COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Saddleback’s Coe, Taking a Cue, Adds More Muscle

Michael Coe, a defensive back at Saddleback College, was sitting on a bench near the school’s gym, talking. In mid-sentence, he was interrupted by assistant coach Bill Cunerty, who offered a quick impersonation of Coe.

“Hi, my name is Michael Coe, and I hit real hard,” Cunerty mimicked.

In fact, Coe leads Saddleback in unassisted tackles with 18 in three games. No one else has more than six.

Coe is second in total tackles with 27. Penn Bushong, an outside linebacker, leads with 31. Saddleback plays host to Grossmont at 7 tonight in a Mission Conference game.

Coe’s new-found defensive power comes after a summer spent lifting weights at the suggestion of the Saddleback football staff. Coe went from 170 to 185 pounds without losing a step.

“I’m tackling a lot better this season,” he said. “It was hard getting the bigger guys (last season). I wasn’t scared or anything, but the heavier guys took a lot out of me.”

Coe’s success this season comes from the failure of last. Don’t misunderstand, he played well last year, starting all 10 games as a freshman for the Gauchos.

But there was an incident that showed Coe the need for added strength.

Saddleback held a 20-17 lead over Pasadena when the Lancers were near the Saddleback end zone in the final two minutes.

Coe and a Pasadena receiver went up for a pass near the goal line and Coe was sure he had a game-clinching interception.

Instead, he lost a wrestling match for the ball. Pasadena came away with a 24-20 victory and all Coe got was a sprained ankle. He spent the next five games playing on the injured ankle, but stayed in the lineup.

“If I would have been bigger and stronger,” Coe said. “I would have got the ball and we would have won. It won’t happen this year.”

Coe had come to Saddleback from Carlsbad High School, where he also was a sprinter on the track team. Coe was an all-league cornerback as a well as receiver in high school, mainly because his team had only 22 varsity players. He considered going to nearby Palomar College, but one visit to the campus and he wanted to go elsewhere.

His high school coach suggested Saddleback, and Coe was immediately impressed with the campus and the program. So, with financial help of his mother, he took an apartment near campus with some teammates.

“There were a lot of guys everywhere,” Coe said. “But they gave me a chance, and I guess they saw something in me they liked.”

In today’s Mission Conference games:

Fullerton (3-0, 2-0) at Mt. San Antonio (3-1, 1-1) 7 p.m.--Fullerton has moved from 13th to fifth in the nation in the J.C. Grid-Wire poll. The Hornets will play El Camino, the nation’s top-ranked team, in two weeks but must concentrate on tonight’s game to avoid an upset.

Golden West (3-0, 2-0) at Southwestern (1-3, 0-2), 1:30 p.m.--Golden West leads the state in defense, allowing 155 yards and 9.3 points a game. Grossmont (1-3, 0-2) at Saddleback (1-2, 1-1), 7 p.m.--Saddleback broke an eight-game losing streak last Saturday with a 35-28 victory over Southwestern and hopes to win two in a row for the first time since 1988.

Orange Coast (2-1, 1-0) at San Diego City (0-4, 0-2), 7 p.m.--Orange Coast’s defense has allowed only 20 points this season, best in the conference. Rancho Santiago (2-1, 1-0) at Long Beach (2-2, 2-0), 7 p.m.--Rancho Santiago running back Estrus Crayton needs only 32 yards to become the leading career rusher in the 75-year history of the college.