The <i> Big</i> Game : No. 1 Esperanza, No. 2 Los Alamitos Collide Tonight

Today’s assignment is to compare and contrast.

On one side of the football, wearing red and gold, is No. 1-ranked Esperanza. On the other, in white with blue numerals, is No. 2-ranked Los Alamitos. Two exceptional, unbeaten teams. Two exceptionally different teams.

Literally, there are 25 miles separating the two schools. Figuratively, the distance could be measured in light years. They are the unlikeliest of rivals. And yet they have been the fiercest of rivals since Esperanza joined the Empire League in 1981.

Esperanza calls the northeast corner of Orange County home. The Riverside County line is a short drive east on the Riverside Freeway.

Los Alamitos is tucked away in the northwest corner of the county. Walk out a gate on the athletic field, cross a bridge over a flood control channel and you’ll find yourself in Los Angeles County.

Bigger and stronger than most opponents, Esperanza is well-known for its massive linemen and swift running backs who combine to hammer other teams into submission.

This season’s team is no exception. Its best player is Travis Kirschke, a 6-foot-5, 255-pound senior considered by many to be the finest prep lineman in the state. The Aztecs’ backs, led by Bill Ross, have combined to rush for 2,111 yards--an average of more than 300 a game.

Faster and more athletic than its opponents, Los Alamitos has earned a reputation for producing strong-armed quarterbacks and sure-handed receivers. None have been as skilled and talented at the quarterback position as Tim Carey, a 6-4, 175-pound senior who is being courted by Stanford Coach Bill Walsh, among others. Carey has thrown for a county-leading 1,769 yards with 18 touchdowns and only two interceptions.

“I think the contrast is great,” Los Alamitos Coach John Barnes said. “Everybody thinks their defense is overpowering and our offense is overpowering.”

Said Esperanza Coach Gary Meek: “When you talk about what we do and what they do, it’s a completely different spectrum. We’re at opposite poles.”

Meek, a 1967 graduate of Santa Ana Valley, was molded by legendary Coach Dick Hill. Meek went on to play linebacker at Santa Ana College and San Diego State. He spent nine seasons as an assistant to Pete Yoder before being named head coach five days before practice began in 1986.

His record is 60-16-3, including a Southern Section championship in 1990.

Barnes, a former kicker at the University of Nevada, was Los Alamitos’ third coach in as many seasons when he took over in 1979. The dean of Empire League coaches, Barnes has compiled a 103-45-5 record, including a section championship last season.

Under Meek, Esperanza thrives on building football teams in the weight room. The Aztecs beat opponents until they break.

Under Barnes, Los Alamitos lives and dies on the finesse of the pass.

Seldom have the teams’ methods of operation varied.

At the rivalry’s outset, Esperanza dominated. The sheer size and strength of its players were too much for Los Alamitos to handle. After four consecutive losses in 1981-84, Los Alamitos began to catch up with a string of fine quarterbacks, and the Griffins went on a five-game winning streak.

Esperanza won the next two, but Los Alamitos evened the series with an 8-0 victory in the section title game last December at Cerritos College. Never were the teams’ differences so apparent as on that night.

Esperanza, riding a 27-game winning streak, stuck to the ground but found little room to run. Los Alamitos, with its run-and-shoot offense, took flight.

Tonight, with more attention than usual focused their way, Esperanza and Los Alamitos play for the 13th time.

After all these years, Meek and Barnes say their players still know little about each other, and that adds a touch of mystery to the biggest game of 1992.

“I’m sure there are Kirschke stories at Los Al, just like there are Carey stories around here,” Meek said. “I’m sure they’ve heard Travis is a monster with one eyeball in the middle of his forehead, when really he’s a pretty nice kid.

“They don’t know the human, the personal side of us, and we don’t know them very well.”

Unlike neighborhood rivalries--Edison-Fountain Valley, Mater Dei-Servite and Capistrano Valley-Mission Viejo-El Toro come to mind--Esperanza and Los Alamitos students didn’t grow up playing Little League and Pop Warner together. They don’t run into each other at the mall.

Said Barnes: “They are the farthest (league) school from us, and our kids really don’t know their kids. And their kids don’t really know our kids.”

But there’s no doubt they know each other by reputation.

Kirschke and Carey, the most celebrated of all, have sparred in the newspapers and on TV in the days and weeks leading up to the game.

“We’ll really feel like we’re No. 1 after we beat Los Alamitos,” said Kirschke, firing the opening salvo.

“I don’t expect to see much of Kirschke,” Carey countered a few days later.

Esperanza-Los Alamitos has always been a big game to the participants. Tonight, it’s just a little bigger for the rest of us.

Through the Years

1991--Los Alamitos 8, Esperanza 0*

1991--Esperanza 28, Los Alamitos 7

1990--Esperanza 27, Los Alamitos 3

1989--Los Alamitos 42, Esperanza 28

1988--Los Alamitos 21, Esperanza 0

1987--Los Alamitos 13, Esperanza 10

1986--Los Alamitos 23, Esperanza 14

1985--Los Alamitos 24, Esperanza 21

1984--Esperanza 37, Los Alamitos 0

1983--Esperanza 7, Los Alamitos 6

1982--Esperanza 42, Los Alamitos 7

1981--Esperanza 28, Los Alamitos 10

*--Southern Section Division III final.