The Fine Line

All the sweat, hard work, and dedication put forth in both the

off-season and summer ball comes to an head this week for our five area

schools as the 1999 regular season winds down...

It’s been a successful season for each overall, more so for others...

Happy to see that three locals - Marina, Fountain Valley, and Ocean View,

play games this week that have championship implications...

The great thing about the final week of the regular season is that all

three of the championship showdowns (Tustin-Ocean View, Los

Alamitos-Marina, Esperanza-Fountain Valley) will be home games for our

three teams and played in our own backyard...

Marina is seeking its first Sunset League championship in 13 years...

Fountain Valley beat Esperanza on the final week of the 1996 to share the

Sunset crown with both the Aztecs and Los Alamitos. The Barons can earn

another piece of the Sunset banner with a win Friday against Esperanza...

Ocean View will be looking to win its first Golden West League title

against preseason favorite Tustin. Coach Myron Miller’s Tillers are

unbeaten, but an Ocean View win would give the Seahawks a portion of the

title...

Esperanza, meanwhile, needs a win over Fountain Valley to keep its

10-year playoff streak alive...

Huntington Beach needs a win over Edison to avoid a winless Sunset League

campaign. Last year, the Oilers earned a playoff wild-card berth...

Record Alert: Edison High junior running back Darryl Poston needs to

score one touchdown against Huntington Beach Friday to tie the school’s

single-season touchdown record. That mark has stood for 20 years and was

established by Kerwin Bell, who scored 26 during the 1979 season, a

season in which Edison played 14 games and concluded with a CIF

championship...

Remember When: Many of the current Marina players were on the sidelines

two years ago when the heavy-underdog Vikings stunned the county prep

football world by beating Los Alamitos, 28-14. “I remember that one

well,” said Los Alamitos Coach John Barnes. “They shocked our shocks

off.”...

Marina Coach Mark Rehling says that the Viking program will “have

arrived’ if Marina defeats Los Alamitos Friday...

Fountain Valley first-year Coach Eric Johnston never looked at the 1999

season as a “transition” year, not even though he spent the past 10 years

as defensive coordinator at Mater Dei. “When I arrived at Fountain

Valley, I thought they had as much talent as there was over at Mater

Dei,” Johnson said. “The kids have shown flashes, at times, of playing up

to that talent. We have a very good football team on our hands.”...

The Barons could be without the services one of its team captains, senior

linebacker Brian Dopler, who is nursing a foot injury. He is a question

mark for Friday, according to Johnson...

Nedal Abdelmuti, who rushed for three touchdowns and keyed a 35-21

comeback win over archrival Edison last week, turned in an amazing

performance when you consider that he ran for his 164 yards despite not

having practiced all week leading up to last Friday’s showdown.

Abdelmuti, a junior, is still trying to come back from a knee injury he

suffered in the Huntington Beach game back on Oct. 15. His status for the

Edison game wasn’t known until game time arrived, Johnson said.