Morimune Blames His Bosses for Gaffe

In 21 years as a football coach at Oxnard High, Wesley Morimune said he has survived more than his share of blind-side tackles.

When you’re a Yellowjacket, the world is the enemy.

But the latest blow might be enough to cause his resignation.

School officials Friday told Morimune that Yellowjacket defensive back Adrian Maciel was ineligible. Oxnard will forfeit eight games, dropping its record to 1-8, 1-5 in Channel League play.

“I don’t know if I’m [going to resign],” he said. “But I certainly don’t have any confidence in the people above me.

“The team has worked so hard and everything has been taken away because of some paperwork BS. I’m still trying to wake up to the whole situation.”

The Yellowjackets would have been on the verge of winning their first league title in 10 seasons after a 35-27 victory over first-place Dos Pueblos on Friday night. They entered the week with a record of 6-0-2, 4-0-1.

Morimune had made several inquiries into Maciel’s eligibility after the junior transferred in August from Santa Clara High, a transfer that apparently had been approved by the Southern Section through open enrollment.

Circumstances of Maciel’s disqualification were still unclear Saturday. But Morimune suspects an administrative error and possible meddling from another school.

“The grapevine’s pretty hot around here,” he said. “The coaches were somewhat aware that something was going on. In August, I questioned my vice principal [Larry Brown about Maciel]. I went through the normal protocol, from the athletic director on up, and they said there was no problem. So I went back to coaching. Our administration completely screwed up.”

Oxnard Principal Daisy Tatum did not return phone calls Saturday.

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Singled out? The Oxnard team was notified Friday when Morimune called an impromptu team meeting at 5:30 p.m. Maciel gathered with the rest of his Yellowjacket teammates, unaware of the bad news to be revealed by his coach.

“I was sad and I was shocked,” Maciel said.

“I just put my head down.”

But Maciel was not completely surprised. Two weeks ago, he bumped into an old Santa Clara classmate, who delivered this message: “You’re ineligible.”

Said Maciel: “That’s been in the back of my mind ever since.”

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Comeback kicker: The real David Aranzubia returned just in time for Antelope Valley’s 22-14 victory over Palmdale.

The junior kicker booted three field goals to keep alive the Antelopes’ hopes for a third consecutive Golden League championship, after he missed four attempts in a 7-0 upset loss to Highland the previous week.

“I got a lot of criticism from people around school saying I’m losing it,” said Aranzubia, who became the scapegoat after he missed attempts of 45, 44, 28 and 48 yards against Highland.

“I didn’t listen to that,” he said. “But I personally took the blame and I thought about it all the time this week.”

Aranzubia silenced any critics by hitting field goals of 24, 39 and 35 yards against Palmdale. He was actually four-for-four, but his 33-yarder was nullified by a roughing-the-kicker penalty.

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Hi, dad: A funny thing happened to Camarillo tennis player Darian Chappell when she walked into the tennis office at UC Irvine during her recent recruiting trip.

She saw her father.

Not in person, but in shrine. Bob Chappell, a Salinas resident, was a two-time NCAA Division II singles champion and four-time All-American for the Anteaters.

“There’s this huge picture of my dad’s team there,” she said. “Then I went out to the courts and there’s this large banner with my dad’s name on it. I didn’t expect to see this stuff, and I don’t know why. The coach [Mike Edles] said, ‘Your dad’s a legend here.’ ”

Darian will continue the legacy after accepting a scholarship to UC Irvine over the University of San Diego, San Diego State, Iowa and Rice.

Chappell made a more surprising decision not to play in the Marmonte League championships, which start Tuesday. She probably would have been the No. 1 seed. Chappell has lost only one set in league.

“I have missed a lot of school already this year,” she said. “My whole focus this year was to help the team.”

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Superman: How good is Joe Borchard?

In leading underdog Camarillo to its 6-0 run that clinched the Marmonte League championship, the senior quarterback either passed or ran for 19 of his team’s 25 touchdowns.

Five of the victories were in come-from-behind fashion, including a 27-20 victory over Newbury Park that Borchard decided with a 30-yard touchdown run.

In victories over Agoura and Westlake, Borchard tied the score on a touchdown pass with 33 seconds left and threw a winning strike with 30 seconds left.