PREP FOOTBALL ’95 : SUNSET LEAGUE : Esperanza’s Forth Has Inspirational Spirit : Football: Death of his mother forced tight end to look inward for courage and strength.

Esperanza tight end Brian Forth had a terrific season last year.

In 11 games (including the playoffs) he caught 61 passes for 1,039 yards and nine touchdowns. His regular-season yardage total of 995 yards was fourth--highest in the county.

It was a season that earned Forth, then a junior, Times Orange County first-team honors.

It was a season Forth did not enjoy.

That’s because his mother, Alice Jane “A.J.” Forth--”my best friend,” Forth said--couldn’t watch him play. Alice died in April, 1994, from multiple myeloma, a cancer that starts in the bone marrow and attacks the vital organs.

Alice was diagnosed in October, 1992, just before she went to see one of Forth’s freshman games. The doctors told her she probably had a year to live; she survived 18 months, and didn’t tell anyone expect family--Brian, sister Melissa and husband Kevin--the seriousness of her illness.

“She didn’t want to burden anyone else with the misery,” Kevin Forth said. “Brian is very much his mother’s son in that respect--strong, stoic. Even if he gets hurt in practice or a game, he tries to work through the pain.”

Still, Brian Forth has had difficulty overcoming the loss of his mother.

“It was real tough,” Forth said. “Football was her favorite sport; she enjoyed supporting me in that. My sophomore season I came up to varsity, but didn’t really get a lot of playing time. It was disappointing; I had a bad season and that was the last one she got to see me play. That was difficult to handle.

“The loss of my mother is still very difficult for me. I’ve always tried to do the best I possibly can to make my family happy.”

Forth believes Alice is still watching him play. Last year after every touchdown, he would point skyward in tribute to her. He dedicated last season to her and is doing the same this year.

Esperanza Coach Gary Meek, who is moving Forth from tight end to inside slot receiver, thinks his senior wideout is one of the county’s best pass catchers. “He has speed, great hands, and is a great leader,” Meek said. “He can play everything in our offense except tackle, guard or center.

“I liken him to Jeff Turbarg[the former Esperanza receiver who caught the winning touchdown pass in this summer’s Orange County all-star game]. Last year we played him at tight end because we thought he could get matched up against outside linebackers. Now we feel we can get him matched against inside linebackers as well as defensive backs. And any time a linebacker gets him, it’s a mismatch.”

College shouldn’t be a problem for Forth. He has a 3.5 grade-point average, a 950 SAT score and, according to Kevin, has two shoe boxes filled with letters from interested schools.

Forth may need a chasm to stack all the mail by the season’s end. Already he has been pegged as the 17th best prospect among Far West football players--encompassing California, Arizona and Nevada--by Superprep Magazine.

Wide receiver could be his future; despite average speed (11.0 in the 100 meters) Forth is considered to have excellent hands and good strength. The times he played in the Aztecs’ defense, he was considered a potent tackler.

But the future must wait.

First there is the 1995 season. Forth and Esperanza expect to battle Los Alamitos for Sunset League supremacy.

“We return a lot of players,” Forth said. “Our defensive front seven should be very good; we return all our receivers from last year; [graduating quarterback] Chris Stretch is gone but David Parrish moves in. Our line should be good; three starters return there. They don’t have a lot of size but they get the job done.”

Forth plans to be right there with the Aztecs, getting the job done.

He’ll do so knowing that Alice is cheering him on.