ON THE PREP PATH / BARBIE LUDOVISE : Victory, Not Problems, Chokes Him Up

Standing on the sideline during his varsity debut Thursday night, Estancia sophomore quarterback Matt Johner couldn’t help but gag.

Was it nerves? Excitement? Fear of the opponent, Los Amigos?

No, it was Johner’s mouthpiece, bobbling around his mouth like a giant white jawbreaker.

“I kept chewin’ it, I kept bitin’ it, but it wouldn’t stay put,” Johner said.

Though Johner’s mouthpiece popped out of his mouth and onto the field just before the second play from scrimmage--his frantic search for it cost the Eagles a penalty for delay of game--he made up for it with a 25-yard touchdown pass on the next play.

By the end of the night, Johner had completed 18 of 26 passes for 365 yards and three touchdowns, despite hobbling through the final three quarters with a hip injury. Two of those touchdowns came in the final three minutes to rally Estancia to a 30-27 victory.

He might have gagged, but he did not choke.

Afterward, Johner was mobbed by well-wishers. Teammates piled on him. Friends and family hugged him. His girlfriend rushed in with a big smooch.

People Johner did not know slapped him on the back.

“That was the greatest performance in the history of this school!” a man shouted, waving his game program in Johner’s face.

Johner was ecstatic. Before the game, he had been cool, almost nonchalant. When his teammates rushed onto the field to crash through the cheerleaders’ paper banner, Johner jogged slowly behind, as if he had experienced that rush of glory thousands of times.

Now, like a puppy, all reserve was gone. In his excitement, he accidently knocked a pen out of a reporter’s hand.

“Whoa, sorry!” said Johner, a gangly 16-year-old with braces.

“This, it’s unbelievable . . . The game, the hype, the newspapers, the crowd . . . Whoa . . . I thought I’d do good, but not this good!”

After the celebration had died down some, Johner ran to his mother, Betty, and hugged her, and cried quietly on her shoulder.

Add Johner: For anyone who followed Johner last year, his debut was surprising but not entirely inconceivable. The freshman squad finished 4-5-1 in 1989, but Johner demonstrated a strong arm.

Unfortunately for Johner, his hips are weak.

Because of the injury suffered Thursday--doctors say he strained the growth plate that connects muscle to the top of his right hip--Johner is on crutches and doubtful for Estancia’s next game, Thursday against La Quinta.

He might return the following week for the game against Corona del Mar.

Their uniforms were sparkling white. Their cleats were unmarked. When they boarded the bus for the first varsity game in their school’s history, the Century High School football players were nervous but happy lads.

Then, the locker room pep talk.

Century Coach Bill Brown addressed his team, Gen. Patton-style. A few excerpts of his pregame speech:

“Every one of us coaches has gone through what you’re going through right now . . . There’s nothing to be nervous about.”

“They (El Dorado) are not the Raiders. They’re not the Green Bay Packers. Not USC or UCLA. They’re not El Toro. They’re kids, just like you . . .

“They don’t know what hard work is, you do . . . When they want a car, their daddies buy them a car . . . No one is handing you anything. This game is no different than your whole life.”

“Hey, if you screw up, it’s OK . . .”

Century lost, 34-9.

Magnolia’s Randy Sparks, a 6-foot-2, 270-pound senior, will start at offensive guard this year, despite having virtually no experience in organized sports.

“I saw him walking around campus and followed him for a couple of days,” Magnolia Coach Bill Friedrich said. “I just talked him into coming out.”

Until this year, Sparks spent much of his free time in an activity far removed from football: the school choir.

At 270, Sparks is among the county’s larger linemen this year. But he’s not the biggest.

Loara features 6-2, 298-pound Bryant Jackson, Magnolia has 6-2, 310-pound Robert Robles, and Servite has 6-3, 300-pound James Christensen.

The biggest player, though, may be waiting on the horizon.

He’s Magnolia freshman Bobby Mathews--6-2, 315.

“We call him Quake,” Magnolia freshman coach Bob Mangan said. “He looks like a phone booth or like a steer, corn-fed in Nebraska.”