Prep Review : Several Teams Taking Aim at the Top Spot

It was so simple for two weeks. Fountain Valley, with its exceptional quarterback David Henigan, had started the season at No. 1. Then the Barons held the top spot by beating Mater Dei, 22-17, and El Toro, 35-31.

But on Thursday, Mission Viejo defeated Fountain Valley, 24-3, and all heck seems ready to break loose.

Get out your slide rules and let’s just figure out who will be No. 1 three weeks from now, when most leagues begin play.

Santa Ana.

Case closed, a no-brainer, got to be.

Santa Ana, which came into the week ranked No. 2, appears to have the most talent, player for player, in the county.

Except . . . Santa Ana lost to Mater Dei, 17-10, Friday.

OK, forget Santa Ana. Meant to say Mission Viejo. The Diablos are 3-0 and have outscored opponents, 79-10.

Except . . . Mission Viejo plays Santa Ana, at Santa Ana, this Thursday. Oh-oh.

Gee, what were we thinking. Of course we meant Servite, which is 3-0, has the best running back in the county--Derek Brown--and was ranked No. 4 last week.

Except . . . Servite plays Crespi with record-setting running back Russell White on Saturday. The Friars lost to Crespi in last season’s playoffs.

Edison? The Chargers are 3-0, but play Mater Dei next week.

Valencia? Troy? Both are 3-0 and play each other Thursday. The way things are going this season, they’ll probably play to tie.

Esperanza? Also 3-0, and will probably go 4-0 against La Mirada. But, in week five, the Aztecs play Bishop Amat, which beat perennial City Section power Carson, 17-13, in the second game of the season.

Also in week five, Fountain Valley plays at Long Beach Poly, and Santa Ana plays at Loyola, ranked No. 2 in the nation by USA Today.

Who’s No. 1? We’ll never tell.

There’s a strong argument to be made for Esperanza’s Kevin Leon as the county’s best punter.

“He’s amazing,” said Gary Meek, Esperanza coach. “I’ve seen him hit 75-yarders in practice, easy.”

There’s absolutely no argument that Leon is the county’s best punter on the run. In consecutive weeks, against El Modena and Westminster, Leon has had a snap fly over his head, retrieved the ball, and then, on the run, booted boomers.

Against El Modena he caught up to the ball at the Esperanza 9-yard line, turned and punted the ball to the El Modena 25.

Against Westminster, Leon picked up the ball at the Esperanza 20, sprinted to his left, then punted the ball to the Westminster 18. That’s 62 yards.

If you think these are roll jobs, think again. The Westminster punt, for example, didn’t touch the ground until it hit the Westminster 20.

Meek, asked if Leon works on punting on the run, said: “Oh, sure. Yeah, we call that stuff on the sidelines.”

Nudge, nudge.

Leon, a senior, has been Esperanza’s kicker since he was a sophomore. He set a school-record of 11 field goals last season. He has kicked two this season.

But he didn’t start punting until midway through last season.

“Jason Moler was punting for us,” Meek said. “The problem was Jason was doing everything for us.”

Moler played running back, quarterback and defensive back last season.

“We thought Jason deserved a breather some time in the game,” Meek said. “So we thought we’d give Kevin a try.”

Leon was used first in the El Toro game last season, and averaged 44 yards a punt.

“I think that shows how brilliant this coaching staff is when it comes to kicking,” Meek said. “Here we have this great kid and we don’t use him until midseason.”

At the Olympics in Seoul, there are 13 athletes who attended Mission Viejo High School. Twelve of the 13 graduated from Mission Viejo; Rafal Szukala will graduate in 1989.

The athletes, the majority of them swimmers, have won three medals so far. That may not sound like much, but consider that it’s as many as the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland. And it puts Mission Viejo ahead of the likes of Denmark (2), Spain (2), Turkey (1) and Greece (1).

Here is a list of the athletes, their year of graduation, the nation they compete for and events:

Men:

George Alarcon (1987), Mexico--swimming, 100-meter freestyle, 200 freestyle.

Dan Jorgensen (1986), United States--swimming, 400 freestyle, 800 freestyle relay.

Lars Jorgensen (1988), United States--swimming, 1,500 freestyle.

Steve Kerho (1982), Canada--track and field, 110-meter hurdles.

Rafal Szukala (1989), Poland--swimming, 100 butterfly, 200 butterfly.

Ernie Vela (1988), Mexico--swimming, 200 backstroke, medley relay.

Artur Wojdat (1986), Poland--swimming, 200 freestyle, 400 freestyle (bronze medal), 1,500 freestyle.

Urbano Zea (1987), Mexico--swimming, 100 freestyle.

Women:

Tami Bruce (1985), United States--swimming, 400 freestyle, 800 freestyle.

Dara Torres (1985), United States--swimming, 100 freestyle, 400 freestyle relay (bronze medal).

Susan Johnson (1987), United States--swimming, 100 breaststroke.

Yoshi Mizumoto, (1988), Japan--swimming, 400 individual medley.

Wendy Lian Williams (1985), United States--diving, 10-meter platform (bronze medal).

Quick Hits:

- Servite’s 35-7 victory over Taft on Friday made the Southern Section 6-0 against the City Section.

- Laguna Hills’ 21-19 victory over San Clemente on Friday broke its 13-game losing streak. The longest current losing streak now falls to Garden Grove, which has lost its last 11 games.

- Ron Goods. Remember this name. Goods, a Tustin High tailback, rushed for 159 yards in 27 carries against Irvine on Friday. Goods is a freshman. In three years, he may be breaking some records.

- Scott Ross, former standout at El Toro, was named USC’s defensive player of the game against Oklahoma by ABC television. Ross, a sophomore, had eight tackles, two for losses, and recovered a fumble. USC beat Oklahoma 23-7, Saturday.

Prep Notes

Members of the Southern Section’s general council voted to send representatives to the State Federated Council meeting Oct. 21-22 in Palm Springs without instructions as to how to vote on the changes proposed in the financial structure of the 1989 state basketball playoffs. Organizers are seeking to reduce transportation cost reimbursements to competing schools and increase ticket prices after last year’s tournament fell $70,000 below budget figures. . . . The section’s football advisory committee recommended that all football officiating crews be increased from four to five officials for 1989. Currently, 65% of the schools in the section are using five-man crews. Limitations on expenses for second- and third-round football playoff games have also been proposed for 1989. Strict cost cuts would include stadium rental and security limits for teams hosting postseason games. . . . Members of the Baseline League have proposed to the general council that neutral sites be utilized beginning in the 1989-90 school year for teams more than 100 miles apart in the boys’ and girls’ volleyball and basketball playoffs. The proposal would affect second- and third-round playoff games. . . . Dave Zirkle, Orange High athletic director, is accepting applications for a varsity baseball coach to replace Mel Baty, who resigned.