In Eye of Storm, Huntington Beach Practices

HUNTINGTON BEACH —  Huntington Beach High School’s football team returned to the practice field Wednesday, a day after a judge’s ruling put the Oilers back into the Southern Section Division I playoffs.

The Oilers practiced for the first time in a week in preparation for their first-round game against host Fontana at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

“We’re going to try to make this a normal practice week,” Huntington Beach Coach George Pascoe said. “But that may be difficult. We’ve already lost five days.”

Later Wednesday, Huntington Beach learned that it must forfeit its 10-0 Sunset League victory over Westminster Nov. 3 because the Oilers used a second ineligible player. Marcos Diaz, who played in the Westminster game, was declared academically ineligible.

Huntington Beach also learned that the Southern Section plans to appeal the court’s decision allowing the Oilers to return to the playoffs.

The Oilers’ record falls to 7-3 overall, 3-2 in the league, and they also lost their share of the Sunset League championship. Edison and Ocean View now share the title. Both schools have 7-3 overall and 4-1 league records.

Huntington Beach is now appropriately matched against Fontana. Before the Westminster forfeit was announced, Huntington Beach was the league’s No. 1 representative to the Division I playoffs and matched against Fontana, the Citrus Belt League champion.

Typically, league champions are matched against third-place teams in the first round of the playoffs.

Sunset League principals declared on Saturday that Huntington Beach had to forfeit its eight victories and its share of the league title because of an ineligible player. The Southern Section accepted the decision, awarding Fountain Valley the Oilers’ playoff berth.

Tuesday, Judge Thomas N. Thrasher issued a restraining order against the Southern Section, restoring the victories and returning the Oilers to the playoffs.

Today, Southern Section officials are expected to file a writ of appeal in the Fourth District Court of Appeals in Santa Ana in an effort to get the restraining order overturned.

“It’s still hanging over our heads,” Pascoe said. “I expect there will be a million things come down between now and Friday. But for now, we’re preparing to play a football game.”

Huntington Beach faces Fontana, the top-seeded team in Division I and No. 5 in USA Today’s national rankings. The Steelers (10-0) are averaging 35.8 points a game while yielding only 5.8.

Wednesday morning, Pascoe exchanged films with Fontana coaches and started preparing his game plan.

“Nothing good can be said about this situation, except that we were allowed back into the playoffs,” Pascoe said. “But I can’t complain too much. Fontana has had to prepare for two teams.”

Steeler Coach Dick Bruich said his team spent Monday and Tuesday preparing for Fountain Valley but began preparing for Huntington Beach on Wednesday.

“Tomorrow we’ll practice for both teams,” Bruich said sarcastically. “Heck, we’ll play both teams. Let them each play a half.”

Bruich said the situation has been difficult because Fountain Valley and Huntington Beach present different problems.

Fountain Valley, the defending Division I champions, is a passing team led by quarterback Willy Puga. Huntington Beach, which had its most successful season in 23 years, play a ground-oriented game, utilizing the skills of running backs Doug Cunningham and Jeff Dunagan.

“The hardest part is the confusion, getting the kids to remember which team runs what,” Bruich said. “I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining, I just wish I knew for sure who we were playing. I guess we’ll find out what type of coaches we are.”