Pacific Coast League : Orange Opens New League With an Upset Over Woodbridge

Orange High School, a Century League refugee, opened play in a new league Friday night in Fred Kelly Stadium by upseting previously unbeaten Woodbridge, 23-7. More on that later.

First, a little about this new Orange County league that was unveiled Friday night. It’s called the Pacific Coast League, and it consists of teams that used to be in the Sea View, Century and South Coast leagues. One of these teams--Laguna Beach--is actually located close enough to the Pacific Coast to have a view of the sea. And, during the playoffs, the teams in this Pacific Coast League will compete in the Desert Mountain Conference of the CIF Southern Section. Got it?

It all makes such perfect nonsense, but the Panthers don’t seem to mind. After going 4-35-1 over the past four seasons, Orange was looking for a change of scenery, and geographic proximity wasn’t a particularly big concern.

So it was that Woodbridge boarded buses Friday and headed to Orange for a Pacific Coast League opener. For the Warriors, who lost their first after five victories, it was a long ride home.

Junior running back Paul Maund had 168 yards and 2 touchdowns in 19 carries to lead the Panthers to the victory over a team that came into the game as the top-ranked team in the Desert Mountain Conference. Maund’s 60-yard touchdown run at the 8:52 mark of the fourth quarter gave Orange a 17-7 lead. By game’s end, the Panthers were actually in the unfamiliar position of calling off the first string, something their Century League opponents used to do against them.

Orange’s inspired defense and solid running game was the difference. In the first half, defensive end Brian Carr had two sacks for losses totaling 16 yards, forced a fumble and batted down a pass to help Orange keep the Warriors thoroughly frustrated. Woodbridge left the field trailing at the half, 10-0, after compiling more yards in penalties (40) than total offense (31).

After a scoreless third quarter, the Panthers broke it open on Maund’s long scoring run, then added to their lead when Kerry Reed took a handoff on a reverse and ran for 49 yards for a touchdown that made it 23-7 with 5:50 to play.

So far, Orange likes its new view.

In other Pacific Coast League action:

Laguna Beach 24, Trabuco Hills 22--Tim Dennis’ 22-yard field goal with five seconds left gave the Artists (1-0, 6-0) a come-from-behind at Mission Viejo High School.

Trabuco Hills (0-1, 2-4) took a 22-21 lead with 3:07 left on a 50-yard scoring pass from quarterback Brett Miller to wide receiver Jeff Dooley.

Laguna Beach running back Jonathon Todd scored all three Artist touchdowns on runs of 10, 2 and 8 yards. Todd, the county’s leading rusher, had 150 yards in 25 carries. He has 1,047 in 168 carries this year.

Trabuco Hills’ Joe Scienski ran for 96 yards in 22 carries to lead the Mustangs. Costa Mesa 13, Laguna Hills 9--Tyler Riddell and Mike Szyperski, the workhorses of the Mustangs’ rushing game, came up with key defensive plays in the fourth quarter to preserve Costa Mesa’s homecoming victory at Orange Coast College.

Riddell, who rushed for 156 yards in 22 carries, intercepted a pass with 6:37 remaining to halt a 48-yard drive at the Mustangs’ 21-yard line. In the final minute, Szyperski, who gained 80 yards in 11 carries, registered two of his six sacks.

Costa Mesa (4-2) got touchdown runs of 15 yards by Riddell and 3 yards by Mike Crowe to rally from a 30-28 loss to Corona del Mar.

Laguna Hills (1-5) got its points from Brian Fleming, who kicked a 25-yard field goal and caught an eight-yard touchdown pass from Chris Leigher.

The Hawks, coming off a 47-0 loss to Mission Viejo, had a late chance at an upset when Scott Yarnell intercepted an errant Mike Crowe pass at the Laguna Hills’ 25-yard line with 1:37 remaining. Two incompletions, sandwiched around Szyperski’s sacks, ended the threat.