Road to Parity Needs Continual Reworking

Tom Triggs, La Habra High School principal, is a parity seeker when it comes to prep football.

When he finalized plans for the 1986-88 Orange County releaguing proposal last year, he envisioned better competition, added playoff berths and, perhaps, the rejuvenation of some struggling programs.

Now that the regular season has ended, Triggs’ five-member committee that placed Orange County’s 56 public schools into nine leagues has seen the results of its work.

The competition was better. There were more playoff berths with more six-team leagues. And, particularly in the case of the newly formed Pacific Coast League, there were major turnarounds of once-struggling programs.

But the discussion of parity is a never ending process. And though the progress report this season was slanted toward the positive, the committee’s efforts were incomplete.

Otherwise, Pacifica and Kennedy high schools would not have petitioned to transfer from the Empire League to the Garden Grove League last week. Otherwise, Bill Backstrom, El Modena coach, wouldn’t be so upset that his team failed to reach the Southern Section playoffs for the first time since 1973.

“I’m hoping the schools will sit tight after the major changes we made this year,” Triggs said. “But you never know.”

The criteria for releaguing were simple. The school’s enrollment, geography and the strength of its program were factored into devising changes. And in most cases, there were reasons for schools to appreciate Triggs’ plan, which included:

--Starting a new league, the Pacific Coast, which was formed in south Orange County to include several schools with losing football programs such as Orange, Laguna Beach and Laguna Hills. The league also included second-year Trabuco Hills High, which was hoping to leap-frog the growing pains of a new school.

--Trimming the traditionally strong Century League to six teams.

Orange, which had won five games in six seasons in the Century League, was a major beneficiary of the changes. The Panthers won the Pacific Coast title last week and will appear in the Southern Section Desert-Mountain Conference playoffs Friday. Laguna Beach, which was 3-7 last year, also earned a Desert-Mountain playoff berth with an 8-2 record.

Laguna Hills, winless in 1985, was in contention for a playoff berth right up until the final week. The Hawks’ freshman team won a league title, the first football championship in the school’s history.

Elsewhere, Tustin won its first championship in 31 years as the Tillers tied Saddleback for the Sea View League title.

“The intention of the committee was to get as many schools as possible an opportunity to compete for the playoffs,” Triggs said. “I don’t ever recall so many schools contending for playoff spots in the last week of the season. That’s healthy for everyone.”

Playoff fever. It adds fan interest and box office receipts. Coaches also say it’s a great tonic for players who are into their ninth week of practice.

“Every school in our league, with the exception of Trabuco Hills, had a chance for the playoffs until the last week of the season,” said Gene Noji, Woodbridge coach. “There’s a tremendous motivating factor when a school has a chance to make the playoffs.”

Mark McMahon, first-year coach at Orange, said his team’s move to the Pacific Coast League “revived our football program.”

McMahon, who also coached at Anaheim and Villa Park, said many thought the new league would be the county’s weakest.

“A lot of people said this was going to be a weak league, but many of the schools had their best teams in years,” McMahon said. “We had some of the top rushers and receivers in the county.”

Laguna Beach fullback Jonathan Todd was the county’s rushing leader until he suffered a knee injury in the Artists’ final game. Orange fullback Paul Maund, Woodbridge fullback-linebacker David Townsend and Laguna Hills wide receiver Brian Fleming were also among the statistical leaders. Costa Mesa’s Tyler Riddell was one of the top scorers.

But there were some who weren’t pleased with the changes.

El Modena, one of the Century League’s powers, tied for second place with Canyon and Foothill, but lost a coin flip to determine the league’s No. 2 and No. 3 representatives.

Backstrom, the Vanguards’ first-year coach, said the league’s six-team alignment hurt his team’s chances of earning a wild-card berth in the Southern Conference playoffs.

“We had problems getting five nonleague games,” Backstrom said. “Nobody wanted to play us, so I was forced to play Edison, Esperanza and El Toro. We played what amounted to three rounds of CIF competition before playing a league game.”

Edison, Esperanza and El Toro qualified for the playoffs with a combined record of 26-3-1. El Modena, with only two returning starters, was outscored by those teams, 100-14.

The wild-card berth was awarded to Culver City, which finished 2-3 in the Ocean League and 7-3 overall. El Modena was 3-2, 5-5.

“I think with all the six-team leagues, the CIF (Southern Section) is going to have to reconsider its criteria for selecting wild-card teams,” Backstrom said. “The overall record shouldn’t be the most important factor.

Pacifica, also a perennial playoff participant, missed for the first time since 1980. The Mariners will move with Kennedy from the Empire League into the Garden Grove League next year after principals from both leagues voted unanimously for the switch last week.

Triggs will chair another committee that is scheduled to begin the process anew in January. Releaguing cycles are every two years. He’ll meet with every county principal and poll them on their respective wishes.

And the push for the perfect solution will continue.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES 1985 SOUTH COAST

El Toro 5-1 9-4 Capo Valley 4-1-1 9-2-1 Mission Viejo 4-1-1 11-2-1 Dana Hills 4-2 6-4 Irvine 2-4 6-4 San Clemente 1-5 2-6-1 Laguna Hills 0-6 0-10

1985 SEA VIEW

Newport Harbor 6-1 10-3 Saddleback 6-1 13-1 Woodbridge 4-2-1 6-4-1 Corona del Mar 3-4 4-6 Estancia 3-4 5-5 Laguna Beach 3-4 3-7 Costa Mesa 2-5 3-7 University 0-6-1 1-8-1

1985 CENTURY

Foothill 7-0 9-3 El Modena 6-1 11-2 Santa Ana 5-2 10-4 Villa Park 4-3 6-4 Canyon 3-4 5-5 Tustin 2-5 4-6 SA Valley 1-6 1-9 Orange 0-7 0-10

Trabuco Hills was 1-8 in a junior-varsity schedule.

1986 SEA VIEW

Tustin 4-1 8-2 Saddleback 4-1 9-1 University 3-2 6-4 Newport Harbor 2-3 5-5 Corona del Mar 2-3 4-6 Estancia 0-5 0-10

1986 PACIFIC COAST

Orange 4-1 6-4 Woodbridge 3-2 8-2 Laguna Beach 3-2 8-2 Costa Mesa 2-3 5-5 Trabuco Hills 2-3 5-5 Laguna Hills 1-4 2-8