Big Game Gives Esperanza Alums a Chance to Mingle : Football: Saturday in the Rose Bowl will be like old times for UCLA’s Werner and Kirschke, and Nebraska’s Stai.

Matt Werner insists it was nothing personal. Just a concussion.

But former Esperanza High football lineman Brenden Stai remembers it well, even six years after Werner gave him a painful introduction to the Aztec varsity.

A sophomore offensive lineman, Stai had a starting position on his mind when he lined up against Werner, a junior defensive lineman, in one-on-one blocking drills.

“We hit heads pretty good,” Stai said, “and I was the one who got a concussion.”

Stai hopes he won’t recall that story again Saturday, when he and Werner collide during the Nebraska-UCLA game at the Rose Bowl.

Stai, a 6-foot-4, 300-pound junior, starts at right guard for Nebraska. He has replaced the graduated Will Shields, an All-American and Outland Trophy winner.

Werner, a 6-4, 265-pound senior, starts at right defensive tackle for UCLA. Although Werner doesn’t start opposite Stai, he regularly moves to the left side on certain defensive schemes.

And now, he’s giving away 35 pounds.

“We’ll run into each other again,” Werner said. “Just like old times.”

Stai will have to worry about more than just Werner Saturday--there’s also UCLA nose tackle Travis Kirschke.

Kirschke, 6-5 and 255 pounds, is arguably the best lineman to graduate from Esperanza. A freshman, he came off the bench and played a lot in UCLA’s 27-25 loss to California in the season opener two weeks ago.

“Saturday’s game will be a big one for the Esperanza guys,” Werner said. “It seems like our college football alumni association just keeps on growing and growing.”

The list of former Aztecs includes defensive tackles James Rae (UCLA), Mike Flynn (UCLA), offensive lineman Chuck Underwood (Arizona State) and linebacker Bryan Werner, Matt’s younger brother. Bryan Werner, a Stanford freshman, is out with an ankle injury.

In 16 years as the Aztecs’ strength coach, Bill Pendleton has sent more than 20 linemen and linebackers to Division I college teams, more than any other Orange County school.

Pendleton ranks Matt Werner, Kirschke and Stai among his hardest-working players. Stai was the most powerful of the three, Werner the most explosive and athletic, and Kirschke was “a combination of both.”

Stai was a slow starter and didn’t develop into a great player until late in his junior year, Pendleton said.

“I barely remember Brenden his first two years,” Pendleton said. “He was a late developer, but he really started to come on late.”

Stai now bench presses 505 pounds and has broken several weightlifting records at Nebraska, which has one of the best college weight programs in the nation. His agility drill times are the best among the school’s linemen.

After a redshirt year and two seasons on the bench, Stai is one of four 300-pound starters on Nebraska’s offensive line. The eighth-ranked Cornhuskers are among the nation’s leading rushing teams and have averaged 63 points in their first two victories.

Werner is one of UCLA’s strongest players, and can bench press 424 pounds. He got a late start in Pendleton’s program, transferring from Rutherford (N.J.) High to Esperanza during his sophomore year.

Werner started two seasons at Esperanza and was recruited by several colleges, choosing UCLA over Stanford.

“Matt was so volatile in high school,” Pendleton said. “He’s very intellectual, but very aggressive. We had to calm him down sometimes.”

Usually in practice, as Stai found out.

Pendleton and Aztec Coach Gary Meek always matched the biggest and strongest players against each other in practice. Stai and Werner were a logical match.

“It used to get pretty crazy during practice,” Werner said. “The coaches are going nuts, and you’re getting all fired up and ticked off at each other.

“When I went against Brenden that first time, our elbows were flying and we were hitting each other in the head. I remember Brenden came out and the coaches told him they thought he had a concussion. He wanted to come back in, but they wouldn’t let him.”

Werner graduated in 1988. Kirschke started school the next fall.

Kirschke set several standards for Esperanza defensive tackles in his three years as a starter, finishing with 300 tackles, 25 sacks and seven fumble recoveries. He was a consensus All-American by his senior year and was the 1992 Southern California player of the year.

But Pendleton expected big things from Kirschke well before the player pulled on a jersey. Kirschke was a fourth-grader, an Esperanza ball boy, when Pendleton first spotted him.

“He was big back then, too,” Pendleton said. “People used to say that Travis was on steroids when he played in high school. But what they don’t realize was that he has always been big.”

Kirschke was 6-2 and 195 pounds by his freshman year. He grew three more inches and added 55 pounds in the next four years.

“Travis was a Greek god by the time he got here,” Pendleton said. “He had a great body and great strength. He wasn’t as explosive as Matt was, but he was very powerful, a dominating player from Day 1.”

Kirschke said he lifted only light weights before high school.

“Pendleton worked our butts off,” he said. “He has been a big part of our success. Bill changes people from non-lifters to lifters. He proves to you that you can get it done his way.”

Pendleton’s program focuses on Olympic-style lifts such as the clean-and-jerk. He said the Olympic lifts are more explosive and apply more to football than powerlifts such as the deadlift, bench press and squats.

Players plan and chart their progress. Pendleton helps design a program for each player, one that includes nutrition and exercise.

He monitors players with weekly weigh-ins. If a player is gaining too much weight too quickly and steroids are suspected, the coaches will warn the player of the drugs’ harmful side effects.

Pendleton also pairs older, stronger players with younger players, giving the younger players incentive to improve.

“Coach Pendleton pushed us hard,” Werner said. “He worked out with us. When he put you with older guys who were stronger, you had to get stronger because you got tired of changing the weights after they were done with a set.

“The next thing you know, the younger guys were keeping up with the older guys.”

Big, strong and quick. Kirschke, Stai and Werner will bring all three characteristics to Saturday’s game.

It’s a homecoming of sorts for Stai. He was recruited by UCLA, and he’s looking forward to playing against some familiar faces.

“It’s pretty exciting to see all these Esperanza guys out there,” he said. “But for our team, we want to come out and gain some respect back because UCLA beat us (41-28) the last time we played them (1988).”

Said Werner: “Nebraska wants to come in to hand us our lunches from the start because of what happened in 1988. I was a senior at Esperanza that year and I went to that game. We have been reminding our younger guys of that (game) all week.”

Kirschke has been listening. “We’ve watched Nebraska on film,” he said. “Nebraska has a great offense. That’s all I’m going to say.”