Nobody Is Riding Off With the Sunset Race
It’s three weeks until the champion of Orange County’s toughest league is crowned. Do you know where your team is in the Sunset League standings?
Second-ranked Edison and third-ranked Esperanza, the only remaining teams with undefeated league records, are the front-runners, but don’t count out No. 4 Los Alamitos or Fountain Valley.
A team with one loss could win this league, which has seen five of its six teams ranked in the county’s top 10 at some point this season.
“It’s going to be very difficult to go undefeated in this league,” Edison Coach Dave White said. “I think a team with one loss has a chance to get it.”
White’s Chargers scored the biggest victory of the league season last Thursday with a 29-14 victory over then-No. 2 Los Alamitos. The victory broke Edison’s seven-game losing streak to the Griffins dating to 1974.
“We showed some character and some consistency that we’d been lacking throughout the year,” said White, whose Chargers haven’t won a league title since 1990. “I don’t think there’s been too many times in the last 10 years when Los Alamitos hasn’t scored in the second half.”
Edison (6-1, 2-0) and Esperanza (6-1, 2-0), which meet in a regular-season finale Nov. 9, control their own destiny. But the Aztecs face the tougher road because they still have to beat Los Alamitos (6-1, 1-1).
Still, Edison doesn’t exactly have it made. The Chargers play arch-rival Fountain Valley (4-3, 1-1) in two weeks in the “Battle for the Bell,” and the Barons have won the last five meetings.
“It doesn’t matter what kind of year the teams are having,” White said. “It’s always a good game.”
Los Alamitos can get back into the hunt for its third consecutive league title with a victory over Esperanza in two weeks.
Fountain Valley, which needs victories over Edison and Los Alamitos, is a longshot.
Edison and Esperanza appear to be the two most dangerous teams in the league because they feature strong running games supported by solid quarterbacks. Aztec tailback Temitope Sonuyi is the county’s leading rusher with 1,648 yards and 21 touchdowns, but quarterback Greg Farrell is an equally important component of the offense.
Likewise, running back Darryl Poston and quarterback Richard Schwartz showed they were both integral parts of the Charger offense when Poston ran for 111 yards and Schwartz passed for 111 in the victory over Los Alamitos.
“If there is a front-runner, it’s Esperanza,” White said. “I think they’re playing at the top of their game. The rest of us are trying to be consistent, taking it one game at a time.”
MONARCHS IN NO RUSH
Mater Dei is the top-ranked county team and will be one of the favorites to win the Southern Section Division I title when the playoffs begin in three weeks, but these are clearly not your older brother’s Monarchs.
Gone from this season’s team are the top-flight running backs, the Mike McNairs and Matt Grootegoeds, who made Mater Dei such a ground-oriented power the past few years. The Monarchs have gained 67% of their yards through the air.
Through their first six games, the limited run support wasn’t an issue. But it was Saturday, when Mater Dei struggled to move the ball on the ground deep in Los Angeles Loyola territory; a bevy of Monarch rushers failed to reach the end zone on six runs inside the Cub five-yard line.
Mater Dei had the ball first and goal at the five late in the first quarter, but tailback Darius Williams could only move it to the one after consecutive two-yard gains. Loyola then stuffed Williams for no gain on third and fourth downs.
On another possession, Grant Melton and Brown Faavae also failed to score from the one. Quarterback Matt Leinart, who has passed for 1,663 yards, eventually scored on a bootleg.
“I felt bad for the offense,” said Mater Dei Coach Bruce Rollinson, whose Monarchs needed a last-second field goal to pull out a 24-21 victory. “In 12 years, I can count on two fingers the number of times we’ve been stopped inside the five-yard line.”
Mater Dei (6-1) was without Camron Carmona, its second-leading rusher, who was serving a one-game suspension for disciplinary reasons.
TALE OF THE TAPIA
Defensive back Jonathan Tapia led an aggressive La Habra defense that thoroughly shut down Sonora during the Highlanders’ 21-7 victory Friday in a Freeway League game.
Tapia made three interceptions--one each in the second, third and fourth quarters--to help hold the Raiders to 80 yards of total offense--including only five in the second half.
The victory gave the Highlanders the La Habra “City Championship” trophy for the 11th time in 15 years.
“We were underrated coming in here tonight,” said Tapia, who has five interceptions this season. “[Sonora] was ranked No. 2 [in Division IX] and we were unranked. That motivated us. We knew our defense would dominate and win this game.”
SHOOTING THE LIGHTS OUT
The new scoreboard at Western High, riddled with at least 26 bullet holes, was out of commission for the Pioneers’ Orange League game against Valencia on Thursday but was restored to working order the next day for Katella’s game against Cypress.
Bob Lloyd, activities director at Western, said he suspected the vandalism occurred early Oct. 15, since a game was played at the stadium the previous evening.
On Thursday, Western was forced to use a smaller water polo scoreboard that featured just the time and score.
IT IS, IT ISN’T
Saddleback Valley Christian, a third-year school fielding its first varsity football team, defeated Sage Hill on Friday, 26-0. Though the Warriors got to experience the thrill of victory, they’ll have to wait a little longer before experiencing the school’s first true varsity victory.
Saddleback Valley Christian considered it a varsity game, but Sage Hill considered it a freshman or junior varsity game; both schools field only one team.
“I’m not counting it as a varsity loss,” said Brian Scherbart, athletic director for first-year Sage Hill.
The Southern Section office agreed.
“It cannot be a varsity game because they didn’t start with 12 minutes on the clock,” said Rob Wigod, the assistant commissioner in charge of football. “If they’re playing 10-minute quarters against a team with freshmen and [two] sophomores playing for a school in its first year of existence that did not apply for varsity status, I don’t see how it can be a varsity contest in football.”
Still, all isn’t lost for Saddleback Valley Christian, which is 0-5 against actual varsity teams.
“Each school had only one team, and obviously there’s a huge misunderstanding,” said Rod Markum, the SVC athletic director who scheduled the contest. “It really doesn’t matter either way--we’re just trying to get these kids some games and lay the foundation for next year.”
A REAL DEAL
Dana Hills cornerback Michael Loconto last week got two surgeries for the price of one. When surgeons repaired a torn tendon in his left hand, they also put a screw in his broken left fibula.
Three weeks ago, Loconto suffered the tendon injury in the ring finger of his left hand during practice. He continued to play, but when the pain became unbearable he saw a doctor, who said surgery would be required.
Loconto scheduled the surgery, but decided to keep playing in the meantime. He paid for the decision, suffering the broken leg in his team’s 28-14 loss to Mission Viejo in its South Coast League opener. Doctors performed both surgeries Oct. 16 in a little more than an hour.
“It doesn’t hurt too much anymore,” said Loconto, who watched the Dolphins’ 41-13 victory over Trabuco Hills last week from a wheelchair on the sideline. “But I wish I could play.”
Loconto will miss the rest of the season but is hoping to play baseball in the spring.
“That hurt us a lot to lose him,” Dolphin Coach Scott Orloff said. “He is a three-year starter both ways, and we are really going to miss him out there.”
The splint on Loconto’s hand is expected to be removed in about six weeks, the screw in his ankle in about eight weeks, with rehabilitation to follow.
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Staff writers Martin Henderson, Dan Arritt and Melanie Neff and correspondent Tom Connolly contributed to this report.
If you have an item or idea for the high school football report, you can fax us at (714) 966-5663 or e-mail us at ben.bolch@latimes.com or martin.henderson@latimes.com
