Garden Grove in Great Condition

Garden Grove won its first league title in eight years as much with a basketball as a football.

The Argonauts won it as much in the bleachers as on the field.

It was Coach Kris Van Hook’s unfashionable off-season conditioning program--in which lazy afternoon basketball games and idle bleacher runs were transformed into perform-at-all-costs drills--that instilled a winning mentality in Garden Grove’s players and set the tone for the team’s resurgence.

Lose a basketball game against your teammates? Drop and do 20 push-ups.

Lag behind in those agonizing up-and-down-the-bleacher runs? Go to the bottom and start all over again.

“Every time we did something, we wanted it to be competitive,” Van Hook explained. “There was always a penalty for not winning. I think it paid off.”

Certainly, there has been more to Garden Grove’s turnaround than a focus on winning. There have been new offensive and defensive formations. A renewed commitment to lifting weights. And a senior class that accounts for nine starters.

But Van Hook’s ability to get his players to believe has been the biggest factor.

“Coaching is very difficult when you have to teach the chemistry of being a team, yet that’s exactly what he’s done,” Garden Grove Principal Gene Campbell said. “He’s instilled in [the players] that you have to be dedicated and faithful to each other. As a result of that, they have come together and jelled as a football team.”

The payoff has been a season that has the Garden Grove community abuzz over its football team for the first time in years.

Teachers are among the first in line for tickets. Van Hook is overwhelmed by congratulatory messages from alumni. And players are having trouble making it to class on time with all their peers stopping them in the hallways to offer compliments.

The Argonauts’ work is far from finished, though. For the first time in seven years, Garden Grove (7-3) is in the playoffs, where it will meet San Dimas (7-3) in a first-round game at 7 tonight at Garden Grove High.

A victory would allow the Argonauts to achieve one of their preseason goals: To practice on Thanksgiving Day in preparation for a quarterfinal game.

“We can go pretty far [in the playoffs],” senior running back Bryan Loken said, “if we keep doing what we’re doing.”

Garden Grove’s specialty before this year was the ability to disappoint. The Argonauts’ league record over the previous 12 years was 26-52-1, and their playoff record over that span was only 2-3.

As a result, the number of kids showing up for the first day of football practice dwindled.

“The losing cycle perpetuates itself,” said Rancho Alamitos Coach Doug Case, whose own team has been down the last two seasons. “Why go out for a football team if you’re going to get your butt kicked?”

The foundation for change at Garden Grove was laid in spring practice. First, Van Hook asked his players to write their goals on a card. The players took the cards home and placed them near a mirror so they wouldn’t lose sight of their expectations.

Van Hook then installed a triple-option offense that allowed the Argonauts to use their several speedy running backs and minimize the impact of their lack of size.

Additionally, defensive coordinator Bob Revelle changed the unit’s base formation from a 4-3 to a 4-4, which was considered more reliable at stopping the run.

“Every day [in spring practice] we did the same drills,” said senior free safety Matt Crippen, who leads the team with five interceptions and shares time at quarterback with Keo Sutherland. “[Van Hook] just kept pounding it into us: ‘You guys are going to learn this.’ If it wasn’t for the coaches harping on it and making us believe, we wouldn’t be where we are.”

Still, no one seems satisfied. The Argonauts have not celebrated any of the team’s successes--not its rare victory over Rancho Alamitos, not its victory over Santiago that clinched a playoff berth, not even last Friday’s 38-20 defeat of Pacifica that put the finishing touches on a 6-0 Garden Grove League record.

“One of the problems is you win the championship and you get so many congratulations that you can live in the past,” Van Hook said. “We have some other goals too. Unfortunately, the student body is still talking about last Friday, and we need to focus on [tonight].”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

GARDEN GROVE VS. SAN DIMAS

Featured Game

When: 7 tonight

Where: Garden Grove High

Records: Garden Grove 7-3; San Dimas 7-3

Noteworthy: Garden Grove will have its hands full with San Dimas, the No. 3 entry from the Valle Vista League. With a few breaks, the Saints easily could have been the No. 1 entry. They rely on an opportunistic defense that has carried them all season. San Dimas’ ball-control offense puts a premium on eliminating turnovers and has been able to win consistently despite posting scores in the teens. Garden Grove must hope its triple-option attack will continue to be as effective as it was in helping the Argonauts to their first Garden Grove League title in eight years.