Orange County Community College Football : Schmidt Comes Back After His Spring Fling

Brad Schmidt had always dreamed of playing football at the University of Minnesota.

Schmidt graduated from John Marshall High School in Minnesota in 1985, but he moved to Mission Viejo with his parents the same year.

He was a redshirt at Saddleback College that season. Last season, he was a starting outside linebacker and a second-team all-Mission Conference selection. He then decided to be a walk-on last spring at Minnesota.

It wasn’t a complete risk, since Schmidt had another year of eligibility remaining at a community college.

So when spring practice ended and Minnesota didn’t offer Schmidt a scholarship, he took the next plane to California to rejoin Saddleback.

“The coaches here told me I would always be welcome here if things didn’t work out there (Minnesota),” Schmidt said. “It was a great experience at Minnesota, but I was glad I had a place to come back to.”

This season, Schmidt leads Saddleback in tackles with 15 in two games. He also has three sacks and has deflected three passes.

“He’s like a bug you step on and you think you kill it, but then it crawls away, so you step on it again and think you killed it, but then it still crawls away,” said Don Butcher, Saddleback linebacker coach. “You can block him, but he doesn’t stay blocked. He finds a way to find the ball.”

Schmidt will lead the Saddleback defense against the second-best offense in the conference tonight when Orange Coast (1-0, 2-0) plays at Saddleback (1-0, 1-1) at 7:30 p.m. OCC is averaging 381.5 yards on offense, but Saddleback leads the conference in defense, giving up 272 yards a game.

Schmidt, who is 6-feet 2-inches tall and weighs 225 pounds, played two games at nose guard last season because of injuries. Butcher said that might be Schmidt’s best position because of his quickness out of the three-point stance. But Schmidt prefers linebacker.

“I like it outside,” Schmidt said. “I like my freedom and to be able to move around all over the field.”

In another Mission Conference game:

Riverside (1-0, 1-1) vs. Rancho Santiago (0-1, 1-1)--Rancho Santiago needs to improve its defense to upset Riverside, defending conference and PONY Bowl champion. Rancho Santiago’s defense gave up 447 yards in total offense in a 35-21 loss to OCC last week.

Rancho Santiago also has lost a starting defensive lineman, Kirk Merhish, who injured a knee in the Fullerton game two weeks ago and reinjured it in the first quarter against Orange Coast. Merhish, a sophomore, is out for the season. “We are more concerned about keeping our troops healthy than the numbers we gave up last week,” said Dave Ogas, Rancho Santiago coach.

Riverside doesn’t have the offensive weapons OCC does, and the Dons seem to play well against Riverside. Riverside, which defeated Rancho Santiago, 31-28, last season, is last in the conference in total offense this season, averaging 229 yards a game.

So there is hope for Rancho Santiago, which is third in offense. Quarterback Rick Burns (34 for 56 for 452 yards and 2 touchdowns in two games) is fourth in the conference in passing. But Rancho Santiago might be without starting tailback Glenn Campbell (32 carries for 96 yards in two games). He missed the second half of the OCC game after he was hit by a blitzing linebacker and suffered a twisted neck. He is questionable for tonight.