Prep Review : Katella Takes a Swing at Success : Without Fists, Boys’ Soccer Team Puts Energy in Winning

Turnaround: Less than a year ago, the Katella High School boys’ soccer program was in disarray. After a season marred by fights and losses, play was abruptly stopped in early February by Principal Barry Escoe, with two Empire League games to play. The decision was caused by a bench-clearing brawl in a match between Katella and El Dorado, in which three Katella players were ejected. The decision forced the Knights to forfeit their final two games.

But this season, with a new coach and a new attitude, Katella’s soccer team has turned things around. Not only have the Knights refrained from any altercations, the team is off to its best start in three seasons, with a 7-1-4 record.

The person behind the success is Coach Ray Smith, 22, who was hired last summer. He replaced Ken Munier, a walk-on coach who had agreed to fill a coaching vacancy for the 1986-87 season. According to Smith, Munier’s retirement was not related to the El Dorado incident.

Smith, a former Canyon High School and Biola College soccer player, knew of Katella’s problems firsthand. Last season he co-coached at Esperanza with John Coppage, and in a league match between Esperanza and Katella, Smith said he saw a Knight player hit one of the Aztec players in the face.

“It was a troubled program, and coaches around the league knew the problems,” Smith said. “There was a lack of discipline last year. A lot of times, coaches assume players can control themselves when really they can’t.”

Smith, a student teacher at Katella while he works toward his teaching credential at Biola, said he was apprehensive about taking over the program.

“I figured I could nip any problems in the bud and get rid of players left and right if I had to,” he said. “I laid down the rules on the first day.”

Rule No. 1 was that anyone involved in a fight would be kicked off the team. Rule No. 2 was to think positively and work toward team goals.

As it turned out, the first rule has been easier to follow than the second.

“At first, they were fighting with each other a lot in practice,” Smith said. “When I first came out there, it looked like they were going to (repeat last season) all over again. I had to keep getting them to regroup and talk about team goals.”

Smith said the hardest part was convincing his players they could win. But after finishing with a 5-14-2 record (1-11 in league play) last season, the Knights are becoming accustomed to victory.

They have lost only once. That was a 1-0 decision to Bishop Montgomery in the Marina tournament, in which a Katella player knocked in the goal for Bishop Montgomery. “Ray is a gem from the standpoint of character,” said Tom Danley, Katella athletic director. “He has done an outstanding job with a down program.”

Scott Bogardus, the Knights’ goalkeeper, who attributes last season’s problems to the frustration that comes with losing, is enjoying the born-again Knights.

“I love it, it’s a great feeling,” Bogardus said. “Our coach has got us disciplined. The other day, in a game, a fight almost started, but our players just turned and walked away.”

So, We Meet Again: The South Coast League basketball opener on Wednesday between Capistrano Valley and El Toro will be the first time football players from those schools have played each other since last fall’s spying scandal, which resulted in Capistrano Valley’s forfeit to El Toro. The Cougars finished their football season by losing in the first round of the playoffs. El Toro went on to win the Southern Conference championship.

The basketball game will be played as part of the South Coast Tipoff at UC Irvine’s Bren Center. It is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m., after the league openers between San Clemente and Irvine (4:30) and Mission Viejo-Dana Hills (6:15).

The game will feature four of the key figures from the football teams, including Capistrano Valley’s Todd Marinovich and Randy Stark and El Toro’s Bret Johnson and Cory Wayland.

An already heated high school rivalry, mixed with the highly emotional events of past months, has created a potentially explosive situation.

Recognizing the potential problem, Tom Anthony, principal of Capistrano Valley and the organizer of the tipoff, is meeting with Capistrano Valley administrators today to go over security precautions. He is planning to contact other principals in the league to discuss such procedures. He admitted that part of the reason he wanted to open league play at a neutral site stemmed from the football incident.

“Having the game at the Bren Center sets a positive tone,” Anthony said. “We wanted to do something a little different for our league. And they have phenomenal security at the Bren Center.”

Marinovich is also aware of the intense feelings surrounding the game.

“I know all the fans are really looking forward to it, especially because of the football situation,” he said.

El Toro’s Johnson agrees.

“Both schools are probably feeling a little bit more emotional,” Johnson said. “But hopefully, it’ll just be clean fun.”

Marinovich, whose team was ranked No. 3 in the county last week and is expected to move higher after the Cougars’ 57-55 upset of No. 1 Mater Dei on Saturday, said a simple victory is more important to him than revenge. And he said he feels no special pressure playing against Johnson, although, in football, the were continually compared as rival quarterbacks for the past two years.

“We don’t guard each other, but we’re probably aware of each other on the court,” Marinovich said. “It’s not as big a deal as everyone else makes it out to be.”

Add Marinovich: When Marinovich played basketball at Mater Dei his freshman and sophomore years, before transferring to Capistrano Valley, he was touched by that special feeling the Monarchs had whenever they played other Orange County teams.

