Angelus League to Re-Form Next Year

The return of the Division I Angelus League should excite high school football fans, but could it also physically hurt those teams?

That was a fear expressed Thursday by Santa Ana Mater Dei High Coach Bruce Rollinson after the Southern Section council overwhelmingly approved a realignment proposal for the 2002-06 school years that included the reformation of the football-only league comprising Division I Catholic school powers.

“We’ll all smack around each other and limp into the playoffs,” Rollinson said. “It’s going to be difficult because of the physicality of the games.”

Rollinson pointed to the Monarchs’ game last week against La Puente Bishop Amat, a matchup of teams that will be in the Angelus League next season. Mater Dei quarterback Jason Forcier broke an ankle and was lost for the season, running back Nathan Coash hurt his shoulder and receiver Julian Petit suffered a bruised spleen. Several Bishop Amat players also were injured.

“Some people may say, ‘That’s just football,”’ Rollinson said, “but you take some high-caliber Division I teams and start whacking them against each other.... There’s not a lot of love between these schools.”

Santa Margarita, Bellflower St. John Bosco, Servite and Mater Dei of the Serra League will join Bishop Amat and Loyola of the Del Rey League to form the new Angelus League, undoubtedly the strongest in Division I.

The original Angelus League was disbanded in 1991 primarily because of travel costs, Rollinson said. The parochial schools in the current Division VII Angelus League will be dispersed to the Del Rey and Mission leagues.

Another notable change approved Thursday was the reconfiguration of the Century League to bring in football powers Brea Olinda, Tustin and Placentia El Dorado to displace Orange, Santa Ana Valley and Santa Ana Foothill. Also, Division XI juggernaut Ventura St. Bonaventure will play in the Division IV Channel League beginning next year.

The council also instructed its constituents to recommend proposals at the Oct. 26 state council meeting in San Francisco that would: increase the penalty to two years of athletic ineligibility from one for athletes who are found to have provided school officials with false information or had parents or representatives provide false information on their behalf; allow wrestlers to compete in 40 matches before the postseason, and allow wrestlers to waive forfeits as part of that 40-match total.