Gibson gives Orange muscle

BARRY FAULKNER

From afar, dressed in a sweater vest, slacks and a tie, Orange High

football coach Greg Gibson has the refined look of a 1960s college

coach. But at field level, it’s clear that the former Orange Coast

College defensive lineman’s mind-set belies his button-down

appearance.

Gibson’s approach, in fact, is culled more from his time in the

trenches than from springs and summers spent at sophisticated

offensive coaching clinics.

So, when he was named head coach three seasons ago, he chose to

bring what amounted to offense concentrate to the Orange program.

“With where the program was when I got here [1-19 the previous two

years, 0-10 in 2001], I thought I needed to bring something that was

going to give us attitude,” Gibson said. “Power football was the

philosophy I had always liked, so that was the approach we took.”

What he brought was a double-wing scheme that longtime Costa Mesa

backers know very well. It was the same smashmouth approach that has

turned the Mustangs into perennial playoff contenders since the early

1990s. And while Mesa coaches Jerry Howell and Dave Perkins have each

brought their own modifications to the classic double wing employed

by former head man Myron Miller, the Mustangs have continued to run

wild over most of their competition.

Gibson’s Orange squad seems to be just turning the corner, like a

wingback leaning into the mass of humanity off tackle, hoping to

break out of the pile and into the open. Thursday night’s 21-3 Golden

West League victory over visiting Costa Mesa at El Modena High, was

the program’s biggest step under Gibson.

After a 2-8 debut campaign in 2001, Gibson, with the help of

prolific running back Durrell Moss, now at Washington, led the

Panthers to a 7-4 record and a trip to the CIF Southern Section

Division VII playoffs in 2002.

With Thursday’s win, Gibson has this year’s squad 6-1, 4-0 in

league, and ranked No. 3 in CIF Division VII. With league games

remaining against Estancia and Westminster, the Panthers are primed

for a run at the school’s first league crown in more than a decade.

And run is the operative word.

“We wanted the kids to have pride in something and nothing is

better for instilling pride than driving 10 plays down the field by

running the same two plays over and over,” Gibson said.

The Panthers plodded 65 yards on seven plays to paydirt to take a

7-3 lead with 4:03 left in the first quarter. They then covered 79

yards on eight plays for a 14-3 advantage midway through the second

period.

And, with Costa Mesa limited to an average field position of its

own 22-yard line, with a best of its own 44, the Orange defense did

the rest.

The Mustangs, who had muscled up on opponents the first six games

-- averaging 262 rushing yards and limiting foes to just more than 40

rushing yards per contest -- found things much tougher against

Orange.

“They didn’t do anything differently on defense than they did last

year,” said Gibson, who admits a huge key to his program’s turnaround

is the players’ year-round commitment to the weight room. “We just

executed better on offense and we played better defense than we did

last year.

“In this offense, you need to be disciplined, so that you can go

down the field by getting 4, 2 and 7 yards, grinding it out.”

After Orange wingback Justin Jones, who rushed for 145 of the

Panthers’ 241 ground yards, picked up a late first down, Gibson

nearly sprang off the sideline, shouting with conviction: “That’s the

way you do it.”

Orange simply did it better Thursday night.