An Unknown Factor Awaits County Teams

For the past 12 years, a team from Orange County has won the Division VI football championship. But the addition of the Montview League has added some uncertainty to a usually clear picture.

“We’re totally in the dark,” said Roger Takahashi, coach of No. 2-seeded La Quinta. “We hope to get an idea after the first round.”

For Takahashi, a crash course in eastern San Gabriel Valley football will be necessary only if his team defeats Buena Park in the first round Friday, and Sierra Vista beats Valencia on Saturday. Four other coaches have taken it sooner.

Until this season, local coaches had only to be concerned with the Suburban League, and after 1977, the first year the playoffs were reformatted, that wasn’t much of a concern. Since Norwalk defeated Neff in the first title game, only one other team from outside the county (La Mirada, 1984) has made it to the final.

This weekend, four Montview League teams--Pomona, Sierra Vista, San Dimas and Bassett--will try to move in on Orange County’s turf.

“It’s a big question mark in our minds, and we have four schools in our league that are going to have their questions answered one way or another,” said Bassett Coach Mark Pettengill, whose team plays top-seeded Tustin on Friday. “I hope it’s not too hard a lesson.”

The consensus and seedings certainly point to more success for Orange County, home of all four seeded teams. Tustin and La Quinta, both unbeaten, are favored to meet for the championship Dec. 7.

There are some other powerful, playoff-hardened teams within the bracket. No. 3 Sunny Hills, which lost in the 1989 semifinals to Corona del Mar, has outscored its past five opponents, 165-6, and has two of the fastest running backs in the division (Mike Sullivan and Kenny Overby).

Valencia’s only loss was to No. 4 Brea-Olinda, costing the Tigers the Orange League title and a seeding. Fullerton, Newport Harbor and Pacifica are strong second-place teams, and Rancho Alamitos probably is the strongest third-place team in the division.

And of course, two-time defending champion Corona del Mar is back to try again after squeaking into the playoffs with the final Sea View League bid for the second year in a row. But the Sea Kings will be without starting quarterback Todd Kehrli, who helped them to the title as a sophomore last year. Kehrli seriously cut the pinky finger on his throwing hand and has missed the past three games.

Senior Chad Woolsey has replaced Kehrli, and Corona del Mar Coach Dave Holland said he has been improving every week. If the Sea Kings survive their first-round game Friday with Brea-Olinda, there is a slight chance Kehrli might return. If not, Holland is confident that Woolsey will do well.

“There’s always going to be a surprise or two, and we’re counting on us being that surprise,” Holland said.

The Montview League has no seeded teams and its first-place team, Pomona, is 5-5.

In three years at Sierra Vista, Coach Don LeGro has turned around a program that was 0-19-1 in the two seasons before he came. Led by Joe Ruvalcaba, the division’s leading rusher with 1,662 yards in 302 carries, Sierra Vista won a share of the league title for the first time in the school’s 26-year history. The Dons’ only league loss was to Pomona, 21-14, on a 72-yard touchdown scramble by quarterback Johnny McWilliams in the final seconds.

Pomona began the season 1-4 but won four of its last five games after McWilliams, who is 6-feet-6 and also plays basketball, took over as quarterback. San Dimas, which won its first seven games and was ranked as high as third in the division, is led by Matt Harding, who has gained 995 yards.

Amid the furious exchanging of game films and trading information about other teams, Tustin Coach Marijon Ancich said it may be an advantage to be in the dark.

“Actually, it may be even better because you hear so much about this team or that, up or down, that the players start believing it,” Ancich said. “When you play someone you don’t know about, you find out at game time.”

DIVISION VI

Defending Champion--Corona del Mar.

First-Round Schedule: Friday, 7:30 p.m.--Bassett (5-4-1) at Tustin (10-0); Pacifica (7-3) at Fullerton (7-3); Rancho Alamitos (8-2) vs. Pomona (5-5) at Bonita High; Corona del Mar (5-4-1) at Brea-Olinda (7-2-1); Savanna (6-2-2) vs. Sunny Hills (7-3) at Buena Park High; San Dimas (8-2) at Newport Harbor (7-3); Buena Park (5-5) vs. La Quinta (10-0) at Bolsa Grande High. Saturday, 7:30 p.m.--Sierra Vista (8-2) at Valencia (9-1).

Top teams--Tustin, La Quinta, Sunny Hills, Brea-Olinda, Valencia.

Dark Horse: Newport Harbor. The Sailors are on a roll after smashing Saddleback, 42-14, to become the Sea View League’s second-seeded team.

Best Draw: Rancho Alamitos. If the third-place Vaqueros can get by first-round opponent Pomona of the Montview League, they will face the winner of Corona del Mar and Brea-Olinda.

Worst Draw: La Quinta. Although they are seeded No. 2, the Aztecs face a tough third-place team, Buena Park, in the first round. And if they win, they play either once-beaten Valencia or twice-beaten Sierra Vista.

Key Players: Visko Ancich and Ron Goods, RBs, Tustin; Mike Ehli, LB, Valencia; D.C. Olsen, LB, Fullerton; Matt Harding, RB, San Dimas; Donald Hopkins, QB/S, La Quinta; John Luevanos, QB, Brea-Olinda; Johnny McWilliams, QB, Pomona; Kenny Overby and Mike Sullivan, RBs, Sunny Hills; Joe Ruvalcaba, RB, Sierra Vista; Ulysses Trammell, RB, Rancho Alamitos.

Noteworthy: Corona del Mar, the two-time defending champion, is the only school to have won consecutive titles in the division/conference since the Southern Section playoffs were reformatted in 1977.