Nemeth Puts Personal Touch on Success at Aliso Niguel

Scott Nemeth is acutely aware of aesthetics.

Take his car, an Orange Volvo station wagon. It’s vintage 1975 with an “Orange Bang” sticker --from the local Orange Julius shop--showing through the window. When he wasn’t playing football for Aliso Niguel, Nemeth worked to save enough money for half the car. His dad, Jack, kicked in the rest.

“It’s a clunker,” Nemeth said with equal parts humor and pride. “It’s such a hassle. Some days I don’t even drive it to school.”

Labels are another thing with which Nemeth doesn’t bother.

“I never wanted to be the quarterback,” he said. “It was never something I really wanted to strive for as a little kid.”

That’s why Nemeth was hardly bothered when Aliso Niguel coaches asked him to move from the quarterback position he held for two years to take over at running back this season.

“When I was taking most of the snaps at quarterback, I would run half the pass plays anyway,” he said. “I almost probably liked running the ball more than I did throwing.”

Nemeth started the first three games this season at quarterback, but then was moved to running back after Trent Perley was sidelined because of a respiratory ailment. Wes Thomas, a transfer from Sunny Hills, has filled in at quarterback. Perley has returned to help out in the backfield, but Nemeth has remained the Wolverines’ primary rusher.

The shuffle has worked out well. Aliso Niguel is 13-0, Pacific Coast League champion, and plays in its first Southern Section Division VIII championship game when it faces Pacifica at 7 p.m. Friday at Orange Coast College.

The Wolverines’ appearance in the final is remarkable considering the school opened only four years ago.

Last season, Aliso Niguel won its first playoff game with a victory over Monrovia before losing in the second round to Baldwin Park Sierra Vista.

Nemeth, a senior, is a member of Aliso Niguel’s first graduating class. Nemeth had played youth league football since he was about 9, but when it came time for him to go to high school, he never considered looking around for a high-profile program.

“I was completely oblivious. I had no idea how big high school football was,” he said.

There was no varsity team during Nemeth’s freshman year and he led the junior varsity to a 5-5 record at quarterback. The next year, Nemeth was one of 15 sophomores to start on varsity and the Wolverines finished 4-6.

Last season, Aliso Niguel finished 8-3-1 and tied with University for second place in league at 3-1-1.

Wolverine Coach Joe Wood, the defensive coordinator at Capistrano Valley for six years before taking over the Aliso Niguel program in 1993, said several factors contributed to Aliso Niguel’s quick rise.

“There were some parents out there with a vision of a new school and where they would like their sons to go. Along with that, we had a great opportunity to bring in some excellent coaches,” he said.

Perhaps the single biggest factor, however, is Nemeth.

At 6 feet 2, 218 pounds, Nemeth has the size, agility and skill to become a big-time college player.

He is being recruited by several NCAA Division I powers, including Colorado.

“He is very physical and he just has great instincts as a football player, a great attitude, [and] great work habits. He has prepared himself to be a college football player,” Wood said.

The shift to running back hasn’t hurt Nemeth’s recruitment because most colleges are looking at him as a member of the secondary. Nemeth also is starting at cornerback for the Wolverines.

“He’s a big defensive back out there. People try to throw over him--that’s not easy. He makes good open-field tackles. He really helps solidify one area of the football field,” Wood said.

Nemeth is slightly ambivalent, still, about playing defensive back, a position he calls “antsy.”

“I definitely love defense. I love being out there and smackin’ heads. I’d like to be a little bit closer to the ball, just a little bit closer to the action,” he said.

So, what position is that?

Nemeth mulled the question and then, with a quick apology for its seeming triteness, said: “The place where I can make the biggest difference.”

Nemeth is applying this philosophy against the schools who are recruiting him, saying he will go “wherever I can get my feet wet the fastest, that’s where I want to go. I’m not going to go to a school to sit out at all, that’s not my plan.”

Currently, Plan A involves one thing: football.

“Unless the Lord doesn’t want me to play this game, I’m going to. I’m going to find a way to suit up for some organization. This is what I do. This is what I want to do, so it’s going to happen, Lord willing. I really haven’t thought about what else there is,” he said.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Aliso Niguel

OFFENSE

*--*

P No. Name Yr. Ht. Wt. QB 3 Wes Thomas Jr. 5-10 165 RB 10 Trent Perley Sr. 6-1 205 RB 2 Scott Nemeth Sr. 6-2 218 WR 85 Andrew Mashburn Sr. 5-11 185 WR 44 Darrin Luke Sr. 5-11 180 TE 41 Cory Chandler Sr. 6-4 215 C 54 Ryan Herbon Sr. 6-0 230 RG 73 Ryan Gray Jr. 6-3 275 LG 74 Garrett Cardon Sr. 5-10 265 RT 64 Cory Fross Sr. 6-5 265 LT 72 Brett Nelson Sr. 6-3 255 K 84 David Waltzman Jr. 6-1 190

*--*

DEFENSE

*--*

P No. Name Yr. Ht. Wt. DE 58 Jeremy Miller Jr. 6-2 215 DE 57 Pat Herlehy Sr. 6-1 180 DT 66 David Seale Sr. 5-11 210 DT 68 Ryan Valadez Sr. 5-11 240 LB 35 Juan Buitrago Sr. 5-9 190 LB 24 Nick Gerasimou Sr. 6-0 230 LB 32 Wyatt Hayden Sr. 6-2 200 DB 1 Nick Singleton Sr. 5-11 170 DB 2 Scott Nemeth Sr. 6-2 218 FS 37 Andrew Portillo Sr. 6-0 170 SS 12 John Hefty Sr. 6-0 180 P 41 Cory Chandler Sr. 6-4 215

*--*

Coach: Joe Wood

Aliso Niguel’s Season

*--*

8 Hilliard (Ohio) 7 52 Dana Hills 14 40 Mission Viejo 21 27 El Toro 25 38 Woodbridge 7 21 Costa Mesa 7 48 Laguna Beach 7 40 Estancia 8 52 University 0 28 Laguna Hills 21

*--*

Playoffs

*--*

28 Pomona Ganesha 6 40 Troy 7 24 West Covina South Hills 3

*--*