Capistrano Valley Struggles Past Saddleback

Capistrano Valley High School won its football game against Saddleback Saturday. The Cougars remained undefeated. Todd Marinovich passed for 249 yards. But Coach Dick Enright wasn’t happy.

“We looked terrible,” Enright said after the 21-14 win over the Roadrunners at Santa Ana Stadium. “We must be close to Disneyland. It was Mickey Mouse.”

The Cougars (5-0) certainly didn’t dominate Saddleback (2-3) and had trouble offensively from the outset, when they were forced to settle for a 38-yard field goal by Scott Hannah to take a 3-0 lead in the first quarter. The Cougars had moved the ball to the 14-yard line before Marinovich was dropped for a loss on third down.

Capistrano Valley’s trouble continued through the game, as the team hurt itself with dropped balls, penalties and defensive breakdowns.

But Saddleback was plagued with its own problems, namely four crucial fumbles that were recovered by Capistrano Valley and a bad snap that resulted in a safety.

The Roadrunners moved the ball well on their first drive, taking it 74 yards in 8 plays, but were stopped on the seven-yard line when holder David Pina fumbled the snap on a field goal attempt and Capistrano Valley recovered. On Saddleback’s next possession, the team went 81 yards, scoring on Hymie Thurmond’s seven-yard touchdown run.

“Our kids gave a tremendous effort,” Saddleback Coach Jerry Witte said. “They (the Cougars) aren’t unbeatable. They just executed when they had to. That’s why they won.”

Capistrano Valley trailed, 7-3, at halftime, and neither team played well in the third quarter. Saddleback turned the ball over twice on consecutive possessions, but the Cougars weren’t able to cash in. After the first break, Marinovich threw his only interception of the game, and following the second Saddleback turnover, Cougar receivers dropped a couple of Marinovich passes to end the drive.

But the Cougars got another break when Saddleback, forced to punt at the end of the third quarter, had a snap sail over the head of Carlos Zavala, who fell on the ball in the end zone for a Capistrano Valley safety.

With the momentum finally going its way, Capistrano Valley moved the ball on its next possession, scoring on Marinovich’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Tom Adams. Marinovich ran the ball in for a two-point conversion and the Cougars had a 13-7 lead.

In the fourth quarter, Saddleack took the lead again on a 22-yard touchdown run by Juan Valle.

The next time he got the ball, Marinovich, who completed 13 of 26 passes, didn’t waste any time, throwing a bomb to receiver Steve DeLaura, who ran in for a 51-yard scoring play. Again, the two-point conversion was successful, this time a pass from Marinovich to David Rawson.

Village Christian 16, Orange Lutheran 8--Village Christian running back Joe Everett gained 161 yards in 20 carries and scored 2 touchdowns in a nonleague game at Kennedy High.

Everett scored on a 67-yard run on the opening play of the second half to give Village Christian a 13-0 lead. Everett, a 5-6, 150-pound junior, also scored on a 1-yard run in the first quarter.

Village Christian is 2-3.

Orange Lutheran (3-2) scored its only touchdown on Gaylord Green’s 5-yard run with 5:26 left.

STATE PREP CAREER PASSING LEADERS

No. Name School Years Yards 1 Ron Cuccia L.A. Wilson 1975-77 8,804 2 Todd Marinovich Mater Dei/Capistrano Valley 1984-87 7,898 3 Pat Haden Bishop Amat 1968-70 7,633 4 John Paye Menlo Park 1980-82 7,569