Title at end of Mollner’s Rainbow

Barry Faulkner

No matter how his future football aspirations turn out, former

Estancia High and Orange Coast College product Mark Mollner finally

achieved the ultimate team honor in the sport.

Mollner, who finished his college career at the University of Hawaii last

fall, recently helped the Hawaii Hammerheads of the second-year Indoor

Professional Football League win the championship game over the host

Texas Terminators.

Mollner, a defensive lineman for the Hammerheads, said the title was the

first of its kind in his gridiron career.

Hawaii had lost its final 17 games and success was also fleeting at OCC

and Estancia.

“I think the only championship I’ve ever won was Harbor Area Baseball,”

Mollner said before the Aug. 21 title conquest.

Mollner led the “Shark Attack” defense with six quarterback sacks. The

6-foot-6, 245-pounder, who wants to add another 20 pounds, is now

exploring professional opportunities in the Canadian Football League or

possibly NFL Europe.

John Romm (Mississippi) and John Liebengood (Chapman) are former Eagles

competing this fall at the collegiate level.

Romm, who also played at Orange Coast College, is a 6-2, 241-pound junior

defensive end for the Rebels. He worked his way up to a starting spot

midway through spring practice. But a twisted knee, sustained early in

fall workouts, pushed him to No. 2 on the depth chart. Romm, wearing No.

50, did, however, see time in the Rebels opener Saturday at Memphis and

his coaches are expecting him to contribute heavily this season for the

Southeastern Conference representative.

Liebengood, like Romm a former Orange County All-Star, is a 6-3 1/2,

230-pound redshirt freshman whose future is most likely on the offensive

line for the Panthers.

Manu Tanielu, the Newport-Mesa District and Daily Pilot Pacific Coast

League MVP last fall, was expected to land at Saddleback College, but

will sit out this season.

Former Eagle and OCC Pirate Frough Jahid, a defensive back, had planned

to walk on at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo as a junior this fall. But his

class load did not mesh well with the football practice schedule last

spring. With two years of eligibility remaining, however, he does plan to

give football another try next season.