And Now for the Big Payoff . . .

Time to start sweating.

Folks on the edge of Coyote Creek and smack dab in the middle of Santa Ana have a few anxious days ahead of them. Friday night, Los Alamitos and Mater Dei.

Ooooooh .

So a few facts and observations to get you through your week. And remember, it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how big a wad is in that 50-50 drawing.

John Flynn.

The Lion King. Confident, determined, animated and that’s just between the huddle and the line of scrimmage. Has come a long way from that little cub of a quarterback who ran for his life in the 1992 quarterfinals. Took the Monarchs to the title game a year ago and got spanked. Wants to go back, this time holding the other end of the paddle. More confidence than the law should allow. Bite is worse than his bark.

Kevin Feterik.

The Vulcan. A little too reserved, a little too quiet, a little too logical, but makes everything look a little too easy. Not the chatterbox his predecessor, Mike Good, was, but might be a better quarterback. Good was good, Feterik could be great. Calmly threw touchdown passes to slip Los Alamitos past Esperanza and Edison. Almost yawned while doing it. The reason that unbeaten streak has lived long and prospered.

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The Bruce Rollinson 18-step Program to Help You Be a Better Football Team: 1. Listen to me. 2. Listen to me. 3. . . .

Almost a cliche. If you had to create a high school football coach, it would be Bruce. The gravelly voice, the no-I-in-team philosophy and Eastwood-esque squint. If this guy tells you to “drop and give me 20,” you better darn well hit the dirt. Went from being an obscure junior college assistant to the keeper of the Mater Dei flame. Played for (hats off please) Coach Dick Coury back in those heady days of the 1960s. A few more title games and folks around Mater Dei Land might be saying “Dick who?”

The John Barnes School of Media Relations: We wanted no part of a 62-2 score. But don’t quote me.

Does anyone else out there think John is starting to speak with a Southern drawl? Nothing wrong with it, but he’s from Southern California. The coach who redefined high school football in Orange County. Before Barnes, things were pretty dull. Wow, another off-tackle play. One or two guys were pass happy. But now everyone, it seems, wants to run the Griffins’ four wide-out, four-on-the-floor offense. Forty-seven consecutive games without a defeat and three consecutive titles. John’s doing something right . . . y’all.

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Rod Perry.

Gone. See ya. Bye-bye. Rollinson gets a little nervous when you talk about his sophomore sensation rather than his paid-their-dues seniors. Well, then he shouldn’t let the kid score so many touchdowns. That where-did-he-go speed was the missing ingredient last season. Alas, for the Monarchs, the Rams appear out of here, taking dad (assistant coach Rod Perry Sr.) and family with them. See ya.

Brad Melsby.

The reigning champion. Most career receptions in county history. Once a bashful Los Al sophomore, can now talk as good a game as he plays. Sly, smart, quick and makes the tough catch. Seen him smacked, hang onto the ball and bounce right up. Seen him tap dance around a defender and go 70. Seen him make catch after catch after catch for three years. Never see the likes of him again.

The Mater Dei Family: That get-out-of-our-way, dollar-raising, image-is-everything, get-your-50-50-ticket-here mass of humanity.

The Griffin Chicks of ‘96: That group of wacko girls.

Private school.

Public school.

Boy, this one has a lot going for it. Can’t they play it in the Coliseum . . .

. . . the one in Rome?