PREP FLASHBACK : THIS WEEK IN COUNTY PREP SPORTS HISTORY

10 YEARS AGO

It was not just another day at the beach for Santa Ana Valley Coach Jim O’Hara. A week after quarterback Marvin Jones helped beat Santa Ana, 37-14, O’Hara explained why Jones was his quarterback.

“We were at the beach two summers ago, and Marvin was throwing a football with some friends,” O’Hara said. “He could throw the ball 75 yards. Right then, I decided to move him to quarterback.”

O’Hara seemed to have a knack for identifying quarterbacks. Before the game, Santa Ana Coach Tom Meiss tried to disguise the fact that his starter, Scott Franklin, would not play; Meiss had another player wear Franklin’s jersey during warm ups.

O’Hara wasn’t fooled.

“We had an idea Friday morning that Scott wasn’t going to play,” O’Hara said. “To be honest, we didn’t care who played quarterback.”

5 YEARS AGO

Rule changes were giving offensive linemen a new way of playing--a hands-on approach--and there were other, less-noticeable changes outside of the rules: Knee braces were being used down the line.

Today, knee braces are common on the football field. But when Oakland Raider trainer George Anderson introduced a brace to stabilize Ken Stabler’s knee in 1979, the equipment was used solely for injured players.

By 1985, the braces were being used as preventive medicine. Edison Coach Bill Workman made a team rule that all starting offensive lineman had to wear them during practices and games.

But several studies and doctors didn’t want the brace to be thought of as a protective device.

“I know the American College of Sports Medicine came to the conclusion that there is no reason why the knee brace should work,” Workman said, “but the practical application in four years at Edison is that they do work. We haven’t had a surgical knee operation here in four years.”

Said Dr. Robert Cassidy of the Sports Medical Clinic of Orange County: “Basically, the jury is still out. There are more players wearing them this year, and we’ve certainly seen no difference in the number of knee injuries that we treat at this office.”

1 YEAR AGO

Better Late Than Never: Gary Bladow scored on a three-yard run with 1:53 left to play and Shawn Porter out-jumped two El Modena defenders for a two-point conversion pass from Jason Martian as Villa Park pulled out an 8-7 victory.

It’s All Perspective: “We made him look pretty good, I think,” Corona del Mar Coach Dave Holland said of Tustin quarterback Andy Borza, who completed 11 of 14 passes for 183 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-7 victory over the Sea Kings.

On a Roll: Estancia won its eighth consecutive game and remained unbeaten behind the running of Josh Wojtkiewicz, who ran for a season-high 173 yards and two touchdowns in 21 carries as Estancia defeated Newport Harbor, 28-10.