ORANGE COUNTY ALL-STAR FOOTBALL GAME : McDonald Strong-Armed New Attack on Aztecs

There are bound to be a few raised eyebrows Friday night when Keith McDonald is announced as the starting quarterback for the North in the Orange County all-star football game at Orange Coast College.

That will Keith McDonald, graduate of Esperanza High School, where football is strictly a tackle-to-tackle game. It’s a program that’s had an up-the-middle-or-down-the-tubes philosophy since the school was founded.

With McDonald, however, the Aztecs had a little something extra--a passing attack.

“Keith has a tremendous arm,” said Brea-Olinda Coach Jon Looney, who will coach the North team. “If he played for a team that had a passing offense, he would have thrown for a lot of yards.”

McDonald, a starter since his sophomore season, threw for more than 1,000 yards in each of the past two seasons and led the Aztecs to the Southern Section Division III championship last fall. He also threw 35 touchdowns during his career, a school record.

While those numbers might not be awesome, they were the result of a downright pass-happy attack . . . in comparison to the traditional Aztec offensive approach.

“It was frustrating at times, not being able to throw more,” McDonald said. “But that was the system and my job was to run it.”

Run is the usually the operative word.

Running backs often have flourished at Esperanza. Mike Miscione gained 1,986 yards in 1986 and Jim Farrell scored 32 touchdowns in 1984.

Quarterbacks usually have handed off.

“My uncle used to tease me about that,” McDonald said. “He would ask if my arm ever got tired from handing off.”

But McDonald did his part to change that. As a junior, he threw for more than 1,500 yards and a school-record 20 touchdowns. Last season, his numbers dropped a bit, as he threw for more than 1,200 yards and 11 touchdowns.

“I would’ve loved to have thrown more,” McDonald said, “but we set up our passing game with our running game and that overwhelmed other teams.”

Jarod Smith and Garrick Emry combined to gain more than 2,000 yards rushing last season, leaving little opportunities to throw. Still, McDonald was there when the Aztecs needed him.

Against Sunny Hills in a nonleague game, McDonald completed 12 of 16 passes for 198 yards in a 17-13 victory. During a crucial Empire League game against Loara, he completed six of seven passes in the second half, including a three-yard touchdown pass that gave the Aztecs a 12-7 come-from-behind victory.

“We were successful with what we were doing,” McDonald said, “but I knew the team would need a big game from me sometime.”

That night came in the Division III semifinals against Hart. The Indians’ run-and-shoot offense was giving the Esperanza defense fits.

“They were scoring on almost every possession, so we had to throw,” McDonald said.

McDonald completed 15 of 21 passes and a career-high three touchdowns. With three seconds left, he threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to Reid Pullen to give the Aztecs a 38-35 victory.

The following week, the Aztecs beat St. Paul, 25-7, to win the division title. McDonald attempted only five passes as the Esperanza running game dominated.

“To tell you the truth, I’d rather have the championship than the passing yards,” McDonald said. “I know what I can do.”

Apparently, so did coaches at the University of Utah, which was the only school to offer McDonald a football scholarship. Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Long Beach, UCLA and USC recruited him to play baseball.

McDonald, who played first base and hit .406 for the Aztecs last season, will play both sports at Utah.