Decision to Start Frank Helped Rancho Alamitos Earn Passing Grade

Although it was a simple oversight, John Frank couldn’t blame the Rancho Alamitos student league for scheduling the winter formal dance on the night of the Southern Section Division VII championship football game.

“I don’t think anyone gave us much of chance,” Frank said. “The big three (Jeff Byrd, Leon Vickers, and Marshall Brown) were gone, there’s a new coach and there’s a sophomore starting at quarterback. They probably thought, ‘He’s going to get killed, and Rancho doesn’t have a chance to make the finals again.’ ”

But here it is Dec. 9, the day of the big dance, and all anyone can talk about is. . . the football team? The dance will go on, but attendance should be down drastically.

Most of the student body of 1,060 will be at El Camino College tonight where the football team will be playing Mira Costa at 7:30 for the section title.

The dance would have probably been a bigger draw had it not been for the exploits of Frank, the sophomore quarterback.

Frank has thrived behind a mammoth offensive line and the passing offense implemented by first-year Coach Doug Case. In 13 games, Frank has thrown for 1,801 yards, 20 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, including 415 yards and four touchdowns in the playoffs. The Vaqueros were almost exclusively a running team in the past behind former coach Mark Miller, but Case has opened up the offense by utilizing the skills of Frank and three big-play receivers, Jeff Turbarg, Richard Allen and Manny Metcalf.

The running game is still king at Rancho Alamitos--tailbacks Kevin Allen and Moukda Choulamany have run for more than 2,000 yards--but Case acknowledged that the Vaqueros would all be dancing tonight if not for the passing game.

“There’s no doubt about it,” Case said. “We wouldn’t have the balanced attack, and without that, there’s no way we’d still be playing.”

However, the offense would have likely been unbalanced if Frank had not won the starting job. The other two quarterback candidates, Ed Mulipola and Manny Metcalf, were runners, and Case said an option offense was a distinct possibility.

But Case changed his mind during the summer when he saw Frank perform in a passing league tournament in Irvine.

“John completed about 90% of his passes that day,” Case said. “He was hitting crossing patterns beautifully and he did everything right. From there, he just took over.”

Frank said he was as surprised as anybody when he was named the starter.

“I remember sitting up in the stands last year watching the varsity and trying to think who would be the quarterback this year--Manny, Ed, Mario (Ramirez),” Frank said. “I was the last person on the list.”

Still, had Metcalf not suffered a knee injury, Case said he might have started the season at quarterback.

“I think the team was still not sure I could take a hit when we started the season,” Frank said.

When Rancho Alamitos began the season by winning only one four games, Frank began to doubt himself.

“I kind thought they’d replace me when Manny came back,” he said.

Frank said the low point came in a 25-7 loss to Mission Viejo when he fumbled a snap and threw an interception. But even then, Frank said neither Case nor his teammates ever lost faith in his ability to lead.

“The guys were telling me as I’d walk off the field, ‘You’re going to bring this team back. Don’t worry about it.’

“And Coach Case kept telling me, ‘You’re the starting quarterback for the season.’ He saw something in me that I didn’t even see.”

Case’s confidence in Frank has paid off. Not only has Frank improved physically, but he is a much smarter quarterback than he was even a month ago.

A testament to how far Frank has come was evident in Rancho Alamitos’ 24-14 victory Friday over Arroyo Grande. Frank’s audible call in the second half resulted in a 38-yard touchdown pass to Turbarg that secured the victory.

“I don’t know if I’d have had the confidence or the thought process to do that earlier,” Frank said. “I never even used to look at the defense. Now, I know what to look for.”

Occasionally, Frank said his coach almost has too much confidence him.

“Every week coach will put in something else and tell me, “You ready to air it up this week?’ ” Frank said. “Sometimes, it even surprises me that we pass in certain situations. I get the play in the huddle and I’ll think, ‘We’re going to pass now?’ ”

If Frank thinks he’s passing a lot now, wait until 1994.

“His future looks bright,” Case said. “We’ll probably build our packages around him the next two years.”

Who would have ever thought you’d hear a Rancho Alamitos coach say he was going to build an offense around a quarterback? The people who can’t believe it are probably the same ones who thought the section title game wouldn’t conflict with the winter formal.