Brea Is Looking to Make History

It was the same old coaches’ drivel Monday at the Southern Section lunch, someone making a comment about how he was “excited to be here” or how it was “good to be back.”

Then Brea Olinda Coach Jon Looney stood up in his dapper green suit and declared to the other 25 teams in attendance: “The last time we were here John Glenn was on the moon, so it’s a pleasure to be here.”

Wildcat fans can only hope their team knows its football better than Looney knows his history. Glenn actually never set foot on the moon; he was the first American to orbit the earth--in 1962, a year before Brea made its last championship appearance.

Nonetheless, no one can deny that the second-seeded Wildcats (12-0-1) are long overdue, especially considering they made it to the semifinals in each of the last two seasons.

Brea’s opponent in the Division IX title game, top-seeded La Verne Bonita (13-0), has suffered through its own championship drought. The Bearcats, Valle Vista League champions, last won a title in 1945.

Looney said he expects Friday’s 7:30 p.m. championship game at Mt. San Antonio College to exorcise the mental demons that plagued him after losing to Tustin, 9-6, in the 1997 semifinals and to Lakewood Mayfair, 26-13, in the 1998 semifinals.

“After awhile, you get there and you don’t get in, things start developing in your mind--maybe you can’t do it or there’s some other stigma,” said Looney, in his 16th year at Brea, 12th as head coach. “It’s nice to kind of get the monkey off our back.

“As a coach, I didn’t know if I would ever get there. It takes a lot of luck, a lot of good players, a lot of things. It’s nice to say we did it at least once. A lot of guys coach a long time and never get there.”

Brea is one of four Orange County teams competing in championship games this weekend. For the third season in a row, Mater Dei (11-2) will play Long Beach Poly (13-0) for the Division I title, at 7:40 p.m. Saturday at Edison Field. In a battle of Sea View League teams, Newport Harbor (12-0-1) meets Irvine (10-2-1) at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Orange Coast College.

ROUND 3

Mater Dei Coach Bruce Rollinson has learned plenty about Poly after playing the Jackrabbits for the Division I title the last two years--not that any of it will help the Monarchs Saturday.

“Yeah, I learned that you’ve got to say a lot of rosaries during the week and you should probably wear an extra wind jacket out there because if they come by too fast you’re going to get wind-burned,” Rollinson joked. “No, what I’ve really learned is they play every down as an individual battle.”

“I also know that they have a tremendous record. In three years they’ve lost one game.”

NO SHOCK HERE

Newport Harbor Coach Jeff Brinkley, whose school is in its fourth final in eight years, said playing Irvine will probably keep his team focused.

“One of the benefits of playing Irvine is that, had it been someone else, maybe the kids would have gotten a different mind-set,” Brinkley said. “But our kids know Irvine is a very good football team and there is no room for them to be comfortable.”

Irvine Coach Terry Henigan can’t be too disappointed his team is playing its title game at Orange Coast College. The Vaqueros won three consecutive section titles (1991-93). All were decided at OCC.

Times staff writer Martin Henderson contributed to this report.