Sango Has Busy Night in Defeat
With El Toro’s starting halfback, Richard Oates, sidelined for a second week in a row because of a concussion, slot back Murle Sango provided nearly all the Chargers’ offense Thursday.
He touched the ball on El Toro’s first seven plays from scrimmage and all but five in the first half. On one of those five first-half plays that Sango didn’t touch the ball, he was the intended receiver when Mike Strand was sacked.
Sango finished the game with 260 yards’ total offense and two touchdowns. He scored on a 64-yard pass from Strand and a 75-yard run.
Still, El Toro, the defending Division V champion, lost, 27-17, to Newport Harbor, the Division V champion in 1994.
Oates said he was cleared by doctors to play against the Sailors, but El Toro’s coaching staff held him out an additional game to be on the safe side.
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Kennedy all-purpose back Garret Sabol is questionable for Thursday’s game against Cypress, Kennedy Coach Mitch Olson said Monday. Sabol bruised his kneecap while scoring a touchdown in the third quarter of Friday’s 28-13 victory over Katella.
“He’s pretty sore today,” Olson said. “It’s nothing serious but if it doesn’t improve by Thursday, we’ll keep him out of the game.”
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One has to be impressed by the line Esperanza Coach Gary Meek delivered after the second-ranked Aztecs, who committed six turnovers and were outgained by Edison, beat the Chargers by a touchdown, field goal and Edison’s missed extra point, 17-6: “If we get impressed with ourselves, we’re in trouble.”
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Something fell into the La Quinta stands from the coaches’ box atop the press box Friday at Bolsa Grande High School--immediately after a one-play scoring drive in which Rancho Alamitos’ Leo Kosi ran 49 yards during the Vaqueros’ 55-7 victory.
Closer inspection showed the object to be a coach’s clipboard. To be completely accurate, it was about one-third of a coach’s clipboard. The remainder presumably was in the hands of a frustrated La Quinta defensive coach.
Kosi finished with 197 yards and two touchdowns, all in the first half.
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Saddleback Coach Jerry Witte knows the fun part of his season is over.
The Roadrunners have won five in a row, are 6-1 and 2-0 in the Golden West League. But they play Servite, Tustin and Ocean View in the regular season’s final three weeks.
“Our first goal is the playoffs,” Witte said. “We’ve got to get one more victory for that and we have three tough games left.”
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Manny Saiz, a 1985 graduate of La Habra High who earned All-Orange County honors as a defensive back, scored the biggest victory in his seven-game coaching career when his Buena Park Coyotes upset his alma mater, previously undefeated La Habra, 41-35, Friday.
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Valencia and Brea Olinda are not the friendliest of Orange League opponents, so Thursday’s matchup doesn’t need any added elements.
The game takes on extra importance to Valencia, having been upset, 19-17, by Magnolia last Thursday. And Brea, which is tied for the league lead with Anaheim (both are 2-0), would love to deliver another blow to Valencia’s league title hopes.
“The last two years they kept us from perhaps winning the league,” Brea Coach Jon Looney said. “In 1994, they beat us and Savanna won it. Last year, both them and Western beat us.”
Also contributing to this report were Times staff writers Martin Henderson, Steve Kresal and Mike Terry, and correspondents Eric Maddy and Mike Wojciechowski.