SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION V FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP : De Beaubien Does His Job With Style : Football: Senior linebacker, who has 72 solo tackles and 68 assists for El Toro, is a team leader and coach’s dream.

They talk about his zeal, his passion for the game. And the way he tackles.

Damian de Beaubien’s practice habits are not lost on his teammates or his coaches.

“He’s the best linebacker I’ve ever coached,” El Toro Coach Mike Milner said.

“I’ve never seen anyone practice as hard as him,” offensive lineman Matt Mason said.

“He’s a leader, well-respected,” running back Murle Sango said. “He shows up every day--he’s never messing around. Once we step on the field, it’s football and nothing else. He’s always ready to play, whether it’s practice or a game.”

And all that practice has made an almost perfect season for de Beaubien, who broke his defensive records this season and helped the Chargers get to tonight’s Southern Section Division V championship game against Servite at Santa Ana Stadium.

De Beaubien, a senior inside linebacker, is a lunch-pail-carrying, meat-and-potatoes kind of guy, Milner said.

“If you just watched him during a football game and didn’t watch the ball,” Milner said, “you would get such satisfaction watching a blue-collar worker coming to work, enjoying his work and making everyone around him play better, and then walking off the field in total exhaustion thinking, ‘I had a pretty good day.’ ”

De Beaubien has had several days like that this season. He has 72 solo tackles and 68 assists, breaking his own records set last year when he had 68 solos and 67 assists. He’s got three interceptions, three fumble recoveries and six sacks.

He was named the Sea View League’s defensive player of the year.

He’s the heart of the El Toro defense, with a contagious attitude that Milner has found unique.

“Coaches preach all the time, be enthusiastic and energetic,” Milner said. “The other 10 kids who play with him feed off him, just in the way he congratulates a guy when he makes a big hit. He does that, he takes it to a level I’ve never been around as a coach. He’s constantly getting guys going, a tremendous leader by example, and vocally.”

De Beaubien is a 6-foot-1, 215-pound chunk of churning granite.

“He’s a big block right there in the middle of the defense,” Sango said.

Milner says de Beaubien tackles like a runaway boulder.

“When he tackles guys,” Milner said, “because of his pad level [getting lower than the offensive player] and velocity, he puts everything into a tackle, from the balls of his feet to his hair follicles. I feel he exhibits that type of intensity for tackling more than any other person I’ve been around.”

De Beaubien has been recruited by Fresno State, San Diego State, Stanford, Oregon and some of the Ivy League schools. He already has received an appointment to West Point.

He has a 3.3 grade-point average, and was an all-league performer last year in two other sports. He was the league champion in wrestling and took fifth in the Southern Section Division III finals, and was second team all-league in the discus.

De Beaubien says his good fortune on the football field is the result of good work habits and the guidance of linebackers coach Bret Paton--whom Milner says coaches the way de Beaubien plays--with passion.

“I do what my coach says, I’m very coachable, I feel,” de Beaubien said. “It’s tough to be coachable. I wasn’t like that my freshman year, I was naturally good. But the further along I got, the tougher the game became. I found out that if I wanted to be really good, I had to listen to what my coach said and play the position the way it had to be played in his opinion.

“It wasn’t easy. The only way I could get better was if I kept lifting, got bigger, and was coachable at the same time.”

It’s tough to coach speed, and that’s de Beaubien’s weakness. He admits it. But, said Milner, “. . . He’s a 4.8 [40-yard dash] guy, but he plays faster than that [because] he has tremendous instincts and feel for the game.”

He also does his homework. De Beaubien spends about 10 hours a week studying his school work, about seven studying the opposition.

“He watches video every day on the opponent,” Milner said. “He studies the scouting reports. He’s really a student of the game, and that’s a large part of why he plays so well.”

And that’s one of the reasons de Beaubien can walk into the coaches’ room and say, point blank, anything he wants about the program--including the bad--and Milner will take note. That makes de Beaubien unique.

“Everybody respects him because of the way he approaches the game and his intensity level,” Milner said. “Because of the tremendous respect I have for him, if he has anything to say, I would definitely listen.

“I’ve been around a few guys who could play this game. I have not been around a guy like this guy, and that takes into account 27 years of coaching high school football.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Division V Championship

Servite vs. El Toro

SITE--Santa Ana Stadium

RECORDS--El Toro 11-2, Servite 11-2.

SERVITE--The top-seeded Friars got this far last season and had a two-point lead with three minutes left. But Newport Harbor scored a late touchdown for a 20-15 victory. But this year, the Friars are more potent on offense. Quarterback Greg Cicero is Orange County’s third-leading passer and has thrown for 2,077 yards and 26 touchdowns. Running back Vince Reed has gained 946 yards rushing and is the team’s leading receiver with 32 receptions for 544 yards. He has scored 19 touchdowns. The Friars’ defense is solid up front, led by linebackers Matt Pall and Damien Salerno.

