Lachapelle’s Fire Is Recharging Edison : Prep football: Versatile player has recovered from costly mistake last season. He’s again leading the Chargers’ defense.
Edison free safety Bryan Lachapelle has an extreme passion for football, but that passion almost drove him away from the game . . . for good.
“Bryan is an emotional player,” Edison Coach Dave White said. “He’s big, he’s fast, and he can really hit. Whenever he’s out there, he usually makes good things happen for us.”
But something bad happened to Lachapelle and Edison last October.
Edison had battled Huntington Beach to a 7-7 tie with only minutes remaining. The Chargers, facing fourth and 23 from their seven, lined up to punt.
“Huntington had only 10 guys on the field and Bryan saw one of our players open,” White said. “It wasn’t the right time to make that call, but he called for a fake punt.”
Lachapelle took the snap and rolled out to his left, but he had no open receiver. He was stopped after a four-yard gain, and with one minute remaining, Jason Bartusick kicked a 21-yard field goal to give Huntington Beach a 10-7 victory.
The Oilers went on to win the Sunset League championship and advance to the Southern Section Division II championship game.
“I felt I cost the team the game,” Lachapelle said. “Everything was going right in that game. The defense did what we wanted to and we stopped Tony Gonzalez. But that one play, I screwed up big time.”
Lachapelle was so distraught he skipped the team meeting the next day.
“I was going to quit the team,” Lachapelle said. “It’s tough when the team is always looking to you to be a leader. You can’t let them know when you’re hurting because you have to be what they expect you to be.”
Said White: “Sometimes, we all make football out to be bigger than life. But these are just 16-year-old kids.”
Said Lachapelle: “I was so down after that Huntington Beach game. But Coach White saved me.”
White brought Lachapelle back to football, and now the sport holds promise of a bright future.
Pacific 10 schools, including Arizona State, California, UCLA and Washington, along with other schools such as San Diego State and Nevada Las Vegas have shown interest in Lachapelle, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound first-team All-Sunset League defensive back last season.
“He’s one of the best defensive players to come through this school,” White said. “I’ve always told my teams that a missed field goal at the end of a game or a game-winning touchdown on the last play, that one play doesn’t make the game. There are a hundred or so plays besides that play that are just as important.”
Said Lachapelle: “It took awhile for me to understand that.”
Said White: “Bryan made a mistake in that situation and no one felt worse about it than he did. But the team really pulled together after that game. We finished with a great season.”
The Chargers won seven consecutive games after the Huntington Beach loss, finishing second in league and defeating Canyon Country Canyon in the first round of the Division II playoffs, 40-20. Eventual champion Los Alamitos beat Edison in the quarterfinals.
Lachapelle returned this season as one of only two starters back on defense. But two days before the season opener against Corona del Mar, he broke the metacarpal bone on the ring finger of his right hand during practice.
The injury hasn’t sidelined Lachapelle, who plays with a fiberglass cast encased by a foam shell and sealed with athletic tape.
But with only one hand to tackle with, Lachapelle had trouble in the opener. So did the Edison defense, giving up 380 yards rushing to the Sea Kings before winning, 35-28.
The Chargers returned to an attacking style of defense and that helped them defeat Capistrano Valley, 21-17.
“Bryan was in on about 15 tackles and two sacks,” White said. Lachapelle showed his versatility by moving to linebacker for that game.
“Against teams that throw more, he’ll play more free safety,” White said. “Against teams that run more, he’ll play more linebacker. We’ll try to position him so he can make as many plays as possible. He’s our Ronnie Lott.”
EDISON VS. SAN CLEMENTE
Featured Game
When: 7:30 tonight
Where: San Clemente High
Records: Edison 2-0; San Clemente 1-1
Rankings: Edison eighth in Orange County, San Clemente unranked
Noteworthy: San Clemente offensive lineman Brett Samperi and Edison defensive back Bryan Lachapelle are among the county’s best.