A thrilling ride for the annals

They were the defending CIF Southern Section Division VI champions,

unbeaten, with more than two dozen returnees, and hopes were high as

the 1989 high school football season approached.

Yet they would put their coach, Dave Holland, on an elevator ride

for the ages.

Corona del Mar’s Sea Kings, 12-0-2 a year earlier, were beaten in

their season opener, beaten in their league opener, beaten in the

Battle of the Bay showdown with Newport Harbor and finished fourth in

the Sea View League with a nondescript 2-3 record.

But in the end they ruled CIF, again, with an unforgettable sweep

through the playoffs, blanking three straight foes before finishing

off La Quinta in the finale at Orange Coast College.

“Todd Kehrli (6-foot-5) was a sophomore and he had no experience

and we were moving people around,” recalled Holland, within weeks of

his 70th birthday.

The first evidence of CdM’s shortcomings came in the opener

against Huntington Beach, which prevailed, 19-6.

“Kehrli was throwing the ball in the stands, all over the place

against Huntington Beach,” said Holland, who ruled the waves at CdM

for 20 years. “It wasn’t a great start.”

The Sea Kings started with a group of 16 involved in the 11

defensive positions, and 11 of them were juniors.

The trenches were stocked with such un-household names as

defensive end Bud McClure (5-10, 185); tackle Brian Hendricks (6-1,

195), backed up by Kyvan Kiefer; nose tackle Ron Akin (5-7, 170),

backed up by Morgan Stipp (5-8, 170); and defensive tackle Steve

Niedringhaus, with Phil Holland his understudy. Also at defensive

end, Garride Frost.

Jerrott Willard was the platinum chip at linebacker, with Kevin

Murphy the other ‘backer.

Mark Perlmutter and George Dickson were the double strong

safeties, the Johnson brothers (Warren and Weston) were the corners,

and Jason Ferro was at free safety, backed up by Warren Johnson and

Tai Fujimura at times.

It was a solid look, but the defensive picture paled in comparison

to the ’88 juggernaut.

The Sea Kings reversed the trend quickly and reeled off four

straight nonleague wins over Marina (9-0), Santiago (21-3), Laguna

Hills (41-13) and Costa Mesa (33-13).

In terms of memories, not a lot sticks from the 4-1 nonleague

slate.

“We really limited what Todd was going to do in the Marina game,”

said Holland. “But we got our running game going and our defense got

better. The biggest thing about the Santiago game was that we got our

phones working and we weren’t yelling and screaming at each other.

And Todd started throwing the ball well and the Johnson kids were

coming to the front against Laguna Hills.

“(Offensive coordinator) Larry Bryan really spent a lot of time

with him,” continued Holland. “And Todd was developing. Costa Mesa

was struggling at the time (0-10) and Todd wasn’t pressured.”

It didn’t take long for the bubble to burst as Sea View League

play started with unbeaten Estancia providing the opener.

“That was a real emotional game, Estancia,” said Holland. “They

were sky-high.”

John Liebengood’s Estancia Eagles, with Josh Wojtkiewicz at

tailback, stunned the Sea Kings, 16-3, en route to a 10-0 regular

season. The Eagles were upset in the first round of the playoffs by

La Mirada, 15-12, after being seeded No. 1.

“We were better than the score indicated,” said Holland, who

recalled some key moments in the officiating, as well as the

hard-running of Wojtkiewicz.

“It was a heck of a game, but we let some opportunities go by. We

knew we were a good football team after that game,” Holland said.

Despite the loss, the Sea Kings finally felt right about the

offense, which began with just two returning starters on the

offensive line -- Bobby Hall, a 220-pound tackle, and all-league

center Mike Kelly (220).

Jeff Jackson (6-4, 225) was next to Hall at tight end and the

right guard was George Apkarian (205). The left side included Rob

Primmer (225) at guard and Joe Copenhaver (6-3, 250) at tackle.

The Johnsons were the split ends, with occasional help from Chip

Plested, Steve Bacon and Ferro.

Surrounding Kehrli in the backfield were Brian Lucas, who had a

great year at tailback behind the blocking of John Sheetz until

Willard moved into the fullback slot as the playoffs unfolded. Jason

Hughes also produced at times at tailback.

“Our skill was carrying us,” said Holland, “and I knew we were

getting better.”

It didn’t come any too soon as Saddleback and its speed

threatened.

CdM responded with a tense 17-14 win at Davidson Field.

“That was an ego-builder,” said Holland. “Saddleback was always

good and they had tied us the year before. Jerry Witte was still

getting some great players over there and it was a great game for us.

Todd played within himself.”