EL TORO--The fourth-seeded Chargers burn people with speed. Richard Oates and Murle Sango each have gained more than 1,000 yards. They run behind a large offensive line, anchored by guard Matt Mason and tackle Dan Noll. Sango is also the county’s second-leading receiver with 65 receptions for 761 yards. He has scored 21 touchdowns. Oates has scored 14 touchdowns. Steve Krupp is the county’s second-rated quarterback. He has thrown for 2,253 yards and 22 touchdowns. Defensively, the Chargers have given up points, but have made big plays. El Toro forced three turnovers in a 41-23 victory over Western.

KEY TO THE GAME--Servite’s defensive front. If they can handle the Charger offensive line and close down those huge holes that Sango and Oates run through.

CONSENSUS--El Toro by a touchdown.

THE LINEUPS

Servite

OFFENSE

*--*

Pos. No. Name Ht. Wgt. Yr. QB 10 Greg Cicero 6-4 180 Jr. RB 32 Vince Reed 5-11 176 So. RB 44 Dan Rubalcava 5-7 170 Jr. WR 83 Stephan Ward 6-4 180 Jr. WR 6 Jason Cantor 6-2 180 Sr. OT 72 Brandon Oganesian 5-11 235 Jr. OG 77 Pete Crosser 6-1 225 Sr. C 65 Josh Thrasher 6-0 215 So. OG 78 Ed Rivera 6-3 210 Sr. OT 66 Zack LaMonda 6-2 260 Jr. TE 88 Chris Bystedt 6-1 200 Jr. K 15 Matt Montgomery 5-11 160 Sr.

*--*

DEFENSE

*--*

Pos. No. Name Ht. Wgt. Yr. DL 24 Chris Whitehill 6-3 205 Sr. DL 68 Andrew Schantz 6-1 220 Sr. DL 55 Don Hong 5-8 210 Sr. DL 99 David Coats 6-2 210 Jr. OLB 5 Chris Bailey 6-1 175 Jr. ILB 81 Damien Salerno 6-3 195 Sr. ILB 95 Matt Paul 6-3 215 Sr. OLB 33 Nick Baclit 5-8 170 Jr. DB 21 Michael Azurin 5-7 160 Sr. DB 2 Alvan Loreto 5-5 145 Jr. DB 27 John Hall 6-1 170 Sr. P 77 Pete Crosser 6-1 225 Sr.

*--*

*

El Toro

OFFENSE

*--*

Pos. No. Name Ht. Wgt. Yr. QB 5 Steve Krupp 6-0 165 Jr. RB 20 Murle Sango 5-8 160 Jr. RB 2 Rich Oates 5-10 160 Jr. WR 22 Rocky Voll 5-10 170 Sr. WR 16 Adam Foelmmi 6-0 180 Jr. OT 67 Dan Noll 6-4 260 Sr. OG 65 Ryan Roa 6-1 205 Sr. C 54 Chad Johnson 6-0 220 Jr. OG 68 Matt Mason 6-4 260 Sr. OT 76 Jim Adams 6-4 255 Jr. TE 40 Brian Koupal 6-2 205 Jr. K 54 Chad Johnson 6-0 220 Jr.

*--*

DEFENSE

*--*

Pos. No. Name Ht. Wgt. Yr. DL 52 Jason Hardy 6-3 220 Jr. DL 66 Tony Grammatico 5-10 230 Sr. DL 61 Kyle Lauby 6-1 210 Sr. OLB 44 Mike McAdam 6-0 180 Sr. ILB 53 Damian de Beaubien 6-1 215 Sr. ILB 33 Jeff Carson 6-0 210 Sr. OLB 30 Matt Steinau 6-0 195 Jr. DB 12 Jeff Bibler 5-10 185 Jr. DB 38 Jeremy Jarrett 6-0 185 Sr. DB 7 Damian Toohey 5-11 185 Sr. DB 23 Brent Chipperfield 5-9 155 Jr. P 37 Josh Petlowany 5-10 170 So.

*--*

GAME-BY-GAME IN ’95

SERVITE (11-2)

51 Chicago De La Salle 6

7 Mater Dei 10

35 Valencia 14

14 Fountain Valley 33

14 St. John Bosco 10

42 Santa Ana * 13

43 Westminster * 28

42 Saddleback * 21

34 Ocean View * 20

49 Tustin * 0

*

Playoffs

49 Loara 20

26 Santa Ana Valley 6

21 Corona del Mar 16

*

EL TORO (11-2, 4-1)

15 San Clemente 27

48 Dana Hills 14

57 Mission Viejo 12

50 Aliso Niguel 18

28 Trabuco Hills 0

24 Newport Harbor * 15

40 Corona del Mar * 35

20 Santa Margarita * 14

14 Irvine * 28

35 Woodbridge * 7

*

Playoffs

24 Savanna 14

38 Villa Park 20

41 Western 23