Spare Pieces Enhance This Season’s Big Picture

The faces, places and races for the 1993 Orange County football season:

Gonzo: Huntington Beach’s Tony Gonzalez appears to be the county’s most desirable recruit. He certainly is one of the top players, maybe the top player.

Gonzalez, a 6-foot-5, 225-pound tight end/linebacker, was a first-team all-county pick last season. He had 38 receptions for 788 yards and two touchdowns. He also made 130 tackles. He has great hands and good speed. When he hits people, they generally go down--hard (he used to box as a hobby).

But Gonzalez is said to be leaning toward playing basketball. He was all-county in that sport as well.

Of course, hitting people in that sport is bad.

Is (he) Good enough?: The least enviable job in Orange County this season belongs to Los Alamitos quarterback Mike Good, who takes over for two-year star Tim Carey (Stanford). Now, no one is expecting Good to have a Carey-esque season (3,397 yards, 35 touchdowns), but comparisons are inevitable.

“We don’t even talk about that,” Coach John Barnes said. “We tell him all we’re concerned about is what’s going on now, this season.”

Well, this season, the Griffins have to replace their entire offensive line. So good luck Mike and get rid of the ball quickly.

His number’s up: Valencia’s Chris Draft may already have drafted his speech, the one he’s going to give when the school retires his number.

Day after day, Draft has seen the jersey of former Tiger standout Ray Pallares in the trophy case. He’s not getting ahead of himself, but . . .

“My No. 34 is going right next to it,” he said. “Then I’ll move on to college feeling good.”

Another season like last one might do the trick. Draft gained 1,600 yards and scored 23 touchdowns in helping . . . excuse us . . . in leading the Tigers to the Division VI title.

One day at a time: Draft, though, isn’t taking things for granted. He’s going to go one game at a time.

“The only thing I’m concerned about is the first game,” Draft said. “Then the second, then the third. It’ll be like that all the way up to 14.”

Uh, the Tigers play only 10 regular-season games. To play 14, Valencia will have to return to the Division VI championship game.

Hopefully, Draft’s jersey will hold up that long.

The other extreme: Villa Park running back Grant Pearsall doesn’t do the PR work, a la Draft, but he isn’t too bad at running with the football either.

Pearsall gained 1,090 yards and scored 16 touchdowns in 10 games last season, despite playing five games on an injured ankle. Of course, you won’t hear Pearsall doing much boasting. He wouldn’t say boo on Halloween.

“I just want to win games,” Pearsall said. “I don’t care about stats or stuff like that.”

The two personalities clash in the season opener. Draft and Valencia face Pearsall’s Villa Park team on Friday at El Modena High School.

Binh there: Running back Binh Tran returns for Costa Mesa this season. He finished third in the county with 1,632 yards last season. Also back is Santa Margarita’s Brian Finneran, who had 62 receptions during the regular season to lead the county.

Bulletin Bored: San Clemente Coach Mark McElroy has been looking for ways to pump up his Tritons. He even phoned a certain newspaper to request the article on San Clemente’s game against Mater Dei last season.

The reason? The headline read: “San Clemente Regresses, Loses to Mater Dei.”

The Monarchs slapped the Tritons around that night, winning, 35-0. McElroy plans to use the story as a little incentive.

You’d think the Tritons could get fired up over the fact that they were the league doormat for a decade (once losing 26 consecutive league games) and haven’t been to the playoffs since 1979.

But since they need a little extra push (thumb tacks ready, Mark?): The only way San Clemente will get to the playoffs is if Capistrano Valley, Dana Hills and Mater Dei drop football. The South Coast League is just too tough. This guy can stick, eh?: San Clemente linebacker Ryan Klaasen is competitive. Very competitive.

“When he’s gets involved in a competition situation, he gets pretty intense,” McElroy said. “He’s gets real aggressive.”

How aggressive? Klaasen, who is 6-3, 230, plays hockey in a local league, which he led in penalty minutes last season.

And he’s the goalie.

One-two got a crush on you: Capistrano Valley Coach Eric Patton has to love his backfield.

At tailback is Dan Geiss, who had 1,209 yards rushing during the regular season--including a 287-yard game against Edison. At quarterback is Sam Gaines, who threw for 965 yards and seven touchdowns despite missing two games because of an injury.

They’re two reasons why the Cougars are one of the county’s top teams.

Go away kid, you could bother me: Gaines had a personal quarterback instructor until recently. But Bob Johnson, who has worked with several high school quarterbacks, dropped him this summer.

Why? Johnson is now an assistant coach at Mission Viejo, a South Coast League rival of Capistrano Valley’s.

Rau-hide: Bob Rau’s back. The former La Habra coach returns to the county to take over the Buena Park program. It’s a dangerous combination.

Rau won four Freeway League titles at La Habra from 1982-88. He did so at times with far less talent than he has at Buena Park. Most noticeable is quarterback George McDonald, a 1,000-yard rusher last season.

