Orange County Prep Review / Elliott Teaford : Marinovich Is Taken by Surprise

Neither player nor coach expected it Friday night, but when Todd Marinovich completed consecutive passes of 19, 14, 21 and 13 yards to Randy Stark, he had broken the Southern Section career passing mark.

Marinovich threw for 283 yards in Capistrano Valley High School’s 29-10 victory over Estancia, giving him 7,644 yards. He passed Pat Haden’s standard of 7,633.

Haden, who played for USC and the Rams and is now a broadcaster for CBS, set the mark for Bishop Amat from 1968-70.

Marinovich entered Friday’s game needing 273 yards, a figure that seemed out of reach because Capo Valley had seven starters, including two top receivers, missing from the lineup. Marinovich and Dick Enright, Cougar coach, figured the record would come next week against Saddleback.

Neither realized the record had been broken. Only after Enright checked with reporters covering the game from the sidelines did he realize that Marinovich had broken the record with the 13-yard pass to Stark.

Enright took Marinovich out of the game after the play, which set up a field goal with four minutes left in the game.

After further checking with reporters, he sent Marinovich back into the game on the next series. The public address announcer told the crowd that Marinovich had broken the record, then Marinovich trotted back off the field to the congratulations of his teammates.

Next for Marinovich is the state record of 8,804 yards, set by Ron Cuccia of L.A. Wilson from 1975-77.

Marinovich needs to average 194 yards a game over the final six regular-season games to break Cuccia’s mark. He has 929 yards in four games, a average of more than 232.

It was 18 years ago that Sunny Hills last lost a Freeway League water polo match--in a league opener to Fullerton. Thursday, playing with players who weren’t born when that 1969 match was played, the Lancers won their 100th straight league match.

Fittingly, it came against Fullerton, 22-3.

“It wasn’t something, up until a few years ago, that we thought much about,” said Jim Sprague, Sunny Hills coach. “Really, there wasn’t that much competition. But last year we had four teams in (the Southern Section playoffs) and we had to fight like dogs to win league.”

Sprague remembers that loss to Fullerton vividly.

“It was really a back-breaker,” he said. “We knew we had lost the league title because we lost. There was no one good enough to beat us or them. We went on and won the next six games, and that started the streak.”

The Santiago brothers, Jose (seven goals) and Javier (four), had big games for the Lancers in Thursday’s win.

Sunny Hills is the defending 4-A champion and is top-ranked this season. However, the Lancers were upset by Corona del Mar, 8-7, in overtime in a nonleague match Saturday.

The Lancers led, 4-1, by halftime, but couldn’t hold on.

Chris Oeding scored three goals, including the game-winner, for the Sea Kings. Each team is 7-1.

When Muir of Pasadena lost, 31-0, to Antelope Valley in Lancaster Friday night and El Toro was upset by El Modena, 10-7, Thursday night, Bolsa Grande suddenly became the holder of the Southern Section’s longest winning streak.

Muir’s streak ended at 27 and El Toro’s at 17. Bolsa Grande’s 41-0 win over Garden Grove extended the Matadors’ string to 13.

The Matadors (4-0) had 100-yard rushing games from quarterback Damon Fisher (111 yards in 13 carries) and Shannon Valdez (138 in 10). Fisher scored 4 touchdowns, 3 on runs of 44 yards, 6 yards and 1 yard, and one on a 69-yard interception return.

The Matadors have outscored opponents, 161-23.

Kennedy snapped its 17-game losing streak, the section’s longest, Friday night with a 20-16 win over La Quinta in the Garden Grove League opener for both. Kicker Kevin Milne had a pair of 33-yard field goals that proved to be the difference for the Irish.

Kennedy’s last victory before Friday was in October of 1985.

Who has the best volleyball team in Orange County? If one game is any indication, Newport Harbor does. Saturday, the Sailors defeated Corona del Mar in the final of the prestigious San Marcos Invitational Tournament in Santa Barbara, 15-0.

However, Corona del Mar had a grueling semifinal against Irvine before it won the 40-minute-long game, 17-15.

“I don’t think that game left them physically tired,” said Dan Glenn, Newport Harbor coach. “There’s no team that’s in good as shape as Corona del Mar, but I think it left them mentally drained.”

That may be true. However, the Sailors also beat the Sea Kings, 15-10, 8-15, 15-11, 8-15, 15-10, in an important Sea View League match Tuesday.

Jenny Evans had 28 kills Tuesday and was successful on 9 of 11 kill tries Saturday night.

Corona del Mar won the Orange County Championship two weeks ago, a tournament Newport Harbor bypassed.

Notable Numbers:

338--Los Alamitos’ total yards in its 27-0 win over Marina Thursday night.

275--Passing yardage by Danny Lane, Laguna Beach quarterback, in the Artists’ win over Valley Christian of Cerritos.

33--Carries by Sean Cheatham, who gained 212 yards in Rancho Alamitos’ 34-18 Garden Grove League win over Santiago Friday.

14 minutes, 39 seconds-- Amount of time it took senior Shannon Winkelman of Marina to set a record on the three-mile course at the Costa Mesa Invitational cross-country meet Saturday.

6--Consecutive victories, dating back to last season, by Trabuco Hills, in only its third year of varsity football.

1--Number of victories by Sunset League football teams last week. Huntington Beach defeated Long Beach Wilson, 16-13, Friday.

0--Number of victories this season by Edison, Fountain Valley and Marina of the Sunset League. All are 0-4.

Prep Notes Nikki Westmoreland of Los Amigos won all three of her No. 1 singles matches Thursday as the Lobos beat Bolsa Grande, 11-7. Westmoreland is 18-0 in Garden Grove League tennis matches and 23-1 overall. . . . Villa Park’s girls’ team took the four top places at Saturday’s Mt. Carmel Invitational cross-country meet. Laura Doering placed first, winning on the 2.3-mile course in 14:23. Teammates Traci Rubel, Susannah Thrasher and Karen Longhair were second, third and fourth, respectively. . . . Ed Broski has been named as the water polo coach at Loara High School, replacing Kurt Nielsen. Broski graduated from Loara in 1978 and attended Fullerton College. Loara Athletic Director Ray Moore is accepting applications for a varsity wrestling coach in a walk-on capacity to replace Rick Martens. Interested coaches should contact Moore at 999-3688. . . . Newport Harbor is playing host to a golf tournament at the Costa Mesa Country Club to benefit the Ralph K. Reed Scholarship Fund at 11 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 16. Entry fee is $30 for alumni members and $45 for non-alumni members. Reservations can be made by telephoning tournament director Sparks McClellan at 548-2624. . . . The fall meeting of the Orange County Athletic Directors’ Assn. is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 28, in the Anaheim Stadium Club. Attorney Rick Ball will be the guest speaker, and the organization will honor local merchants who support high school programs. . . . Attention Whittier Christian: A scheduling conflict with the USC basketball team at the Los Angeles Sports Arena has forced Southern Section officials to move the 1-A division championship basketball game to an alternate site. Whittier Christian has lost the 1-A title to Crossroads in the arena the past two years. . . . Santa Ana is hosting a “Day for Defense” basketball clinic Oct. 10. Coaches Ron Adams of Fresno State, Tim Grgurich of Nevada Las Vegas and Joe Harrington of Cal State Long Beach will be featured instructors. Registration is $20. Further information may be obtained by calling 558-5780 or 859-4006.