Kunau Finally Gets His Title

Jim Kunau, mild-mannered, soft-spoken, prone to humility and postgame prayer, took six trips to the Southern Section finals before finally winning the Big One.

Orange Lutheran’s victory in the Division VI championship game was textbook. The Lancers dissected previously undefeated Newport Harbor in ways few could remember that program ever being picked apart.

The 35-6 victory was a credit to Kunau, The Times’ 2004 coach of the year, and put an exclamation mark on a season in which his ninth-ranked team’s only loss came in its opener to Santa Ana Mater Dei, 21-7.

Even that defeat should come with an asterisk. Kunau, 122-30-3 in 12 seasons, was auditioning a pair of quarterbacks to replace Seth Blackamore, the returning section co-player of the year who had just injured his knee and was about to sit out all but a handful of plays in 2004.

This season brought with it several outstanding coaching candidates, including Corona Centennial’s Matt Logan, Oxnard Rio Mesa’s Bob Gregorchuk and Huntington Park’s LeRoy Wilson.

Kunau’s club went 13-1, played four Division I opponents, held 11 opponents to seven points or fewer and allowed only one team more than 14. With an enrollment of 1,150, Orange Lutheran was the smallest school in the Division VI playoffs -- it just didn’t play like it.