Timberwolves await

Mike Sciacca

It’s been a tough two weeks for the Laguna Beach High football

team, which is looking to break into the win column tonight in

Pacific Coast League play.

The Breakers is playing the Northwood Timberwolves, a squad that

many considered the preseason favorite to repeat as league champion.

The game is set for 7 p.m. at Irvine High.

“They were my pick back then, and still are,” Laguna Beach Coach

Dave Holland said. “Northwood is solid from top to bottom. I believe

that we will play well in this game, though, as long as we can get

out of this cloud.”

The “cloud” to which Holland is referring is the hangover his team

-- players and coaches alike -- has felt since losing a heartbreaking

and last-second 41-40 game to Calvary Chapel in a league opener on

Oct. 19.

The fallout carried over to last Friday’s game with Corona del

Mar. Laguna Beach found itself in a 26-0 first-quarter hole. The team

staged a nice comeback, yet still came out on the short end of a

33-16 score.

“In all honesty, losing in the final 38 seconds to Calvary Chapel

has been tough to overcome,” Holland said. “Philosophically, you say

you move on. We even had good practices heading up to the Corona del

Mar game, but the cloud from the Calvary game was still there.

“The kids played well in both games, but we’re still reeling a

little bit,” he said.

The two losses dropped the Breakers to 0-2 in league play and 4-3

overall.

Now comes a Northwood team that is 6-1 overall and is tied with

Corona del Mar and Calvary Chapel atop the PCL standings.

With this weekend marking the halfway point of the league race, it

shakes out that Laguna Beach will have played the league’s

front-runners in the first three weeks of the league season.

Northwood has defeated Tesoro and University in league play,

beating the Trojans, 31-13, last week.

Quarterback Kyle Harper threw four touchdown passes to four

different receivers in the University win. One of those passes went

to Brendan Egan, the team’s leading receiver with 702 yards and seven

touchdowns on 27 receptions.

Harper figures to present a severe test to a young Breakers

secondary.

Donnelle Darling rushed for two touchdowns in Laguna Beach’s loss

to Corona del Mar. He now has scored 16 touchdowns on the season and

surpassed the 1,000 yards rushing mark.

This is the third meeting between the schools. The series is tied

at 1-1.

Last year’s score: Timberwolves 44, Breakers 11

2002 SEASON LOG

Laguna Beach (4-3; 0-2)

40 La Qunita 12

39 Bolsa Grande 0

14 Costa Mesa 7

14 El Segundo 41

27 Magnolia 10

40 *Calvary Chapel 41

16 *Corona del Mar 33

(*denotes Pacific Coast League game)