Prep Review : For Edison and Estancia, Losing Is in the Past

Edison and Estancia high schools, which opened the 1987 football season with five consecutive losses, have turned around losing seasons, each winning five consecutive games in 1988.

For Estancia, the reversal is the culmination of a 3-year rebuilding project under Coach John Leibengood. At Edison, the winning trend is a result of a more realistic schedule and a year of maturity.

Estancia’s football team won only 2 nonleague games in 2 years. The Eagles were winless in 10 Sea View League games, scoring only 27 points and being shut out 6 times.

But Estancia enters its homecoming game against Tustin Friday night at Newport Harbor High with the momentum of five consecutive victories, the Eagles’ best start since the 1981 season.

Before the 1988 season began, Leibengood set three goals for a team that had 17 returning starters.

“One was to beat Costa Mesa in our opener,” he said. “Two is to get to the playoffs. Three is to beat Tustin in our homecoming game.”

Estancia accomplished its first goal, defeating city rival Costa Mesa, 23-13.

At Edison, the slow start in ’87 turned into the worst season in the school’s 20-year history as the Chargers managed to win only two games.

“We all learned a lot from last season,” Edison Coach Dave White said. “We’ve always worked hard, but we worked even harder since last December.

“This is a real team. There are no world beaters on this team, but a group of guys who play as a team. The other night against St. John Bosco, we had six different players score, nine different players carry the ball and six different players catch passes.”

Other teams that have made dramatic turnarounds in the opening five weeks of the season include Troy (1-4 to 4-0-1) and Corona del Mar (1-4 to 5-0).

Awesome Angelus: With league play scheduled to begin for most teams this week, it’s interesting to note the overall records of the 10 leagues in the county. The five-team Angelus League, led by unbeaten Servite (5-0), has the top mark of 18-7.

Other top marks among county leagues include Empire (18-10-2), South Coast (17-12-1), Sea View (16-14) and Freeway (14-14-2). Leagues with overall losing records include Pacific Coast (13-15-2), Sunset (13-17), Garden Grove (8-14-2), Orange (11-18-1) and Century (7-22-1).

He may be the fastest runner at an Orange County high school, but Jimmy Rodriguez might not participate in the Orange County Cross-Country Championships Saturday at Irvine Park.

Rodriguez, a senior at Santa Ana Valley, is undefeated this season. He was the fastest finisher at the Woodbridge and Dana Hills invitationals. Last Thursday, in a dual meet against El Modena, he broke the course record at Irvine Park.

But Santa Ana Valley Coach George Payan says he’s not yet sure whether he’ll let Rodriguez run in the county meet--the only meet that offers a seeded division for all of the county’s top runners.

Payan said that he wants to make sure Rodriguez won’t race too many times this month. Santa Ana Valley has five dual meets--plus the Mt. SAC Invitational Oct. 23--scheduled for October. Payan wants to be sure Rodriguez will be well-rested for the Southern Section, state and Kinney Regional meets in November.

But Payan admitted there’s another reason for holding Rodriguez out.

“I don’t want Jimmy to meet with Eddie,” he said, referring to Corona del Mar’s top runner, Eddie Lavelle, who will run in the seeded race Saturday. Lavelle has yet to defeat Rodriguez this season, though he has come close.

Payan said he told Jerry Whitaker, the county meet organizer, that if Rodriguez competes in the county championships, Payan doesn’t want him in the seeded race.

“I told Whitaker, I don’t want my kid meeting Eddie,” Payan said. “I just don’t want (Lavelle to get) that mental edge on him.”

Lavelle said he was surprised that Rodriguez might not compete. “It’s really too bad,” he said. But he added: “It will still be a good race; it’s the Orange County championships. There will be a lot of fast guys there.”

Hail the Sea Kings: What’s the most successful athletic program in the county this fall? A good case can be made for Corona del Mar. The Sea Kings have five teams ranked in the Southern Section’s top 10 polls.

The Sea Kings are the top-ranked football team in Division VI. The water polo team is ranked No. 1 in the 4-A division, but that could change after a 10-6 loss to Sunny Hills Saturday.

The boys’ cross-country team is ranked No. 1 in the 4-A division and the girls’ volleyball team is ranked fourth in the 5-A division. The girls’ tennis team is second behind Miraleste in the 4-A division.

Hot Hand: David Lowery, Trabuco Hills quarterback, has been on a passing frenzy the past 2 weeks. Lowery has thrown 6 touchdown passes and has completed 26 of 45 passes for 573 yards in victories over San Clemente and St. Joseph. The Mustangs have totaled 90 points in those games.

Lowery’s favorite target has been junior Tim Manning, who has caught 9 passes for a whopping 309 yards (34.3 average) and 4 touchdowns.