Rau guided Duarte into the Division VI title game last season.

And the winner is ... : Carey is at Stanford, so we’ll have a new champion in the Ex-Mater Dei Quarterback of the Year competition. Rob Petko (Valencia), Derek Uhl (Trabuco Hills) and Justin Vedder (Laguna Hills) all began their high school careers with the Monarchs.

Great Scotts: Seniors Scott Bertoni (Fountain Valley) and Scott Covington (Dana Hills) are big reasons why their teams will challenge for league titles this season. Bertoni threw for more than 1,900 yards and 19 touchdowns and Covington threw for more than 1,200 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Everybody knows his name: Trabuco Hills Coach Jim Barnett had yet to find the perfect postgame watering holes for coaches and parents. So he went into business for himself.

Barnett and a group of investors--including former USC and Raider quarterback Mike Rae--opened a sports bar near the school.

They already have one loyal customer. Bill Crow, a Trabuco Hills assistant, frequents the joint enough to become its version of Norm Peterson.

“When he walks in, everyone yells, ‘Bill!’ ” Barnett said. “Of course, we don’t let him run up a tab like Norm Peterson did.”

Said one patron: “Bill always has a beer mug in front of his stool. Even when he’s not there.”

Small Pond Dept.: Brethren Christian may have the best talent per capita in the county. Although the student body is only a little more than 400, the team has two big-time recruits in quarterback Reggie Davis (6-4, 200) and lineman Daryl Jones (6-3, 305).

Six guys you won’t see at the salad bar: Travis Kirschke, Esperanza’s mammoth lineman, has moved on to UCLA, but there’s certainly no shortage of big men this year. All are drawing attention from college recruiters. Here’s the beef:

Bobby Matthews (Magnolia) at 6-7 and 330 pounds. He is in his third year on varsity. Best to keep fingers clear at feeding time.

Jeremiah Ross (Rancho Alamitos) at 6-5, 275. He’s so large they call him “J-Town.” A big reason the Vaqueros stand a good chance of repeating as Garden Grove League champions.

Mitch McCrimmon (Capistrano Valley) at 6-6 and 272. McCrimmon has been working with Marv Marinovich to improve his strength. The Marinovich program should work out a little better for McCrimmon, as there’s little chance he’ll get cut by the Cougars.

Terry Williams (El Dorado) at 6-6 and 255. He has proved to be a good pass blocker. Could be the best offensive lineman in the Empire League, which is saying something considering Esperanza and Los Alamitos are also in that league.

Ken Foersch (Fountain Valley) at 6-4 and 255. The Barons have a tradition of great linemen and Foersch is next in that line. His main job will be to keep Bertoni healthy, which will give the Barons a shot at the Sunset League title.

David Cruickshank (Dana Hills) at 6-5 and 240. He forced six fumbles as a junior. Apparently, running backs would rather give up the ball than give up a vital organ.

Follow the bouncing ball: Brea-Olinda Coach Jon Looney called last season’s 4-6 Wildcats “the unluckiest team in Orange County” when it came to fumble recoveries and breaks in close games.

The Wildcats lost by three to Valencia after having two touchdowns called back on penalties. They lost to El Dorado, 7-6, after fumbling twice inside the Golden Hawks’ four-yard line. A bobbled punt return proved costly in a 31-27 loss to Anaheim.

“We were two breaks away from winning the Orange League title,” Looney said. “There was one point, six games into the season, where we had forced 19 fumbles and recovered only one. Our offense had fumbled only three times, and lost all three.”

Looney hopes for a reversal of fortune this season. With nine offensive starters back, including quarterback Paul Chiotti, the Wildcats have a great shot at returning to the playoffs.

But only if they can buy a break.

Sack time: Yes, Kirschke is gone, but don’t be too concerned about the Aztecs. They’re not totally defenseless.

Linebacker Jim Stewart (6-1, 215) is back. He had 10 sacks last season as an outside linebacker. He moves inside this season, where Coach Gary Meek hopes he’ll be even more vicious.

Three-peats: Irvine (Division IV), Los Alamitos (Division II) and Valencia (Division VI) all will try to win their third consecutive section championships. Brea-Olinda is the only county team to have won three titles in a row. The Wildcats were 1-A champions in 1961-62 and 2-A champions in 1963.

The Big Game: Last year it was easy, as Los Alamitos and Esperanza were by far the class of the county. This season, there is more parity among the top teams.

But, if you have to choose just one, go to Capistrano Valley vs. Mater Dei, Oct. 22 at Santa Ana Stadium. It’s got it all . . . two top teams . . . an intense crowd . . . parochial vs. public . . . former high school teammates as opposing coaches (Rollinson and Patton played at Mater Dei) . . . and, it will probably decide the league title.

See ya there.

Mike Reilley also contributed to this story.