Notebook : Moherman Making a Bid to Start for the Cougars

Austin Moherman, who transferred to Capistrano Valley from L.A. Wilson after playing there one week, made his debut at quarterback Friday with an 11-for-23 passing performance. He threw for 123 yards with two interceptions.

Moherman, by design, replaced Tim Hirchag on the first series of the second quarter. Hirchag completed one of three passes for eight yards.

This week against El Modena, Hirchag will again start and Moherman will come off the bench.

“We feel they’re still competing,” Cougar Coach Dave Brown said, “and we’re starting Hirchag.”

Should Moherman, who played at Mission Viejo last year, distinguish himself as the starter, Hirchag won’t be left on the bench; he’s an outstanding safety.

Another player who made his debut for a new team was Josh Amezola, who played two games at Costa Mesa, then transferred to Newport Harbor.

“It was a personal issue,” Costa Mesa Coach Jerry Howell said. “He was a great kid, but he lost his position and he wasn’t getting the ball [as a running back].

“I think he thought he would fit in better over there.”

He played cornerback for the Sailors in their loss to Foothill, but Coach Jeff Brinkley foresees Amezola in the backfield eventually.

“He’s got good quickness; he’s one of the fastest guys on our team,” Brinkley said. “We’ll work him into the offensive system.”

In two games for Costa Mesa, Amezola rushed three times for 12 yards and had two catches for 22 yards. Last season, he rushed 27 times for 203 yards and also recorded four interceptions.

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Only 13 football teams, including Santa Ana Valley, remain undefeated after three weeks. The Falcons haven’t been to the playoffs since 1979, but they’re sporting new helmets and a new attitude.

In the past, the Falcons relied on running back Dwayne Cherrington, who is at Colorado. This year, however, there’s diversity in the air.

“We’re experienced even though we lost Cherrington,” third-year Coach Scott Orloff said. “We also have a quarterback in Ricky Chavez [287 yards, six touchdowns] who can throw, and good receivers [Jason Parrott, Kyle Marks, Derrick Castleberry and Adrian Buenrostro] who can catch. We don’t have to run all the time.

“We have a saying around here, ‘New look, new attitude, new era.’ We felt if we changed the look, and if the kids changed the attitude about having faith in coaches and work ethic, we would embark on a new era.”

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The list of talented players not playing high school tennis continues to grow. The top three boys’ players--Kevin Kim, Geoff Abrams and Joseph Gilbert--are not attending high school in the area. Two of the top girls’ players, Irvine’s Sarah Denson and Laguna Beach’s Amanda Hastings-Phillips, are attending classes but have decided to concentrate on working with their private coaches.

Denson, a junior, is a two-time Sea View League singles champion and Hasting-Phillips, a senior, was a second-team Times’ All-County selection last year.

Staff writers Dave McKibben and Mike Terry contributed to this story.