That set up the trek to Tustin and Marijon Ancich’s Tillers put

the Sea Kings back to Square One with a 24-7 spanking.

“I still didn’t think we were out of this thing,” said Holland,

who watched his Sea Kings bounce back with a 25-8 win over

University.

Mark Cunningham’s winged-T was almost always a problem, but not

this time. And it kept CdM’s flickering hopes alive as the Battle of

the Bay against Jeff Brinkley’s Newport Harbor Sailors loomed in the

regular-season finale.

“We thought it was going to be 7-zip,” said Holland, but an

interference call kept their drive going and they scored.”

Newport Harbor won, 8-7, when a “swinging gate” play on the extra

point produced the two-point winner at Davidson Field.

The emotional loss left Corona del Mar in fourth place in the

final league standings. But in terms of an overall record,

officially, CdM was 7-3, not 6-4, because of an unannounced forfeit

victory over Huntington Beach in the season-opener.

To my knowledge, Corona del Mar’s official overall record of 11-3

has never been acknowledged in public print, until now. And 7-3 may

well have been the “edge” for the wild-card decision.

“They had an illegal player,” Holland said.

Nevertheless, some may have felt the only real issue after the

loss to Newport was who would lock the doors on Sunday at the CdM

campus.

“I was a little surprised,” admitted Holland,” and it was an

emotional thing when we found out we were the wild-card team in the

playoffs.

“We were all sad about losing to Newport and suddenly it was a

brand new season. We had talked after the game about how there are

more important things in life than just football and to hang in there

and see what happens over the weekend. The kids kept coming around on

Sunday to see if we got in, and the next thing we knew we were

rushing down to CIF to trade game films.”

Essentially the No. 16 team in a field of 16, there was still life

in CdM’s hopes.

What would follow would be one of the greatest rebounds in the

history of Southern Section football.

Lucas ran wild in a 10-0 road win over Pacifica and Holland

admitted he was surprised. Everything went right. CdM’s ball control

worked to perfection with no turnovers to humble Bill Craven’s

Mariners.

Brea Olinda invaded OCC in the second round and it was the same

result: 10-0.

The key came in the second half when Jon Looney’s Wildcats drove

deep into CdM territory, trailing, 3-0. “We held them on the goal

line and they went for a field goal and made it,” said Holland. “But

we were offsides and they took the penalty.”

Brea fumbled the ball away on the next snap and CdM responded with

a length-of-the-field drive to put it out of reach. The drive of the

season.

“We had third-and-short, fourth-and-short, and we kept making

them,” said Holland. “Jackson made a big play on his own with a

little delay pass for 12 yards that really kept the series going. At

that point we all thought we could go all the way.”

Tim Devaney’s Sunny Hills Lancers were next and it was no contest.

The Sea Kings rolled, 27-0.

“Their best running back got hurt early,” said Holland. “Larry

(Bryan) saw something and changed a play from a slant to a streak and

it scored, and a fumble recovery led to a score and we’re up by a lot

at halftime. Now, we knew, we can win everything. We’re not a

wild-card anymore.”

The Sea Kings’ quest for the crown was realized a week later with

a 21-10 win over Roger Takahashi’s La Quinta Aztecs. “We were worried

about La Quinta’s trick plays, but we got an 80-yard-plus run on a

sweep by Lucas down the home sideline for a TD and they’re on our

goal line and Mark Perlmutter intercepts a pass and goes all the

way.”

The rest was left for the defense, led by the incomparable

Willard, who would go on to a stellar career with Cal’s Golden Bears.

“You know,” said Holland, “Willard had the biggest hands. He was a

man. He loved football, loved practices, loved playing in practice.

When we had the second- and third-teams getting some reps in

practice, he’d get a jersey and play on the scout team. He just loved

it. He had unlimited energy. He was built exceptionally well, lifted

hard and practiced hard.”

Willard, 6-2, 215, was the CIF Division VI Player of the Year, and

Warren Johnson was a first-team All-CIF choice.

Holland, ignored by Orange County’s two metropolitan papers for

Orange County Coach of the Year honors (again), would instead be

distinguished as California’s Coach of the Year by the State CIF

following the back-to-back CIF crowns.

Holland, 69, is looking forward to the 2005 season as the

defensive coordinator at University High in Irvine, a coaching career

which began in 1958.

Title seasons come and go but it seems certain it’ll be a long

time before anyone can match Holland’s elevator ride of ‘89, as well

as the one-and-only in the Newport-Mesa district: Back-to-back.

* ROGER CARLSON is the former sports editor for the Daily Pilot.

He can be reached by e-mail at rogeranddorothea@msn.com.