Valencia and Anaheim Should Be the Best of a Very Good League

How good was the Orange League last season?

Valencia High School, the league champion, defeated second-place finisher Anaheim, 13-0, to win the Central Conference championship.

Western, which tied Anaheim for second, tied Anaheim, 13-13, in the regular-season finale. And Western beat Valencia, 24-10.

That’s how good.

And how good will the Orange League be this season?

Valencia has two veteran running backs, a solid secondary and is considered, with Anaheim, to be the class of the league again.

Anaheim gained a transfer running back who gained 1,200 yards last season as a junior.

Western, with an impressive newcomer at quarterback, also could challenge for the league title.

Needless to say, expectations are high just about all over.

“When I first came to this school they never won a game,” said Mike Marrujo, in his eighth season as Valencia coach. “Now they’ve won and everyone’s talking crazy. They don’t realize how difficult it is to win even one game.

“The more you win, the more you expect.”

Valencia won its first Southern Section football title last season. The Tigers have won or tied for the league title five straight times.

Ted Mullen, in his second season at Anaheim, has been in championship games before and knows the significance.

After all, Mullen’s teams have made six appearances in championship games. He won Southern Conference titles at Villa Park in 1977 and Foothill in 1981.

“They (the players) react one of two ways: They can think it’s an automatic. Or they can see how much more fun it is and work hard to get there again,” Mullen said.

Said Jon Looney, Brea-Olinda’s new coach: “Any time that (two teams from the same league meet in a title game) it’s a boost for the league.

“I was hoping (Anaheim) would be down a little bit. Ted wins anywhere he goes. It doesn’t matter who he’s got there he’s going to win.”

ANAHEIM--The rich do get richer. Johnny Mountain, the third-leading rusher in Orange County last season, transferred to Anaheim last spring from Foothill.

Mountain rushed for 1,200 yards at Foothill and figures to be the Colonists’ chief offensive weapon this season. Mullen was Mountain’s coach at Foothill two years ago.

Mullen has been so pleased with the play of quarterback Dan Pacillas that he has moved Robert Aldaz, last year’s starter, to safety. Mullen also said he expects Aldaz to be one of the top field goal kickers in the county.

Pacillas started several games last season and played much of the second half of the Central Conference championship when Aldaz was injured after making a tackle.

Mullen is making a few other changes, too.

Jason Gold, who played tight end last season, moves to middle linebacker. John Barber, a linebacker last year, will play defensive end.

“It’s hard to follow on that (reaching the final), but we hope to,” Mullen said. “We have 77 kids out. We’re green on experience. But we have a lot of enthusiasm, so that’s good.”

BREA-OLINDA--The Wildcats could turn out to be the most improved team in the league. Looney takes over as coach after spending four seasons at the Wildcats’ defensive coordinator.

Since replacing Bill Brown, Looney has instituted tougher and more disciplined workouts and is pleased with the results.

“I told them hell week would be back and it certainly was,” Looney said. “I’m real pleased with their attitude. They’ve accepted the challenge.”

Chad Marlow, a junior quarterback who started last season, offers experience and leadership to a junior-dominated team.

Wire receivers Jason Clements and Mark Shaw and running back Eddie Stewart are the Wildcats’ other offensive threats.

Jason Miller, a defensive end and starting fullback, also played a considerable amount last year.

The Wildcats have been the not-so-happy wanderers since their on-campus stadium was torn down in 1987 in preparation of a move to a new school site.

This year, Brea plays home games at Nogales High in La Puente against Walnut, at Fullerton District Stadium (against Troy), at La Habra (against Sonora), at Western (against Western) and at Glover Stadium (against Savanna).

MAGNOLIA--Tony DiThomas is the Sentinels’ new coach, replacing John Hangartner, who resigned for medical reasons last season. DiThomas, who was the defensive coordinator at Riverside North last year, faces a difficult task at Magnolia.

