About this section

When looking for directions to cover home games for high school and

community college football teams in the second annual Coastal

Football Preview, there are similar themes throughout this 48-page

special section, otherwise known as a football tab, like speed

(you’ve either got it or you’re chasing it) and good hands, which can

turn serviceable quarterbacks into bell-ringing, highly credentialed

champions.

When you mix the Daily Pilot forces, along with the Huntington

Beach Independent and Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot, it’s easy to tell

where you’re seeing a game on Thursday, Friday or Saturday nights

throughout the autumn in coastal Orange County.

You can feel the excitement of kickoffs this week, the earliest

starting date on record in these parts with Week 0 -- before Labor

Day -- coming into the picture for Corona del Mar, Estancia, Costa

Mesa, Edison and Laguna Beach, while Orange Coast College and Golden

West College open Saturday.

What follows are in-depth previews on each of the dozen schools

featured in this special section, including preseason photos, a

closer look at the prime time players, a year-by-year breakdown,

schedules, 2003 results and statistical logs.

This year’s distinctive trait in our second annual edition comes

from veteran sportswriter Barry Faulkner of the Daily Pilot. A former

prep and JC player in Orange County, Faulkner has covered high school

football for two decades and brings a singular yarn to the table like

no other in the business.

We hope you enjoy the 2004 Coastal Football Preview.