A battle of early unbeatens
Mike Sciacca
For the second time in as many years, the Laguna Beach High
football team is 3-0 heading into the fourth weekend of prep action.
And, like their 2001 predecessor, the current Breakers have been
quite impressive, routing the likes of La Quinta and Bolsa Grande
and, most recently, defeating Costa Mesa on the road.
But at 7 p.m. tonight, Laguna Beach faces its most challenging foe
to date, when El Segundo High pays a visit to Guyer Field.
The Eagles, like Laguna Beach, are 3-0 and looking to remain
undefeated in 2002.
“We’re going up against a really good football team,” Laguna Beach
coach Dave Holland said of El Segundo. “Their defense is playing well
and on offense they have some excellent receivers and one of the best
quarterbacks I’ve seen since I’ve been in coaching.”
That quarterback, senior Matt Engle, directs the high-flying
Eagles offense.
“He can do it all: run, pass, and he even kicks,” Holland said.
“He’s just an all-round excellent quarterback.”
Engle enters tonight’s game as one of the Southern Section’s top
passers, completing 77.8%. He has 14 touchdown passes and just one
interception and has thrown for 1,075 yards.
Chris Ornelos is a dual threat at receiver and running back but
it’s receiver Brad Franks who has been Engle’s favorite target.
Franks has 16 receptions and six TDs in three games.
Orenlos, Ian Powell and ends Ray Reyes and Joe Wawryk key the
Eagles’ defense.
El Segundo rose from a previous ranking of No. 5 to a No. 2 rating
in this week’s CIF Southern Section Division X poll, thanks to a
51-28 rout of West Torrance, a Division IV school.
The Eagles’ other two victims this season have been Mary Star,
42-14, and St. Monica, 45-27.
El Segundo’s explosive offense will test a Laguna Beach defense
that has given up but a per game average of six points.
The Eagles come into tonight’s contest with a 46 points-per-game
average.
Laguna Beach is the only Orange County and non-South Bay area
school on their 2002 schedule.
The Breakers are coming off a 14-7 win at Costa Mesa. That one
touchdown is the only score the Breaker defense has yielded in the
last eight quarters.
Holland acknowledged the play of Clayton Caron, Alberto Sanchez,
Brad Wolf, Brett O’Connor, Bryce Loidolt, quarterback Alex Wilson,
the running of Donnell Darling and the standout play of Marshall
Paymard, named by the Breakers’ coaching staff as the player of the
game on both sides of the ball, as keys to last week’s victory.
“We were really happy with last week’s game and how well our kids
performed,” he said. “The kids came to play and a lot of them were
tired, as many of them were playing on both sides of the ball. We
gave a really good performance.
“We’ll need much more of the same, play mistake-free football and
move the ball in order to beat El Segundo. I feel that we have a real
good shot in this game.”
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