The Sentinels’ only victory, which kept them out of last place, was a 33-22 decision over Savanna.

Duff Anderson, a tight end, defensive lineman and kicker, and Bobby Musgrave, the leading receiver last year, are two key players for Magnolia.

Kris Walsh, a linebacker and running back, is another veteran.

Linemen John Corliss and Vince Crisostomo and defensive back Keith Chong also started last season.

SAVANNA--”Savanna has to be better,” Anaheim’s Mullen said.

Things were pretty bad for the Rebels last season. Savanna went 0-10 in 1987, was shut out 6 times and came close to winning only twice. Garden Grove beat Savanna, 10-7, in the first game of the season and Magnolia defeated Savanna, 33-22.

Other than that the Rebels were badly beaten in every game.

However, 10 starters, including 8 on defense, are back for their senior seasons.

Linebackers David Ferguson, Ryan Aughenbaugh, Kenison PoChing and Tony Pearson, are among 10 starters returning.

Carlos Robledo will be the starting quarterback and defensive back.

VALENCIA--The school with a history of great running backs has two more to offer.

Seniors Keef Leasure and Randy Roskelly saw considerable action last season. Leasure rushed for 1,012 yards in the regular season.

They’ll be joined by Tracy Garrett, who was the backup quarterback to Robert Navarette last season.

Roskelly, who also plays defensive back, had five interceptions. He’ll be joined by veteran performer Guy Sheppard, who had eight interceptions.

The Tigers are also known for outstanding offensive lines. Brandon Douglas, a right guard, is the lone returning starter on the line. But Marrujo isn’t worried about a lack of experience, even though Valencia only has six starters back from last year’s Orange League and Central Conference championship team.

“We should be a little more physical on the line,” Marrujo said. “We had to finesse a little bit last season.”

Jason Gray, a letterman in 1987, will join Douglas on the line.

Steve Rangel, who was an All-Southern Section linebacker last season, anchors the defense along with Roskelly and Sheppard. Andy Giacumacis, who was a middle guard last season, moves to defensive tackle.

“We’ve got a lot of people to replace,” Marrujo said. “We’ll be all right. We’re not bad.”

WESTERN--The Pioneers’ starting offense graduated, there are only three starters and eight letterman back from last season.

“We have to be injury free to have a good year,” Howell said. “We have a lot of guys who are going to have to go both ways.”

That’s the bad news.

The good news is that Howell said the defense is “pretty good” and Miles Robertson is a talented quarterback. Robertson has shown a strong arm in two-a-day workouts and Howell is hoping for a big season from him.

Don Norris, an offensive lineman last season, has been moved to linebacker, and Tommy Strake, a defensive back and a wing back on offense, are two mainstays from 1987.

“They’re two of our keys, but after that there are a lot of new names,” Howell said.

Juniors Gabriel Ramirez, a split end, and Corey Manliguis, a tight end, are two of the newcomers.

Kaene Soto, a halfback and linebacker, Sean Morgan, a tackle, and George Esquival, a guard, are seniors who will move into starting positions.

“We’ve had a good winning tradition over here,” Howell said. “I think we’ll be in there (the league championship race).”

ORANGE LEAGUE

1987 Record in Parenthesis

SCHOOL ’88 COMMENT SCHOOL Valencia (12-2, 4-1) ’88 COMMENT Defending Central Conference champions SCHOOL Anaheim (10-3-1, 3-1-1) ’88 COMMENT Running back Johnny Mountain one of county’s best SCHOOL Western (7-3-1, 3-1-1) ’88 COMMENT Only three starters are back from last season SCHOOL Brea-Olinda (5-5, 3-2) ’88 COMMENT Jon Looney takes over for Bill Brown as coach SCHOOL Magnolia (1-9, 1-4) Scored only 66 points in 1987 SCHOOL Savanna (0-10, 0-5) ’88 COMMENT Only five victories in past four seasons