Barnes a Winner, Playoff Defeat Notwithstanding

The Los Alamitos death watch began in earnest in Week 3.

The opponent? Carson. The result? Carson was beaten, 23-16.

Then came Pasadena Muir. Beaten, 39-12.

Edison. Beaten, 15-12.

Esperanza. Beaten, 35-32.

Long Beach Poly. Beaten, 7-0.

This was the year to beat Los Alamitos, a team down on talent and high on history, but it wasn’t until the Southern Section semifinal against Mater Dei that someone finally ended The Streak--at 47 games.

A crowd of 30,065 watched as Los Alamitos lost, 28-24.

It was over.

The Griffins’ success this year depended largely on the players, because there was plenty of talent--just not as much as usual. But to be the force the Griffins were took a certain amount of direction. And after three section championships, it’s in the year that his team lost that John Barnes is The Times Orange County coach of the year.

The problem with developing a program as powerful at Los Alamitos is the inherent expectation; 47 games without a loss will do that to a community.

“It gets to the point that if you don’t win by two or three touchdowns,” Barnes lamented during the course of the season, “people think you had a bad game.”

There weren’t many of those. Against a formidable list of opponents, Los Alamitos was poised, and it performed as well in its defeat as it had in many of its victories. And if the team takes on the character of its coach, then Barnes has to get much of the credit no matter how much he wants to spread it around to assistants Barry Sher (offensive coordinator), Bob Brakke (defensive coordinator) or Jim Van Gorder (assistant head coach).

“He’s definitely confident in his coaching, in his assistants and in his players; that affects the way we feel, and we go into every game feeling we can win,” wide receiver Brad Melsby said. “The way Coach Barnes is really affects the way the team is.”

No team has played more big games than Los Alamitos the last four years. Perhaps the measuring stick of a program is when the media remark of a program, “It’s news when you lose.” And it was certainly news whenever the Griffins were playing someone who had even a chance of beating them.

Although many thought Orange County’s second-ranked team, Mater Dei, would beat top-ranked Los Alamitos (12-1), Barnes looked forward to the game before the playoffs even began--just to settle the question. Fear? There was never any fear. Let the programs make their case on the field and leave the posturing to the pollsters.

This was a season dominated by highlights, so much so that even the loss--the school’s first in four years--wasn’t considered a lowlight.

Among those memorable moments were victories against Carson and Muir without Feterik, which was a testament to the strength of the program and the system as much as anything. And in beating Edison and Esperanza in successive weeks, Los Alamitos rallied in the final minute to win.

But there were others. Winning the revamped Sunset League, and beating Long Beach Poly in the playoffs, and playing in front of 30,000 at the Big A.

You would never know it from watching him on the sidelines in those two games against Edison and Esperanza--he always acted as if the game was in the bag no matter the score or time remaining--but Barnes admitted he had succumbed to formulating The Speech--the dialogue he would deliver when The Streak ended.

He would tell his players about the great run they had and how proud he was of them. But then the players pulled each game out in the final seconds and Barnes looked as calm and brilliant as ever.

Maybe that brilliance comes in the form of looking for the right kind of athlete to coach.

“You better be dependable, responsible and respectful of people,” Barnes said. “I’m looking for that kind of kid. With those kinds of kids, I know we have a chance to win.”

Who can argue with his success?

The Streak now over, Barnes can concentrate on next season--when the Griffins are supposed to be good.