“You knew that, even if you were down by any amount of points, you were still in it,” said Marinovich, who joined the Monarch varsity during the playoffs after playing on the junior varsity during the regular season.

Mater Dei had reason to be confident. Before this season, the Monarchs had not lost to a county team in six seasons.

But Saturday at Saddleback College that streak ended. And it was the former Monarch, Marinovich, who made a three-point play with 27 seconds left to give the Cougars a 55-51 lead.

“It felt good,” Marinovich said. “But even though we were up by 11 points (early in the fourth quarter), we knew it would end up being a close game against Mater Dei.”

Trial Ticker: Experimental use of the 45-second shot clock began in Sunset League games Friday. Last season, the Sunset League and the Freeway League pioneered the use of the three-point shot in Orange County, before its adoption last March by the National Federation of State High School Athletic Assns.

Most league coaches said the clock didn’t affect the outcome or pace of the league openers.

“It didn’t change our game,” said Edison Coach Jon Borchert, whose team beat Marina, 50-45, Friday. “The only time it will come into play is when you’re down by one or two points late in the game and you won’t have to foul to get the ball back. I think it’s great though. . . . It will get rid of those 18-17 final scores, where one team delays all night.”

Benched: Western Coach Greg Hoffman missed last Friday’s basketball game against Bellflower because he was suspended by Principal Craig Haugen. The suspension came after Hoffman was ejected from Wednesday night’s home game against Mayfair.

According to Athletic Director Jim Howell, Hoffman received a second technical foul for verbal abuse of the referee. Because it was the second time Hoffman has been ejected from a game in his five years at Western, Howell said Haugen thought the coach should be reprimanded. Hoffman will be allowed to return to the team this week. Junior varsity coach Jim Tozzie replaced him Friday when Western defeated Bellflower, 90-61.

Winning Ways: John Coppage made his mark with the Esperanza High School boys’ soccer program in his four years as head coach. The Aztecs set county records last year for shutouts in a single season (23) and fewest goals allowed (6). They won the Empire League all four years and made it to the Southern Section finals twice, winning the championship once.

This season, Coppage took over the girls’ program at Esperanza and brought his winning, defense-oriented ways with him. The young team (8 sophomores and 1 freshman on a team of 17 players) is 11-1-1. All 11 victories have been shutouts, and the team has given up just two goals this season. The Aztecs are the top-ranked 3-A girls’ team in the county.

Hot Item: Edison running back Kaleaph Carter missed six games with a pinched nerve in his neck during his senior season, but the injury certainly hasn’t hurt his appeal to major college football programs.

Carter has scheduled trips to UCLA, Stanford, Washington, Nebraska and Cal. He rejected trips to Notre Dame and USC. He made his first visit over the weekend to UCLA.

Carter finished second in the state track and field championships in the shotput as a sophomore and junior.

Already Decided: Servite kicker Pat Blottiaux, who set a county record with a 56-yard field goal and kicked six field goals of 50 yards or more last fall, has made a verbal commitment to attend the University of Colorado.

“Boulder offered everything I needed, and I have a very good chance of playing four years,” Blottiaux said. “My goal is to start the first game next fall.”

Colorado currently has a junior and a sophomore kicker on the team, but Blottiaux is confident he can earn a starting spot. The school also offers an artificial surface and a high altitude, two conditions that are supposed to favor kickers.

“I don’t know about that,” Blottiaux said. “You still have to kick the ball straight.”

Prep Notes

Rog Middleton, an all-county basketball selection last season at Tustin, has left the University of Utah. . . . Blaine DeBrouwer, the most valuable player in the Sunset League while at Ocean View two years ago, transferred from New Mexico State to Cerritos College. Another former Ocean View standout, Tony Panzica, has left the University of Texas-Arlington. Panzica was a reserve guard last year as a freshman. . . . Nick-John Haiduc, The Times’ all-county wide receiver at Servite in 1986, has left Cal Poly Pomona and enrolled at Fullerton College where he will compete in track this spring and play football next fall. . . The Southern Section will not be the host of the 5-A and 4-A division boys’ basketball semifinals at the Sports Arena this year. Designated home teams will be hosts of the games at alternate sites on Tuesday, March 1, and Wednesday, March 2. The finals are scheduled for March 5 at the Sports Arena, but the Small Schools and 1-A final will be at alternate sites on March 4. Regional play for the state championship begins March 8, with the finals scheduled for March 19 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. . . . Dave Zirkle, director of the Orange Holiday tournament, announced that $500 was donated to both the YMCA and the YWCA of Orange from gate receipts earned during the four-day event at Chapman College’s Hutton Sports Center. . . . Orange High has unveiled a $14,000 four-sided scoreboard in its gymnasium, The Dome.