For Orange, It Was Time to Move On

Journey with us to the autumn of 1986. While piles of leaves blanket the front lawns of your neighborhood, football season is in full bloom. It’s league-opener time in Orange County, when games mean more and teams tend to play harder. The site is Mission Viejo Stadium. It’s nearly kickoff in that storied league rivalry steeped in tradition: Orange vs. Trabuco Hills.

OK, so maybe this isn’t exactly Army-Navy. The fact is, it would be difficult to say that the Panthers and Mustangs put on quite a show every time they get together because, up until now, they’ve never gotten together.

But rivalries have to start somewhere and, as far as Orange is concerned, this is about as good a place as any. The Century League won’t have Orange High School to kick around in 1986. After more than a decade of frustration, degradation and 28-0 defeats, officials there decided it was time to move on, even if that meant hooking up with Laguna Hills, Costa Mesa, Laguna Beach, Trabuco Hills and Woodbridge to form a new league. Goodby Century League, hello . . . well, they haven’t come up with a name for it yet. Sea Coast? South View?

The motivation behind the switch comes down to football wins and losses; not many of one and far too many of the other. The Panthers were 3-7 in 1984, 0-10 in 1983. They won two league games last season, increasing their league win total to three over the past three years.

El Modena, Foothill, Villa Park and Santa Ana have been the playoff contenders in recent Century League races. Orange has been something of a doormat, welcomed by opponents with open arms, then rather rudely walked upon.

“We have not been successful in the football program in the Century League,” Orange principal Richard Kirwan said. “And football sort of sets the tone for the rest of the year.”

Thus, when a number of county principals were making releaguing proposals, Kirwan wanted in. And out of the Century League. As it turned out, he was not alone.

“Before we made the proposal to go into another league, we had a coaches’ meeting and discussed it at great length,” Kirwan said. “All of the coaches were in favor of it but one. We had a meeting with parent organizations and boosters and discussed it with them. It wasn’t just an administrative decision.”

Ed Graham, the Panthers’ basketball coach, cast that dissenting vote. This season, Graham’s third at Orange, the Panthers finished 12-2 in Century League and edged Santa Ana (11-3) for the league title. Orange was second in 1984 and fifth in 1983 at 5-9.

“I even enjoyed the season we went 5-9,” Graham said. “We were in every one of those games. That year was a great experience for those kids.”

Graham said he’s not eager to see the rivalries his teams have built with opponents such as Santa Ana and Foothill disappear, nor is he excited about the prospect of traveling half way across the county to play league games.

“I think the move is really going to hurt us,” he said. “Trabuco Hills is 25 miles away. Laguna Hills is even farther. I don’t know if people are going to be willing to do that much traveling (to attend games).

“It’s never been my goal for us to just win games every year. I like for us to be competitive, and I’ve really enjoyed playing in this league. We’ve had a lot of close games, good rivalries and great fan support. I’m disappointed we’re moving.”

If Garden Grove is in the Garden Grove League, why isn’t Orange in the Orange League? That was reportedly one of the options considered during the releaguing process. So was moving to the Freeway League. Either one would have seemed to make more geographic and financial sense, but Kirwan said he does not expect his athletic budget to suffer much.

“There will be some additional cost,” he said, “but it’s really not that great.”

Graham said he and some of his colleagues were surprised by Orange’s migration south.

“Everyone thought we were going to get into the Freeway or Orange league,” he said. “This new league just kind of came out of nowhere. I have a feeling that if the coaches were re-polled, there would be more people inclined to stay in the Century League. That’s just my guess.”

Said Orange football Coach S.K. Johnson: “Personally, knowing the financial situation of the (Orange Unified School) district, I think it might have been a wiser choice for Orange to be in a league closer to Orange High School. I would have been happy to get into either of those leagues.”

But don’t get Johnson wrong. He’ll shed no tears when Orange bids the Century League farewell. In fact, he’ll probably be the first one on the bus when the Panthers load up for their first league road game in the fall of ’86.

Johnson came to Orange in 1982, after four successful seasons as head coach at Lynwood. Under Johnson, Lynwood won two San Gabriel Valley League championships and beat El Modena, 14-13 in a California tiebreaker, to win the 1980 Southern Conference title.

After compiling a 35-10 record at Lynwood, Johnson found out how the other half lives. And it didn’t take long.

“I’ve already lost more games this year than I’ve lost in any one varsity season,” he said midway through his first season at Orange. “I guess it’s good for the soul to be humbled.”

Maybe so, but too much humbling can destroy a guy’s pride. And Johnson thinks he and his players have had more than their share. Johnson may begin making his travel plans any day now.

“It’s like getting a brand new job,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to it. It’s sad to see that it’s got to be this way, but I think it’s important for our kids to get an opportunity to have some success.

“The most important thing to our program right now is playing teams who we can be competitive with and having a better opportunity to win a game than we did with an El Modena or a Villa Park. It’s important that we get some wins and let the kids know what it feels like to be successful on the scoreboard.”