Sango Succeeds the Old-Fashioned Way : Football: Outgoing junior receiver is talented, conscientious and has a great work ethic.

Mike Milner is talking about Murle Sango, and he’s calling his junior receiver at El Toro a throwback. But he’s not describing Sango the football player, but Sango the child.

“Coaches my age who have been around 25 or 30 years,” Milner is saying, “we sometimes refer to kids the way they used to be. He’s an old-fashioned kid.”

The adjectives roll off Milner’s tongue. Polite. Kind. Gentlemanly. Conscientious. Hard-working.

And the adjectives don’t let up when Milner describes Sango the football player. In addition to conscientious and hard-working, add quick and unhittable.

It is the last two qualities that Trabuco Hills (1-3) could discover Friday, when it plays host to sixth-ranked El Toro (3-1).

Sango is popular--especially with parents of his teammates--and outgoing once you get to know him. He hangs on to a collection of fortune cookie missives--he has about 150 of them.

“Sometimes they build your confidence because they usually say good stuff,” Sango said, “and they make you feel good about yourself.”

“Hold tight to your dreams.”

“Your best investment is in yourself.”

“Your place in the path of life is in the driver’s seat.”

Sango believes the best decisions are your own, and you should take responsibility for them. And he believes in dreams.

“I’ve liked that one [hold tight to your dreams] because I’ve always wanted to play college football,” Sango said. “The NFL is real slim, but sometimes things happen.”

Sometimes things happen. And though Sango is only 5 feet 7, 150 pounds, he is a huge reason why El Toro is the highest-scoring team in Orange County, averaging 42.5 points.

Milner, who lights up at the opportunity to talk about Sango, runs through a list of names the way Sango runs past hash marks: Kenny Margerum, a 1976 All-Southern Section selection and Stanford All-American who won a Super Bowl ring with the Chicago Bears; Willie Gittens, the 1977 Southern Section Division I player of the year who played at Arizona State; Emile Harry, the 1980 Division I player of the year who played for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Milner brings them up “so you’ll know what kind of comparisons I’m making.”

“I’ve coached those three guys [at Fountain Valley],” Milner said, “and at this point, Murle’s probably the most exciting player I’ve ever coached, the most exciting player I’ve ever been around, and the most exciting player I’ve ever seen.

“He’s one of those unique players who combines a lot of attributes and characteristics into an athletic package that is unparalleled by anyone I’ve seen.

“I think he’s that good and that exciting.”

Now, Sango doesn’t score every time he touches the ball, though El Toro does a pretty good job of it, with 170 points in four games. And Sango--directly or indirectly--is largely responsible.

He was an All-Southern Section pick last year as a sophomore, when El Toro reached the Southern Section Division V semifinals. He averaged 6.8 yards per carry, caught 54 passes for 671 yards and scored six touchdowns.

Sango is off to an even better start this year. He has caught 22 passes for 282 yards and rushed 24 times for 330 yards--a 13.8 average. He already has scored six touchdowns.

He plays four positions--fullback, slot back, split end and flanker--no easy task, given El Toro’s multiple formation offense, motion and audibles, Milner said. In last week’s victory over Aliso Niguel, Sango was given his first real opportunity to run the ball this season, and he responded with 209 yards in 16 carries.

“The first couple of games, he was only playing inside slot with a little fullback,” Milner said. “One of the things we wanted to do going into the season was move him around because he is so dangerous.”

There are good reasons Sango has developed into such a threat, Milner said. Sango has great field vision, quickness “and the innate ability to make people miss.”

His personality adds to the equation.

“He’s a real energetic, outgoing guy, a hard worker,” Milner said. “He’s a real good [B-plus] student. He’s real conscientious in everything he does and has a tremendous work ethic. Doing well is real important to him.

“It’s a rare combination when a guy is as talented, conscientious and coachable as Murle, and has his work ethic.

“If I had 22 of him, I could rule the world.”