guard Randy Laycock (6-1, 195) and lineman Omar Martinez (6-0, 185) will play side-by-side, and the duo will be backed by linebacker Matt Bain (6-1, 185).

“Laycock is an outstanding player and Martinez complements him well playing next to him,” said Ted Mullen, Foothill coach. “Moving Healy to fullback will allow us to get some stronger blocking for (tailback) John Fischbeck.”

The Knights opened the 1985 season with consecutive 27-6 losses to Capistrano Valley and La Quinta. This was unusual for a program that had lost only seven times in 40 previous games. Don’t look for another slow start.

“I think we’re much farther ahead at this stage than we were last year,” Mullen said. “Our quarterback (Chris Fergus) is vastly improved along with our running backs and secondary.”

5 Capistrano Valley: There are 4,358 reasons to believe the Cougars’ potent passing attack will be as strong as ever this season. Record-setting quarterback Scott Stark may have graduated to Stanford, but the air will be filled with footballs again this season.

Junior quarterback Todd Marinovich, who passed for 4,358 yards and 34 touchdowns in two seasons at Mater Dei, transferred to Capistrano Valley last spring and drew rave reviews in summer passing league competition.

Marinovich should more than fill the shoes of Stark, who established a county record with 3,154 yards last season. Wide receiver Brent Parker caught 46 passes for 522 yards for the Cougars despite playing in the shadow of Nathan Call and Todd Beightol.

“Our offense may improve from last year and our defense should be better,” said Dick Enright, who enters his seventh season at Capistrano Valley with a 50-17-3 record.

6 Edison: Granted, St. Anthony High of Maui will never be mistaken for St. Paul, but Edison looked good in a 21-0 victory over its island host last week in Dave White’s debut as coach.

Wide receiver-turned-quarterback Mike Henderson completed 7 of 15 passes for 101 yards and had three passes dropped and four others nullified because of penalties. Junior fullback Kaleaph Carter gained 200 yards, but had 80 yards nullified by penalties.

“Considering it was our first game, I thought we played well,” White said. “And everyone got to play.”

Everyone, that is, except all-league linebacker Marc Hartman, defensive end Kurt Shanor and offensive guard Tom Witherby. White held out all three players with nagging injuries, but Hartman and Shanor are expected to return for Friday night’s game against El Modena.

An aggressive defense has always been Edison’s trademark, and the Chargers showed that nothing has changed under White with three fumble recoveries and two interceptions against St. Anthony.

7 Servite: The Friars will go into the season opener on Saturday night against Colton pinning their hopes on a quarterback with a famous last name and very little experience. Jason Messersmith, whose father, Andy, was a standout pitcher for the Dodgers and the Angels, will start at quarterback.

The junior was listed as the No. 4 quarterback for the sophomore team last year and did not play a down until the final game of the season. But he has grown to 6-3, 190, and in the past two weeks has surpassed Brett Caya as the Friars’ top quarterback. Caya quit the team last week to concentrate on his basketball career.

Defensively, the Friars always seem to have a stable of outstanding linebackers and this year is no exception. Senior Brett Valmassei (6-1, 220) and junior Mike Petko (6-4, 220) are the latest in the line of linebackers.

Placekicker Pat Blottiaux, who kicked field goals of 52, 48 and 47 yards in one game last year, should help the offense. Wide receiver Nick-John Haiduc caught 12 passes for 144 yards to set a school record in a 14-13 loss to Edison as a junior.

8 Western: The Pioneers are the preseason pick as the No. 1-ranked team in the Central Conference with five all-league players returning from last year’s 7-3-1 team. Western shared the Orange League title with Valencia but was upset by Sonora in the first round of the playoffs.

Junior running back/linebacker Carl Manliguis is being heralded as the Pioneers’ best all-around player since quarterback Bob Acosta led Western into the 4-A division championship games in 1971 and 1972.

Dan Price, a 5-11, 190-pound offensive guard/defensive end, is Western’s best lineman since Randy Sheets graduated three years ago.

9 Valencia: While Ray Pallares was busy breaking every rushing record in the Southern Section last year, teammate Tony Goulet was quietly gaining 824 yards and scoring 11 touchdowns in a cameo role.

Goulet may not have the great blocking line that Pallares had last season, but he should be just as effective as Pallares.

Joining Goulet in the backfield will be Dorian Estes, a starter in the defensive secondary last year who found time to gain 170 yards rushing in three games. Estes will split time in the secondary, joining three-year starter Brett Gregory and all-league selection Mike Edwards to form the strength of the team.

Valencia, which recorded seven shutouts last year, hosts top-ranked Westminster on Friday night in Bradford Stadium.

10 Saddleback: The defending Central Conference champions are coming off a 13-1 season, the best in the school’s history. It was a banner year for the Roadrunners’ football program as the varsity, sophomore and freshman teams lost only two games and won league titles on every level.

Sean Therien, who led the sophomore team to an 8-1-1 record, will start at quarterback. He has two excellent receivers--Danny Ontiveros and Billy Thurmond--returning.

The Roadrunners’ secondary is anchored by Antwon Lark, the hero of last year’s title victory over La Quinta with a blocked punt. Coach Jerry Witte, The Times’ 1985 Coach of the Year, must find some replacements on the offensive line where Chris Romoser is the only returning starter.

Others to Watch: Esperanza, Marina, El Modena, La Quinta, La Habra, Woodbridge and Sunny Hills.