HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PREVIEW : Four Years Later, Tough PCL Is Throwing Its Weight Around

Remember when the Pacific Coast League was considered a refuge for athletic programs that couldn’t protect themselves, let alone win?

Now, remember last season’s Division VIII football final when Trabuco Hills High School, a PCL member, beat Woodbridge, the then-defending champion and a PCL member?

Things have a way of changing, and in this league, they change quickly. It has been just four years since the Pacific Coast League was created and already they’re talking about breaking it up.

“Sooner or later, we’re going to find that this league is in the wrong division,” Trabuco Hills Coach Jim Barnett said.

Maybe it’s right now. Trabuco Hills is ranked No. 1 in the division, Woodbridge No. 3 and Costa Mesa No. 8.

Yes, that Costa Mesa. The team that hadn’t made a playoff appearance in this decade broke through last season and has a big offensive line to operate behind this season.

“Big?” Costa Mesa Coach Tom Baldwin said. “We’re huge.”

Oh. Trabuco Hills and Woodbridge figure to remain the class of the league, although each lost quarterbacks who signed with Division I programs. Trabuco Hills’ David Lowery is at San Diego State and Woodbridge’s Fred Schweer is at Oregon State.

Around the league, there is a new coach at Orange. Tom Meiss has 27 years of experience and a long practice schedule for his players.

Steve Bresnahan begins his second year at Laguna Hills, where the team went 2-8 last season. While that doesn’t hold too many fond memories, the thought that last year’s Laguna Hills freshman team went 9-1 must.

Laguna Beach suffers from its small enrollment--just 650 students--but the school has never lost to Trabuco Hills and was, in fact, the only league team to beat Trabuco Hills last season.

“You know every time I feel sorry for those guys they end up beating me,” Barnett said. “Maybe I should be feeling sorry for me.”

Now, for a closer look:

COSTA MESA--The Mustangs made the playoffs for the first time in nine years last season. They had a 1,000-yard rusher and two 270-pound linemen for him to run behind. The rusher, Manny Bonilla, is gone. And you won’t find the two 270-pound linemen either. That’s because Pat Myers now weighs in at 290 pounds and Tony Hoover is now a fullback.

“We didn’t think the extra pounds was that much of a difference on Pat,” Baldwin said. “Then we found out we didn’t have pants big enough to fit him. We had to go over and borrow a pair from Orange Coast (College) so Pat could practice.”

Myers, a tackle, anchors a line that also features the sizable Steve Millinger (6-2, 235) at tackle, Hal Stewart (6-2, 230) at center and Jesse Smith (6-1, 248) at guard. In a complete tip of the scales, Eric Amneus, all 5-6, 185-pounds of him, will start at the other guard.

And the Mustangs are now big in the backfield with Hoover, who has slimmed down to 238.

Costa Mesa will run from a wishbone formation, with junior Duby Ospina at quarterback. Ospina is a big-play type player, scoring three touchdowns on receptions of 43 yards or more and one on a kickoff return.

“This is a better team than that one (last season’s),” Baldwin said. “But I think the fact that we had some success last year will help us. It convinced the kids we could win.”

LAGUNA BEACH--The Artists had the worst kind of troubles last season. Their offense couldn’t score and their defense had a hard time stopping opponents.

It’s those kind of problems that make for 2-7-1 records.

Laguna Beach was held to seven points or less in eight of its 10 games. In fact, the 14 points in its first game--a 42-14 loss to Leuzinger--was more than the team would score in its next three games combined.

In all, the team scored just 55 points, and 37 of those came from the foot of kicker Jason Crabbe.

Crabbe is gone, but quarterback Aaron Scheid, who completed 45% of his passes last season, is back. Sean Mallet, a converted offensive lineman, will be at fullback.

Mallett, an all-league selection at linebacker last season, heads a defense that has a lot to prove. Last season the Artists allowed five opponents to score 23 points or more.

Of course, their defense also held high-scoring Trabuco Hills in check in the 9-7 upset.

LAGUNA HILLS--Given his team’s lack of success in the past few years, Bresnahan is not afraid to change a few things. So don’t be surprised to see a number of sophomores from that 9-1 freshman team making their way into the starting lineup.

Bresnahan has said he might start as many as 10 sophomores. One of those figures to be Dave Webber, who led the freshman team in rushing last season.

Another area already changed under Bresnahan is that he has some assistant coaches who are on campus.

“That’s going to help them a lot,” Woodbridge Coach Gene Noji said. “They had none before, and you just can’t do that and expect to win.”

The Hawks came close several times last season. Their defense held Corona del Mar, eventual Division VI champion, in check most of the game, but its offense fumbled twice inside its own 20 and Laguna Hills lost, 14-11. The Hawks also lost by a point to both Estancia and Artesia.

