Ocean View’s Karliner Isn’t One to Head for Sidelines

Randy Karliner of Ocean View High School is not the type of quarterback to practice his hook slide.

Defenders won’t find his 6-foot-1, 210-pound frame sashaying out of bounds to avoid a pounding. More than likely, they’ll find his padded shoulder dipped, and like UPS, ready to deliver.

With size that makes him bigger than some of his linemen, speed to rival his backs and an arm strong enough to start at quarterback as a sophomore and earn All-Sunset League honors as a pitcher, Karliner is making his presence felt.

Karliner will lead the run-and-shoot offense for Ocean View (1-1) at 7:30 tonight in a nonleague game against Santa Ana Valley (1-0-1) at Santa Ana Stadium.

“He is not your typical quarterback who is going to run out of bounds,” Coach Howard Isom said. “When he turns it up, he is going to run North and South.

“He starts putting gray hair on my head because sometimes we would rather he worked on his hook slide a little bit rather than lowering his shoulder and plowing into people. But he just doesn’t go for the sidelines.”

Nor does Karliner go for the dugout.

Last season, Karliner was pitching against El Dorado in the Santa Ana Elks’ tournament. The Seahawks were ahead, 7-6, with two out in the bottom of the seventh inning, when El Dorado catcher Bruce Petillo hit a line drive to the mound.

“He was hit flush in the groin with a line drive,” said his father, Ronald Karliner, who was watching the game.

Karliner hit the ground, but crawled to the ball and tried to make the throw to first. Karliner insisted on finishing the game.The injury required minor surgery that night, and kept him out of action for four weeks.

“I thought I just had the wind knocked out of me, but when the game was over, I felt (the pain) then,” he said.

Karliner told Coach Steve Barrett that he had been hit in the stomach and was fine.

“Physically he is very, very tough,” Barrett said. “You have to have guys like him on a team. He is something.”

Karliner finished the game, getting the victory, but after the bus ride to the Ocean View locker room he could hardly walk, his father said.

The only residual effects of the injury have been some teasing from friends.

“It was good-natured teasing but like anything, after the 57th time, it got on his nerves,” Karliner’s father said.

As a sophomore, Karliner completed 89 of 226 passes for 1,141 yards and two touchdowns, and finished second in the Sunset League in passing yardage and completions. He set school records for points scored in a game (24), in a season (54) and for most touchdowns, rushing for nine.

This year he is bigger, stronger and more comfortable with the run-and-shoot--a one-back, four-receiver, pass-oriented offense similar to the one used by the Detroit Lions this season.

“I like throwing the ball right now a lot more than I did before,” said Karliner, who has completed 28 of 45 passes for 413 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions in two games this season. “I am more patient this year. I am not rushing myself like I did last year.”

Isom said Karliner always has been a leader by example, but this year he is more mature and has a better grasp of the offense.

“He is making the plays. He is making things happen,” Isom said. “And there is that intangible thing where the kids feel really confident with him in control. It is more like looking at a senior than a junior.”