PREP FOOTBALL ’94 / GOLDEN WEST LEAGUE : Losing Streak Doesn’t Get Donnelly Down : Football: Ocean View coach says things are starting to come together with his team.

John Donnelly is walking, talking, observing, gesturing. Donnelly is coaching, which in itself is not news because Ocean View High pays him to do this.

Neither is Donnelly’s seemingly boundless energy on the football field something to turn heads. Enthusiasm is an unwritten prerequisite for coaching.

What is eye-opening, however, is that Donnelly’s approach remains constant despite a losing streak spanning 29 games, players who wanted to be anywhere but at practice and the questions you would expect to bombard a coach whose team last won during the Bush Administration.

Energy? Who could blame Donnelly if he begged for some time off--like forever.

“I’m not going to say it has been easy, because it hasn’t,” Donnelly said. “It has been quite a struggle and real stressful at times. But I really believe it has all been worth it because, honestly, I think things are coming together.”

After three seasons as the Sunset League’s doormat, Ocean View enters the Golden West League’s inaugural season with hope. And while Donnelly, in his second year as coach, admits the Seahawks won’t win a league championship anytime soon, he says a positive attitude has permeated the team and will lead to victories this season.

“The kids worked hard in the off-season; a lot of learning went on in the summer,” Donnelly said. “We really think good things are going to happen.”

The slightest improvement would be trumpeted.

On Sept. 14, 1991, Ocean View defeated Saddleback, 13-7, in a season opener. No one could have imagined that lackluster victory would become one of the team’s highlights of the decade.

The Seahawks have been outscored, 877-227, for an average of 30.2-7.8 during the streak. Ocean View also has lost 20 consecutive league games.

Although never an Orange County football power, Ocean View has experienced success. The Seahawks shared the Sunset League title in 1989 and had a winning record (5-4-1) in 1990.

So what happened?

“It’s hard to say exactly,” Donnelly said. “It was a lot of things.”

As the losing streak grew, so did apathy for football at Ocean View. Some players came to practice infrequently, and many of those who did show pointed fingers.

“Not to knock anybody, but the kids didn’t get a lot of discipline before,” Donnelly said. “A lot of the kids weren’t in the best condition in the world.

“We’re not letting them make excuses any more.”

Donnelly, 29, coached the offensive and defensive lines when the hard times hit in 1991. He became head coach last season when the streak increased from 19 to its current mark.

A 1983 graduate of Ocean View, Donnelly moved quickly to remove the “loser” tag synonymous with the team. He met with players often during the first few months after his hiring, trying to instill confidence.

It didn’t pay off in victories last season, but Donnelly said progress was made.

“We thought we were going to win a few last year, but we made a lot of improvements,” Donnelly said. “We’re a lot farther ahead this year than last.”

His charges concur.

“In previous years we always thought about the losing, but we’re not even thinking about that now,” said senior offensive lineman Nathan Traxler, in his third season on the varsity.

“The overall attitude has been great. We’re looking for the win and we think it’s going to happen.”

Senior running back Calvin Silva, also a three-year varsity player, said team unity is on the rise.

“We go to the movies together; we have beach parties together,” Silva said. “We never went out during previous years.

“In the past we weren’t as one.”

Ocean View’s administration and booster club have been supportive of Donnelly’s approach.

“It was real hard to play when we didn’t get support from the school,” Traxler said. “But that started to change last year. A lot of parents and kids came out last year even though we didn’t win.”

Donnelly hopes to build on the positive trend and give the fans something to cheer about-- finally .

“We’ve been waiting for this season to come for a long time,” he said. “It’s all been building up to this. The feeling is there’s no place to go but up.”