O’Brien Takes Accomplishments in Stride

Marc O’Brien isn’t too impressed with his early-season success at quarterback for Fullerton College.

O’Brien, a sophomore from Valencia High, completed 17 of 22 passes for 275 yards for two touchdowns and rushed for another to help the Hornets to a 39-39 tie with Mt. San Antonio two weeks ago. Mt. San Antonio was the No. 1 team in the J.C. Grid-Wire national rankings.

The tie earned unranked Fullerton and O’Brien some early-season attention, but he has kept it in perspective.

“Some people were making a big deal out of the first game,” O’Brien said. “But we have nine games left and if I have a bad game I’m right back on the bench.”

Being on the sideline at Fullerton is something O’Brien knows plenty about. He was a two-year starter at Valencia High before coming to Fullerton. He had helped the Tigers to a Southern Section semifinal game as a junior in 1990. In 1991, Valencia went 14-0, and won a section title.

“At Valencia they don’t even know how to spell the word ‘loss,’ ” he said.

O’Brien got letters from several colleges while in high school but no scholarship offers, so he came to Fullerton.

At Fullerton, O’Brien competed with Josh Nelson for the starting job. O’Brien lost out and decided to be a redshirt because Nelson was also a freshman. O’Brien spent last season watching Nelson and learning more about the Fullerton system. This fall, Nelson moved to the University of Mississippi where he is starting and O’Brien moved into the Hornet lineup.

Unlike many quarterbacks, O’Brien works out often with weights. He started lifting in high school because Valencia Coach Mike Marrujo stresses it.

O’Brien continued working out at Fullerton and was lifting as many as six days a week during the off-season, but he has cut back to three days during the season.

O’Brien’s father, John, also has helped push him to hit the weights and the books. The elder O’Brien can still bench-press more than his son and often reminds Marc of it.

“My dad’s a lift-a-holic,” Marc said. But it’s not just muscle being stressed at the O’Brien home. Mark plans to major in engineering at a four-year college and has concentrated on math at Fullerton.

“Math’s not really my thing,” Marc O’Brien said. “But my dad has his master’s in math so he has helped me a lot.”

In today’s Mission Conference games:

El Camino (1-0) vs. Fullerton (0-0-1), CS Fullerton, 7 p.m.--This figures to be a game dominated by offense. El Camino, ranked 15th in the nation by the J.C. Grid-Wire, beat Rancho Santiago, 55-28, two weeks ago. Both teams had a bye last Saturday. Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy said his team must get pressure on El Camino quarterback Steve Sarkisian, who threw for 433 yards against Rancho Santiago.

Rancho Santiago (0-1) vs. Palomar (1-0), San Marcos HS, 1:30 p.m.--Palomar, the defending J.C. Grid-Wire national champion, comes in with a 22-game winning streak. Rancho Santiago must improve on defense to have a chance. The Dons gave up 609 yards and 55 points in a loss to El Camino two weeks ago. Palomar had 685 yards in its 58-24 victory over Los Angeles Pierce. Ernie Wilson rushed for 127 yards for Rancho Santiago.

Cerritos (1-0) at Saddleback (0-1), 7 p.m.--Saddleback played poorly for a half in its 21-20 season-opening loss to Long Beach last Saturday. But the Gauchos’ offense and defense showed improvement in the second half. Cerritos beat Orange Coast, 35-31, in its opener.

Golden West (0-1-1) at San Diego Mesa (0-1), 6 p.m.--Golden West rallied for a 35-35 tie against Pasadena last week. The Rustlers, usually a conservative offensive team, had 555 yards in total offense against Pasadena. Quarterback Brian Schneider was 25 of 51 for 354 yards and three touchdowns.