ON THE PREP PATH : Linebacker Real Live Wire After Brush With Death

You never know about Aaron Gutridge, Tustin High School’s surprise-a-minute linebacker. One moment he’s a super- charged competitor, and the next, he’s a pious lad, deep in prayer.

Whatever he does, though, you can be sure he will be thankful for the opportunity.

Last April, Gutridge and five teammates were driving home from a late night visit to Tijuana. Gutridge fell asleep at the wheel and their small pickup truck hit the center divider and flipped three times on Interstate 5 near Encinitas.

The three players in the back of the truck were thrown clear, landing in some bushes.

Amazingly, no one was killed; all escaped serious injury except truck’s owner, Steve Yu, who suffered a concussion and head wounds. He was hospitalized in La Jolla for three days but released after X-rays and CAT scans showed no serious injuries. This year, he is a part-time starting lineman for Tustin.

“It was just a miracle,” said Gutridge, who said no alcohol or drugs were involved. “I woke up, and the windows were crashing in. When I turned around, the guys in the back of the truck were gone. I got out of the car and ran into the center lane, trying to stop someone. Nobody would stop. I ran across the freeway to a call box. The (dispatcher) couldn’t tell what I was saying . . . I was so freaked out.”

Gutridge says the brush with death helped him put life in perspective. He says he lives every day as if it were his last.

That attitude is apparent when Gutridge, a three-year starter, takes the field. His high-flying intensity is one reason Tustin, the county’s third-ranked team, is 8-0, 3-0 in the Sea View League.

Thursday night against Newport Harbor, Gutridge intercepted a pass at Newport’s 10 and returned it for a touchdown. When he reached the end zone, he flipped the ball over his shoulder and accidentally hit a referee in the nose with it.

He rushed to the sideline shouting “rad,” “killer,” and “dude” at his teammates, then knelt down and spent a few minutes alone in prayer.

Such a persona deserves a quick character sketch:

--Gutridge is a 17-year-old senior who pours rubbing alcohol over his cleanly shaven head because he likes to “feel the burn.” During games, he strides over to the team water jug and submerges his head in the icy water. “It helps me breathe,” he said. His teammates still drink it throughout the game, he said.

--Gutridge collects dolls--GI Joes, actually. He has been collecting them all his life and has in his closet enough GI Joes, toy tanks, planes, helicopters and Jeeps to relieve half of the U.S. forces in the Middle East. He packs his lunch in a GI Joe lunch pail.

--He has in his bedroom a toy bunny hanging in a noose from the ceiling. The rabbit has a knife stuck in its head, courtesy of Gutridge, who says he loves animals, especially his cat, Rambo.

--His favorite movie is not “The Terminator,” “Bloodsport,” or the Rambo series. It’s “The Little Mermaid.” He even bought the soundtrack.

His father doesn’t know what to think of his spontaneous, quick-thinking, never-a-dull-moment son.

“He’s just a weird kid,” Lyn Gutridge said. “But we’re just happy he’s still with us.”

Sorry, California girls. Nebraska volleyball Coach Terry Pettit thinks you’re overrated as volleyball players.

“One of the biggest myths the last couple of years is the best volleyball players come from Southern California,” Pettit told USA Today. “Nebraska is a hotbed of volleyball. It is the premier sport for ladies in the state of Nebraska.”

That’s interesting. Volleyball Monthly’s latest national rankings show La Habra at No. 3, Corona del Mar at No. 4, El Toro at No. 16, and Laguna Beach at No. 17.

No Nebraska team was ranked in the top 20.

Say Iemsisanith, the Anaheim linebacker injured Thursday in a game against Savanna, will be out for the season, Anaheim Coach Raul Victores said Saturday.

Victores said Iemsisanith bruised his spinal column and doctors told him to give up football this year.

“He’s OK, but he’s still in a lot of pain,” Victores said.