Invert and conquer

If the high school football teams from Newport Harbor and Corona

del Mar are to conquer the competition in the Sea View and Pacific

Coast leagues, respectively, both will do so bucking their league’s

statistical trend.

Newport Harbor, which will need to knock off league favorite

Foothill to defend its Sea View crown, is one of only two Sea View

representatives with more passing yards than rushing yards thus far.

The Sailors have accumulated 52.3% of their 1,584 yards via the

pass, while the other five teams in the league have produced 56.2% of

their yards on the ground.

Only Foothill, which has thrown for 68.2% of its 1,742 yards, has thrown for more yards than it has run for among Harbor’s Sea View

rivals.

In the PCL, which could be called the Pass Completion League this

fall, CdM’s five league opponents have thrown for nearly 62% of their

offensive yards, while the Sea Kings have gained nearly 70% of their

1,059 yards on the ground.

Only Laguna Beach, coached by former CdM head man Dave Holland,

joins the Sea Kings as PCL teams that have rushed for more than they

have passed and the Artists’ margin is nearly 50-50.

As both leagues open play this week, here’s a handicap.

In the Sea View League, Foothill, formerly in the Century League,

is the clear favorite, though Newport Harbor will have four more

weeks of improvement, before it visits the Knights in the Nov. 14

regular-season finale at Tustin High.

Foothill (4-1), ranked No. 3 in CIF Southern Section Division VI

and No. 8 in Orange County, has outscored its opponents, 157-82, this

fall and it’s only loss was last week’s 30-20 setback to San Clemente

(3-2 and ranked No. 6 in the county).

Foothill quarterback Don Poole has thrown for 1,139 yards and 10 touchdowns, while running back Mike Liti has produced 461 rushing

yards and has scored eight TDs in four games.

The Knights are 14-3 under second-year coach Doug Case, who

coached previously at Rancho Alamitos.

Laguna Hills (3-2) is averaging a league-high 34.6 points per game

and Coach Bruce Ingalls welcomed back more than a dozen starters from

last year’s CIF Division VI semifinalist. Like Newport Harbor, the

Hawks have a loss to Trabuco Hills on their record. The Mustangs

defeated Newport, 16-8, in Week 1, then topped Laguna Hills, 41-19,

in Week 2.

Irvine, pesky Irvine, which is as hard-nosed as ever, relies

heavily on Terrell Vinson, arguably the league’s most exciting

player. Vinson has rushed for 766 yards and 11 TDs and caught 13

passes for 116 yards. He returns punts and kickoffs and is also one

of the defensive leaders, though limited to spot duty in the

secondary.

The 46 points allowed by the Vaqueros’ 46 defense are the fewest

in the league (Newport has given up 49), and despite huge talent

losses to neighboring Northwood, Coach Terry Henigan has continued to

keep his proud program in playoff contention.

Aliso Niguel (2-3) and Woodbridge (1-4) are both 4-8 against Sea

View competition the last three seasons and have given little

indication they can crack the first division this year.

Last year marked the first time in 10 years the Sea View champion

did not go on to win a Southern Section crown, but the circuit

maintains its League of Champions moniker, since all six schools have

won CIF titles, including Foothill.

In the PCL, a blue and gray monopoly may come to pass as Northwood

(4-1, ranked No. 7 in CIF Division IX), University (2-3 and unranked)

and Corona del Mar (2-3, ranked No. 5 in Division IX), all with the

same uniform colors, appear capable of sweeping the league’s three

guaranteed postseason berths.

But Laguna Beach (4-1 and ranked No. 10 in Division IX), with the

league’s most talented backfield duo in running back Donnelle Darling

(759 rushing yards and 11 TDs) and quarterback Alex Wilson (875

passing yards, including seven TD passes), could finish anywhere from

first to fourth.

Northwood capped an unbeaten regular season by sweeping to the

league crown last year and is 4-1 this fall, despite outscoring teams

a modest 122-73. The Timberwolves join Laguna Beach as the league’s

most balanced offense and I’ll give Coach Rick Curtis’ group the

slight nod over University as the team to beat.

Uni senior quarterback Nick Gerakos (906 yards and six TDs

passing) has the talent and experience to pick secondaries apart and

the Trojans seemingly always manage to maximize their limited size

with toughness. The Trojans three losses include a 24-8 setback to

Irvine and last week’s 30-27 defeat at Northview, which is ranked No.

4 in Division IX.

The Sea Kings have hemorrhaged mistakes after opening the season

2-0, but still have the time and talent to turn things around. We’ll

see if they’re willing to capitalize when they host Uni Thursday at

Newport Harbor.

Tesoro (1-4) enters its first PCL campaign without seniors and

with little confidence, while Calvary Chapel (2-3), also making its

PCL debut, has surrendered 190 combined points to five schools which

barely have that many students.