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.
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