Laguna Hills will use the wing-T offense this season with Mark Wells at quarterback. But there is only one starter returning to the offense, which loses all-league selections in tight end Rob Milo and wide receiver Mike Allison. The one starter is lineman Dusty Christensen (5-11, 205).

ORANGE--If the Panthers, who have gone 4-6 and 2-8 the past two seasons, don’t do well this season it won’t be for lack of exercise. New coach Tom Meiss has instituted a boot camp-like atmosphere with three-a-day practices.

“We start at 8 a.m. The kids laugh about this, but we actually never stop until the work’s done,” Meiss said. “They’ve found out that quitting time doesn’t mean a thing. At noon, we bring the kickers and special teams back and work until mid-afternoon. Then we come back a 6 p.m. and go until dusk.”

Wasn’t this the reason unions were formed?

Chris Thompson was thought to be the heir-apparent at quarterback, but Meiss said linebacker Jason Loerscher, who “had this fantasy of being a quarterback,” has pulled even with Thompson.

“I keep hoping that one will advance over the other,” Meiss said. “But they’re making it real hard on me. I might even alternate them.”

Meiss rebuilt Santa Ana High’s football program in the late 1970s and believes he can do the same at Orange, which won the PCL championship in 1986. But Meiss will do it a step at a time.

“I tell the kids, ‘First I want to get a first down; then I want to score a touchdown; then I want to win a game; then I want to win all the games.’ ”

TRABUCO HILLS--This team swept through the playoffs like a flood, averaging 42 points per game while holding opponents to eight. One major contributor, Lowery, is gone.

“David was magic in the playoffs,” Barnett said.

Luckily for Trabuco Hills, they have a pretty fair magician in senior Tim Manning, who will move to quarterback this season. Since he was a sophomore starting on the varsity, Manning has played running back, wide receiver, wing back and defensive back.

Last season he and teammate Rick Sparks, who is also back, led the county by getting 10 interceptions apiece. Manning had 37 receptions during the regular season and scored 10 touchdowns.

But can he play quarterback?

“It doesn’t matter what kind of arm he has,” Noji said. “That kid is a player, and now he’ll have his hands on the ball every down. That creates a problem for every other team right away.”

Ben Rooker, who scored eight touchdowns in the regular season, is just a junior and will start in the backfield. Sparks figures to become the team’s No. 1 receiver, and lineman Jim Farbaniec (6-4, 250) is one of the best in the county.

Repeat?

“The big difference for this team from last year is that last year there were very few teams that got up for us,” Barnett said. “It was, ‘Oh, we’re playing Trabuco Hills.’ This season it’s going to be, ‘ Hey! We’re playing Trabuco Hills.’ We’re a bigger guy on the block now.”

WOODBRIDGE--After taking off last season from coaching, Noji describes his feelings at being back at work thusly: “I’m tired.”

Of course, the thought that he takes over a team that was in the division final last season must be good for a second wind.

Besides losing Schweer off that team, Woodbridge also said goodby to defensive lineman P.A. Emerson, now at the University of Washington, and linebacker Mike Yurkovich, the league’s defensive player of the year last season.

Gary Fishel, a senior, and Brian Brown, a junior, are competing for the quarterback position. Noji said Fishel will get first crack because of seniority.

Fishel is 5-9, has a strong arm and has lost about 30 pounds to get down to 170.

“He looked like an offensive guard,” Noji said. “I think the thought that he was going to be the starting quarterback gave him the motivation to stay away from the potato chips. He looks great now. Before, he was just a round guy with a good arm.”

The strength of this team figures to be its defense. Last season’s team held eight opponents to a touchdown or less, shutting out three of them.

Leading the defense will be Gary Gibson (6-3, 220) at defensive end, Steve Masters at linebacker and Scott Seymour at safety.

Seymour and Masters also will play in the offensive backfield. Seymour proved himself as a receiver last season by catching 37 passes.

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PREVIEW PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

1988 Overall, League Records in Parentheses

SCHOOL COMMENT Trabuco Hills (12-2, 4-1) League’s best athlete, Tim Manning, will play quarterback. Woodbridge (12-2, 4-1) Coach Gene Noji returns to a talented team. Costa Mesa (5-5-1, 3-2) Four offensive line starters weigh 230 or more. Laguna Beach (2-7-1, 2-3) Must improve offensively; averaged 5.5 points last year. Laguna Hills (2-8, 1-4) Several sophomores from 9-1 freshman team will play. Orange (2-8, 1-4) New coach Tom Meiss hopes to rebuild program.

Monday: Sea View League