Breakers, Cougars end long drought

Walking onto the turf tonight at Guyer Field for the final time in nearly a month, the Laguna Beach Breakers will host Capistrano Valley in a nonleague game at 7 p.m.

It’s the second to last home game for the Breakers, who don’t play at home again until Nov. 3 when they host Estancia for homecoming and Senior Night festivities.

Laguna is hoping tonight’s outing will be better than its last homestand, a 27-0 loss to former Pacific Coast League foe University.

That loss baffled Breakers Coach Jimmy Nolan.

“For once, I was truly mystified,” Nolan said. “I was speechless. I saw things in that game that I truly could not figure out. We are just as good as that team. No disrespect to Uni, they played awesome and have a wonderful staff, but this Laguna Beach team has really got me puzzled.

“I suggested to the boys that they ought to change the way they live their lives off the field, and maybe things will change on the field. What we are seeing on Friday nights is the old saying, ‘what comes around, goes around.’ This is their year. They can control the effort. God will control the outcome. I believe we have been getting what we deserve, thus far.”

Although Laguna failed to post a point in the loss to University, Nolan saw positive performances from his players.

“I thought Devin Hands played great, at times,” he said. “The same goes for Charley Bowman. I can’t say enough about Charley. He lives his nine lives on that field every game.

“I am also really impressed with the energy and effort from a few guys like Jose Ronses, Kyle Jenkins, Danny Panduro, Zach Smith and Jason Colladay.”

The Breakers meet up tonight with a Capistrano Valley team that is 3-1. The Cougars have won their past two games, defeating Glendora and Northwood. In fact, in all four games the Cougars have played thus far, none has been decided by more than a touchdown.

Their loss is to El Toro, 20-17.

Running back Rod Muratalla figured to be the Cougars’ top offensive threat at the outset of the season, and he has been just that. The senior has scored five of Capo Valley’s 11 touchdowns this year and is averaging 162 yards on the ground per game.

The Cougars are a senior-dominated team.

“I expect to see a team with 100 players,” Nolan said of the Cougars. “I expect to see an offensive line averaging 275 pounds versus our defensive line averaging 170 pounds. I expect them to try to ram the ball down our throat all night long with their run game.

“I expect them to only rush three d-lineman and to drop eight defensive players every snap to take away our pass game, knowing that we have not proven we can run the ball.”

Tonight marks only the seventh time that the neighboring schools will have met on the football field, and the first time since the 1983 season. Laguna has won just once in six pervious meetings between the schools.

“This will definitely be a tough test for us,” Nolan said of tonight’s matchup.

The Series

(Cougars lead, 5-1)

Name: Marshall Thomas

Positions: Receiver/secondary

Height: 6-1

Weight: 170

Year: Senior

Game highlights: Thomas came up with some key catches on offense and on defense, came up with a strip on a potential breakaway TD run by University and recovered the ensuing fumble during Laguna’s 27-0 nonleague loss to University on Sept. 29.

Coach’s comments: “The guy plays 150% every snap, including special teams,” Jimmy Nolan said. “He has recently become a vocal leader as well. I can’t say enough about this kid. No one put in more time during the off-season. Every time I was here, so was Marshall. And most impressive, Marshall keeps straight As in all his classes. If we had a few more players with this kind of character, we would be outstanding. Hopefully, his leadership will start to rub off on the rest of the team.”