Notebook : Servite Had Ringside Seats for Notre Dame Knockout

On its trip to Chicago to play De La Salle High a week before the rest of the county began its season, Servite’s football team got more than it bargained for when it made a side trip to South Bend, Ind.

The Friars saw first-hand Northwestern’s 17-15 victory over Notre Dame, and they came back a little wiser for the experience.

“No matter what anybody does or says,” wide receiver Michael Garko said, “ anybody can win.”

Garko, who plans to study business or law in college, was totally swept up in the tradition of Notre Dame; he jumped at the chance to walk on the field afterward: “For me, it was amazing; Notre Dame is one of the top schools among my choices. The aura was a great experience.”

Safety Dan Levesque was impressed by the size of the campus--it took him an hour to find the bookstore--and the school’s tradition, but is less taken with the football team.

“It was kind of ironic; we went there to watch the big powerhouse and they lost,” Levesque said. “It was kind of funny watching everyone’s reaction. Everyone was surprised and stunned--’The world’s over, Notre Dame lost.’ I was like, ‘All right!’ I’m kind of an underdog guy.”

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San Clemente also got an early jump on the rest of the county, and quarterback Chris Boden set single-game school records in Hawaii by completing 28 of 54 passes for 371 yards in a 20-6 loss to Honolulu Punahou. Boden eclipsed Doug Dill’s 22 completions in a game in 1987 against Woodbridge, and Jeff Carlin’s 317 yards last year against Foothill. The 371 yards was 10 shy of the OC’s seventh-best all-time.

Boden’s primary target, Trevor Insley, caught 12 passes for 196 yards. Insley matched his school record for catches in a game--he had 12 against Foothill last year--and broke Carey Reese’s 1984 school record for yardage, 191, against Santiago.

One shortcoming?

“The four interceptions killed us,” Coach Mark McElroy said. “I’m sure that’s a record, too.”

Before beating Servite Friday, 10-7, Mater Dei football Coach Bruce Rollinson talked about his concerns, saying “the word on the streets is they changed their defense.”

Said Servite Coach Larry Toner: “Where does he hang out?”

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Edison’s Kerry O’Bric became a two-time All-American last month by winning the heptathlon at the AAU National Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, for the second consecutive year.

O’Bric, 16, competing in the young women’s division, scored 4,743 points--300 points better than last year’s performance.

The Edison senior surged on the second day of competition, recording personal bests in the high jump (5 feet 3 inches), long jump (18-6), javelin (112 feet) and 800 meters (2 minutes 30.4 seconds). She won by more than 650 points.

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Bolsa Grande football Coach Earl Graves, acknowledging his team is young: “We took a good look at these guys and realized not one of them shaves.”

Correspondent Todd Cralley contributed to this story.