Old Gang at El Toro Awaiting Capistrano Valley’s Shaheen

MISSION VIEJO —  Four years ago, Paul Shaheen was looking forward to enrolling at El Toro High School with longtime friends Ken Romaniszyn, Kevin Rowe, Mike Miller and David Cuttrell and playing on the school’s football team.

Shaheen played flag football and Little League baseball with his friends. Rowe’s father, Sam, was his Little League coach. Later, the boys developed into some of the top athletes at Serrano Junior High, one of the feeder schools to El Toro.

“I started kindergarten in El Toro, and was really looking forward to going to El Toro High School,” Shaheen said.

But Shaheen’s parents called a family audible and moved to Mission Viejo before Shaheen’s freshman year. Shaheen’s prep football career would begin at rival Capistrano Valley.

“I wasn’t very happy leaving my friends, and I didn’t know anybody at Capo,” Shaheen said.

Shaheen made the adjustment to his new school moments after he put on a helmet. He quickly earned a reputation as the fastest running back on Capistrano Valley’s freshman team, and he scored the winning touchdown in an 8-6 victory over El Toro.

Shaheen will have another reunion with his friends when Capistrano Valley plays host to El Toro at 7:30 tonight in a game that will determine the South Coast League champion and the No. 1-ranked team in Orange County.

It has been two years since Shaheen saw the old gang. He had broken his leg in the third game of his sophomore season and was sidelined for the rest of the year.

Last year, he earned a starting spot on the varsity in the third game but broke his nose in practice three days later and lost the position to Chi Chi Biehn.

“We had some doubts whether Paul could make it through a season,” said Eric Patton, Capistrano Valley coach. “He’s been kind of snake-bitten. After he broke his nose, he never got his momentum back.”

Shaheen said he lost some of his speed after breaking his leg, but he was fast enough to finish second in the league’s 100-meter sprint to San Clemente’s Tim Martin last year with a time of 10.8.

“I’ve always been fast,” he said. “I’ve slowed down a little by bulking up, but my goal every game is to gain 100 yards. I figure if I get 100 yards, I’ve done my part.”

Shaheen, who is 5-feet-9 and 180 pounds, has gained 947 yards in 142 carries, a 6.7-yard average, and has scored 10 touchdowns. He gained more than 100 yards in six of Capistrano Valley’s first seven games, but has missed the mark the past two games, against Irvine and Dana Hills.

“I’ve let down a little,” Shaheen said. “The line has been great, but I’ve had a problem keeping up the intensity the past two weeks. I tend to play up to the level of the competition.”

Capistrano Valley has won nine consecutive games coming off a 6-5 record last year, a surprise to some people. But Shaheen said he and his teammates never doubted that the 1989 season was going to be a good year for Capistrano Valley.

“We put last year behind us,” he said. “We had a lot of starters coming back, especially at the skilled positions. Our quarterback (Tony Solliday) was the key returner.

“We knew Mission Viejo was the favorite to win the league, and then El Toro. We were picked to finish third, but we knew what we could do and it’s been an advantage being the underdog.

“I still don’t feel we’ve gotten the respect a 9-0 team deserves. We’re not as big as Mission or El Toro, but we’re quicker. We beat Oceanside, Edison and Mission, and those were big teams. The Edison game was the big confidence builder.”

Shaheen gained 144 yards and scored two touchdowns in Capistrano Valley’s 37-10 victory over Edison. Capistrano Valley jumped from 10th to third in the Orange County Sportswriters’ Assn. poll after the victory.

“We haven’t played real well the last two weeks, but we didn’t lose, either,” Shaheen said. “We’ve been looking forward to this game all year, and I’m sure all the guys I went to school with in El Toro will be trying extra hard to stop me.”

Patton describes Shaheen as a compact runner and credits much of his success to his keeping low to the ground on his carries.

“He doesn’t fumble,” Patton said. “I don’t know what the future has in store for him, but he’s got some fun memories coming from this year.”