PREP FOOTBALL ’94 / SEA VIEW LEAGUE : Dominelli Follows His Instincts on Field : Football: Woodbridge linebacker, perhaps one of the county’s finest at finding the ball, had thoughts about sitting out the season.

To watch Ian Dominelli play with the passion he does, one would never suspect that he thought about skipping football during his senior season.

To watch him sidestep blockers, to watch him knock ballcarriers backward, one would never suspect that the game had become all too routine.

To watch him personalize each game as his own defensive highlight film, one would never suspect that he was in physical pain.

“Without a doubt, bar none, mentally and physically, he is the best linebacker I have ever seen,” Woodbridge Coach Rick Gibson said. “I know that he’s our kid and people are going to say that I’m from Woodbridge and, of course, I’m going to rate him high, but if you look at straight film, I think you’ll rate him higher than anybody in recent history.”

Which is heavy praise, given the county’s most recent history included Huntington Beach’s Tony Gonzalez, Newport Harbor’s Steve Gonzales and Valencia’s Chris Draft.

“Ian seems to have an innate ability to know where the ball is going,” Gibson said. “We blitz him a lot, but he’s good enough to blitz and recover. Anybody can make a tackle straight on; his ability is that he comes through the line of scrimmage and can find the ball so quickly. Whether the quarterback has it or it’s a sweep away from him, he’s there.”

But he almost wasn’t there when practice began two weeks ago.

Dominelli first thought about leaving the football program during last year’s 7-3 season. Despite the team’s overall success, the Warriors’ fifth-place finish in the Sea View League kept them out of the playoffs, and the game had become so repetitive that he thought he could use a rest. The situation wasn’t helped by the fractured wrist he played with during the year.

“I was pretty serious about sitting out,” Dominelli said. “My parents and a lot of my friends kept telling me to stick with it, and I didn’t find anybody telling me not to play.”

So he relented. He’s going to play. Too bad for the rest of the league.

“He’s probably the best player in the league,” Santa Margarita Coach Jim Hartigan said.

Dominelli has attracted interest from schools such as California, San Diego State, Oregon, Washington and Penn State. He was a first-team all-league player and a Times Orange County second-team selection--one of only two juniors and one sophomore on the 48-player list.

Woodbridge will get a taste of life without Dominelli, though--the Warriors will be without him the first two games of the season while he recovers from wrist surgery.

He broke his wrist at the end of his sophomore season and again last year. He held off on surgery until this year, when he injured the wrist in June, but insurance, doctors’ schedules and facility availability meant a 1 1/2-month wait. The surgery was finally done Aug. 11, and he will miss the Pacifica and Foothill games. Then he will play wearing a cast.

“I honestly think we just need him healthy for the league,” Gibson said. “I’m not worried at all. If he missed five weeks of the preseason, I know his ability level would be there when he walks in the door. The good thing about a surgical procedure like this is that he can run; it’s not like he has to work his way back into shape.”

And of course, the injury has nothing to do with his greatest asset, his instincts.

“I think that’s God-given,” Dominelli said. “I think that’s what separates me. I just get out there and I’m a different person. I don’t remember anything else when I’m out there.

“I’m just out there to play football. I get focused.

“The key for me is having fun when I go out and play, don’t take it too seriously. It’s not life or death.”