This Coach Isn’t Afraid of a Hit . . . or Two : Prep football: Brethren Christian’s Mike Roark sees his share of action during scrimmages with his outmanned, but seldom outplayed, team.

He’s not exactly wild about the idea, but Mike Roark knows there are days when he must strap on a football helmet and shoulder pads and scrimmage.

It’s a tough way for a high school coach to make a living. But sometimes Roark doesn’t have a choice.

Roark is the first-year coach at Brethren Christian, a private school of 290 students located in Cypress.

The Warriors have only 17 players on the varsity, five shy of what they need to scrimmage. So Roark, a few assistants and a couple of junior varsity players fill in.

“The coaches have to dress up now and then,” said Roark, who is 30 and counting. “I usually play a little nose guard or linebacker.”

While the Warriors have lacked quantity this season, they have more than made up for it with quality.

The team nicknamed the “Sweet 17” will play Whittier Christian for the Olympic League championship tonight at Lakewood High School.

Brethren Christian (7-1, 2-1 in league) is playing for its first league title since 1982. The Warriors haven’t been to the playoffs since 1986.

When Roark took over last spring, they were coming off consecutive 2-7 seasons. Last year, Brethren Christian lost successive games to Montclair Prep, Valley Christian and Whittier Christian by a combined score of 175-0.

Roark’s first job was to convince the players they could win. It wasn’t easy.

Said quarterback Brandon Stott: “The coaches have a new attitude. It’s fun when they get out there and practice with us. Last year, when we went out there on Friday nights, we knew we were in for a long night. This year, it’s different.”

Said flanker Brian Joseph: “This has turned into a football program now. Before, it was just something to do. Everyone thought football was a joke. Not anymore.”

Perhaps a change of scenery had something to do with it.

The Warriors moved their campus from Paramount to a 20-acre parcel on the southwest corner of Orange Avenue and Grindlay Street in Cypress last summer. It is more centrally located for the school’s students, many of whom live in the Lakewood-Long Beach and Cerritos areas.

Roark made sure the players took advantage of the school’s new weight room with mandatory conditioning during the summer. When a player makes a mistake in practice, Roark makes him run a half mile as punishment.

Conditioning is a must with only 17 players.

“Our practices are like cross-country in shoulder pads,” Joseph said. “We’re in great shape.”

But Roark’s conditioning and discipline also trimmed Brethren Christian’s roster to 17. He had high hopes, and 34 varsity players, when he arrived on campus last April.

“There were a lot of philosophical and personal differences,” Roark said. “Some of the kids felt another coach should have been hired. Then I came in and laid down a lot of rules.”

They were simple: If you don’t come to spring practice, summer passing league or conditioning, you don’t play.

One by one, players began to quit.

“The guys out here are the ones with heart,” Stott said. “With all the discipline and conditioning, coach weeded out the guys who didn’t really want to play.”

After Brethren Christian opened with a 44-0 victory over Capistrano Valley Christian, many who quit wanted to return. Roark said no.

But there’s one player Roark wishes he could have back: senior Tim Nichol.

Three weeks ago, Nichol, a running back and linebacker, was hospitalized with what doctors thought was a torn heart valve. Now the doctors believe the valve was only bruised, and Nichol might be back in time for basketball season.

The team rallied around Nichol during his hospital stay. He was on the sideline for Brethren Christian’s 17-14 homecoming victory over Orange Lutheran.

“That was an emotional game,” tailback Frank Brady said. “In the locker room before the game, our intensity really showed.”

Roark said Nichol brought the team together.

“These 17 guys are the best of friends,” Roark said. “When Tim was in the hospital, all the players showed up the morning after he got hurt. The next Monday, we brought a VCR to his room so he could watch game films.

“Playing football is nice, but these kids know that when you put it in perspective, it’s even better.”

The Warriors have been outnumbered in every game. Most Olympic League teams range from 30 to 40 players, allowing coaches to substitute freely.

But not Roark.

“Sometimes I look down the sidelines, and my assistant and I are the only ones standing there,” Roark said.

No player has a single role. Stott, for example, plays quarterback, defensive back and kicker. Brady, the team’s leading rusher with 699 yards, also plays defensive back.

On kickoffs, Stott’s job is to make sure the Warriors have 11 players on the field. He finds it easier to count the six reserves on the sideline.

“A referee suggested I do that in our second game of the year,” Stott said. “He was a pretty funny referee.”

Roark, the defensive coordinator at San Diego West Hills before coming to Brethren, built the Warrior offense around Stott’s passing.

Stott has thrown for 1,376 yards and 13 touchdowns out of the Warriors’ run-and-shoot, which is surprising teams in a league known for two-back rushing offenses.

“We need a wide-open offense in this league,” Roark said. “We don’t have a lineman over 200 pounds. We don’t have the numbers. We have no choice. We have to go to a lot of razzle-dazzle.”