Defending Champion Laguna Hills Could Be Even Bigger, Better

Steve Bresnahan laughed when asked if he and his Laguna Hills High football players were feeling any pressure to repeat as Pacific Coast League champions.

“Pressure?” he asked. “There’s no pressure now. The pressure was on us three years ago, when I first came here, and we were coming off an 0-10 season.”

The Hawks, ranked third in the Southern Section Division VII preseason poll, have come a long way since going 2-8 in 1988, Bresnahan’s first season.

“It was tough going into those games and knowing you’re not going to win,” he said. “Now, the kids expect to do well.”

In two seasons, Bresnahan has turned a doormat into a league champion and playoff contender. The Hawks are 17-16-1 under Bresnahan, including two trips to the playoffs and a league title.

The Hawks surprised many in 1989, slipping into the playoffs with a 5-5 record and upsetting top-seeded Yucaipa in the first round.

They were 9-2-1 and went undefeated in league last year, reaching the playoff quarterfinals before losing to San Marino, 32-20.

Bresnahan previously coached at Lakewood High, West Los Angeles College and was an assistant for four seasons at Cal State Long Beach. He left the junior college job after only three months to come to Laguna Hills.

“I’ve been a lot of places,” he said. “And I saw a lot of potential here. It’s a growing area, and the academics and administration at the school are terrific.

“Still, (the winning) happened a year or two faster than I figured it would.”

Bresnahan started the winning attitude in the weight room. He was appalled when he arrived in 1988 and saw that none of his players could bench press more than 300 pounds.

“We were embarrassingly weak,” he said.

That changed when Bresnahan started individual, year-round weight training for his players.

Bresnahan’s prized weight-room product is lineman Ryan Brubaker, a 6-foot-2, 225-pound senior. Brubaker leads the team with a 365-pound bench press, and 11 others have benched 300 pounds or more.

“The weight training has helped us more than just physically,” Bresnahan said. “It brings in the confidence factor, too.”

He hopes the Hawks’ size and strength will make up for a lack of experience this season.

The Hawks lost eight first-team, all-league players from last year’s league championship team, including quarterback Casey Sullivan, running back Marwan Saba and receivers Kirk Brown and Dave Childs.

“We were hit really, really hard in the skill areas this year. But I don’t know if we really have any weaknesses there.

“We’re losing eight all-leaguers, so I don’t know if you can call us the favorites this year.”

But the other league coaches disagree. They say the Hawks return enough talent to repeat as champions.

“Laguna Hills has built a great program in a short time,” Laguna Beach Coach Lyman Olney said. “You have to give them the nod again this year.”

Said Estancia Coach John Liebengood: “If I have to pick someone, it’ll be Laguna Hills again. The guys do a great job coaching down there. There’s no turnover in the staff, and it’s all on-campus staff, which is a big plus. With his JVs coming in after an undefeated season and the nucleus he has back, he’ll be strong.”

Trabuco Hills Coach Jim Barnett, whose team won league and section titles in 1988 and ‘89, said the Hawks made the league more competitive by winning last year.

“I think it helped the league to have someone else win it,” he said. “If we would have won it one more year, they wouldn’t have let us back in the league.

“From what I hear, Laguna Hills thinks they’re better than last year.”