Breakers to open Pacific Coast season

When the Costa Mesa Mustangs marched right down the turf at Guyer

Field last Friday night to score a touchdown, Laguna Beach coach

Jimmy Nolan braced himself for the worst.

“When they came out and immediately scored on us, I thought, ‘Oh,

man, this could be a long night,’” he said.

But, in a game that presented the Breakers with their stiffest

challenge of the nonleague season, Laguna responded with 31

unanswered points en route to a 31-9 victory.

It was Laguna’s most lopsided victory in the series between the

schools.

“We beat them in every facet of the game,” Nolan said. “Our hustle

and endurance was the key factor in that win. We could have done many

things a whole lot better Friday night, but I have never seen these

boys play so hard and put together four strong quarters of football

since my arrival here at Laguna Beach.

“That win was really something. These boys should be proud of

themselves.”

Laguna righted the wrongs it committed the previous week in a

14-14 tie with Ocean View.

Fumbles and miscues cost the Breakers a chance at victory against

the Seahawks on Sept. 16.

“George Chheng had really dug himself a hole against Ocean View,

and his confidence was really low, and he needed to step up,” Nolan

said. “He did just that. George played solid on both sides of the

ball all night long. He showed a lot of character.

“Again, Charley Bowman ran the show out there. His play at the

quarterback spot is what makes this offense tick. I ask a lot out of

Chuck, and he continues to answer the bell.”

The Breakers, who are 3-0-1, will be looking to ride the momentum

garnered from the Costa Mesa win tonight, when they open their

Pacific Coast League schedule with a home game against Northwood.

Kickoff is 7 p.m.

As Nolan says, Laguna will take on the role of David in a league

full of Goliaths.

Unbeaten Northwood rolls into Guyer Field with a 4-0 record.

The Timberwolves’ most recent victory was a 30-12 pasting of Los

Amigos, a game in which quarterback Stuart Sharpe threw a pair of

touchdown passes to Sean Curtis.

In four games, Northwood has beaten opponents by an average score

of 32-10.

The Timberwolves finished in second place in last year’s league

race.

“I think we’ll be competing against a team that belongs to a high

school with an enrollment four times greater than ours,” Nolan said.

“This team will also have three times as many players as we have.

Northwood will have a solid starting offense o7andf7 a separate,

solid starting defense, o7andf7 a separate, solid set of special

teams players. This team will keep healthy, fresh bodies in the game.

“Our team will not exit the field, with the exception of our

quarterback, who I only allow to play offense. Our boys play three

ways, on the offense, defense and special teams. So, I just wanted to

educate the public on how much respect I have for these boys who are

about to get in a war Friday night.

“We are undermanned, outsized and don’t have the strengths this

opponent has. But that doesn’t mean we are going to throw in the

towel. While we can’t control the adversity we’re about to face, we

o7canf7 control the effort. Our focus right now is giving Northwood

more fight than you’d imagine. Good things happen to teams that work

as hard as we do. If we go down, know that we’re going down swinging.

Call us crazy, but we go into every game believing we will win.”

Laguna, Nolan said, got in a good week of practice leading up to

tonight’s kickoff, thanks, in large part to the team’s scout teams.

“I want to thank our scout teams for excellent practices all

week,” he said. “These guys get beaten on all week and sacrifice a

lot for our starters to be ready come game time. We owe that [Costa

Mesa] win to our reserves.”