Mission Viejo’s Defense, El Toro’s Offense Are Best of the Bunch

Figuring the favorite in the South Coast League depends upon which side of the football Mission Viejo or El Toro high schools line up.

If defense is your forte, defending champion Mission Viejo will win its third consecutive title under Coach Mike Rush. Mission Viejo has seven defensive starters returning from its 1988 team that allowed 14 points or less in 12 games before losing to Paramount, 35-32, in the Division III semifinals.

El Toro, on the other hand, has the league’s best quarterback, Steve Stenstrom, a stable of fleet running backs and a gifted tight end, Bo Haley, in hopes of qualifying for its 11th consecutive berth in postseason play.

One team’s strength is the other’s question mark.

Mission Viejo has only two offensive starters returning and will have difficulty replacing its two biggest scoring weapons, slotback Eric Ekdahl and quarterback Troy Kopp, off last year’s high-scoring team.

When El Toro was last seen in league play, Irvine was piling up 327 yards rushing against a Chargers’ defense that looked pathetic. El Toro Coach Bob Johnson predicts his defense has the potential to be very good, but admits his 11 starters are young and inexperienced.

A look at the teams:

CAPISTRANO VALLEY--Eric Patton begins his second full season after leading the Cougars to a second-place tie with El Toro last year. Patton coached the final two games of the 1987 season after Coach Dick Enright was suspended and ultimately resigned.

Patton has 12 returning starters, including two-time all-league nose guard Damon Psaros and quarterback Tony Solliday. Solliday completed 91 of 159 passes for 1,326 yards and eight touchdowns as a sophomore. Running back Chris Adams, younger brother of former Cougar standout Tommy Adams, scored six touchdowns after being moved up to the varsity midway through league play.

Other top defensive players include Patton’s son, Ward, at middle linebacker and free safety Jeremy Brion. Patton’s youngest son, Scott, will begin the season at wide receiver but the sophomore is the team’s quarterback of the future.

DANA HILLS--The highlight of the 1988 season was a 9-7 victory over Capistrano Valley, the school’s first against the perennial power in 11 meetings. Coach Don Douglass called the victory “the highlight of my coaching career.” Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to push the Dolphins into the playoffs.

All-league defensive back Matt Carvalho heads the list of seven returning starters. Carvalho doubled at fullback, where he averaged 6.9 yards per carry, gaining 424 yards. The team’s strength is the defensive line, where ends John Kochendorfer and Chuck Briggs and tackle J.J. Ralph return for their senior seasons.

Quarterback Grant Taylor leads an improved passing attack. Also back is kicker Ryan Harrison, who kicked a 36-yard field goal with 11 seconds remaining to beat Capistrano Valley last year.

EL TORO--Coach Johnson enters his 11th season with a record of 102-35 (.744). El Toro has won 41 games in the past four years and has qualified for the playoffs in 10 consecutive seasons.

Quarterback Stenstrom heads a cast of nine returning starters. Stenstrom completed 115 of 205 passes for 1,774 yards and 14 touchdowns in 11 games. Tight end Haley will be heavily recruited, and running back Jerome Oakman is fully recovered from a broken ankle suffered in the third game last year.

Running back Ken Romaniszyn, who had off-season knee surgery, will be limited to kicking, but newcomer Carl Stewart, a sophomore transfer from North Carolina, could develop into a capable replacement. Stewart was the talk of the team’s intrasquad scrimmage last week.

The top linemen are guard Kevin Adams and tackle David Cuttrell. The team’s strength is at the skilled positions, with Haley and Stenstrom among the league’s best and there’s good depth at running back despite the loss of Romaniszyn.

IRVINE--A wild 27-26 loss to El Toro in its final game denied Irvine a playoff berth last year, but there was some consolation for the Vaqueros. Converted split end Shad Vickers emerged as a bona fide running back--gaining 158 yards against El Toro--and returns for his junior season.

Vaughn Shackelford, an all-league linebacker as a junior, moves to quarterback in his third varsity season. Fullback Matt Steinke teams with Vickers in the backfield. The only returning starter on the offensive line is tackle Dean Wakeham, a 6-6, 245-pound junior.

Irvine will have a solid defensive secondary with three returning starters--Jim Bassler, Randy Martin and Brandon Krabbe. The team’s strength is at running back and defensive back, but the passing game is suspect.

Most agree the league is stronger than last year, which means Irvine could be left out of the playoffs again despite fielding a good team.

MISSION VIEJO--Seven defensive starters return from a team that went undefeated in the regular season and finished as the top-ranked team in the county in 1988. Blue-chip seniors Mark Slymen (6-4, 245), Gregg Clapper (6-1, 215) and Chris Wild (6-2, 236) were all-league selections as juniors.

Tackle George Clark (6-2, 250), another returning starter, is the strongest player on the team. Bill Denny, who started as a sophomore, anchors the secondary. This is a big, strong and experienced group that opposing teams will have difficulty running against.

The offense is another story. Slotback Ekdahl, the state’s leading scorer last year, is playing baseball at Pepperdine. Quarterback Kopp is vying for a starting position at Pacific. The Diablos averaged 28.6 points per game with this duo last year.

Only two offensive starters--wide receiver Mark Gaw and fullback Ryan Darke--return, but Coach Mike Rush thinks the team could be as explosive as last year’s with a talented group of underclassmen.

SAN CLEMENTE--You can count San Clemente’s victories in league play the past four years with your thumbs, but third-year Coach Dave Elecciri thinks the Tritons will be much improved with 12 returning starters.

Eddie Wiggins, an honorable mention all-league selection as a junior, heads the secondary. Returning defensive linemen include Trey Collum, Rich Tuton, Bobby Yoways and Matt Wimpress.

Juan Maldonado and Larry Brophy are experienced running backs, and wide receiver Tony Robinson is starting his third season. But the Tritons’ success will hinge on the play of junior quarterback Ken Dolan.

Dolan, an all-league pitcher, has a strong arm and Elecciri is hoping the newcomer can eliminate some of the Tritons’ costly turnovers that plagued the team last year, when it averaged only 7.2 points per game.

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PREVIEWSSOUTH COAST LEAGUE

1988 Overall, League Record in Parenthesis

SCHOOL: ’89 COMMENT Mission Viejo (12-1, 5-0): Best defense in the county Capistrano Valley (6-5, 3-2): Psaros, Brion among best in the league El Toro (6-5, 3-2): Stenstrom is league’s top quarterback Irvine (6-4, 2-3): Same old story: Good team in a great league Dana Hills (3-6-1, 2-3): Team’s strength is the defensive line San Clemente (1-9, 0-5): Optimism high as school opens for 25th year Wednesday: the Sunset League