Prep Year in Review : QUOTE, UNQUOTE

A roundup of what they were saying this year in high school sports. The best, worst and everything in between, in their words. Honest.

The LeRon Ellis (“My dad, he’s been sort of a father figure to me”) Malo-prep Awards:

Ted Mullen, Anaheim football coach: “Everyone thinks I’m a jerk. Of course, I am.”

Dick Enright, on his role in the Southern Section’s investigation of the Capistrano Valley-El Toro spying incident: “I feel I told the truth, but I was a little evasive.”

Bobby Joyce, Santa Ana defensive back, reflecting on the touchdown pass Adam Brass stole from him with no time left in a Southern Conference semifinal football game: “It doesn’t bother me anymore, unless some idiot says to me, ‘I heard you messed up the football game.’ ”

Rex Vollmer, Capistrano Valley’s 230-pound heavyweight wrestler, after his final match at the state meet: “Let’s eat.”

Vollmer, when asked what the bill of fare would be that night: “Buffet. Definitely buffet.”

Dave Webb, Irvine linebacker, whose elaborate equipment, including a face shield, inspired several nicknames: “The Tustin players were calling me Darth Vader, but that made me angry. Darth Vader dies in the end.”

Webb, on moving from nose guard to middle linebacker: “You may not live long, but, in our defense, it’s the best place to be.”

Debbie Fassel, Valencia softball coach, about her down-to-earth superstar pitcher, Michele Granger: “The thing about Michele is that she just acts like herself.”

Theater of Pain:

Mike Phillips, two-time state champion wrestler for Capistrano Valley, bleeding and injured, on winning his first state title: “I felt so horrible, it was great.”

Phillips, after being head-butted, biting through his mouth piece, chipping a tooth and blacking out on the mat while winning his second state championship: “This is great! This is what it’s all about. Going all out, getting beat up. This is great!”

Shanon Winkelman, Marina distance runner, after the Sunkist Invitational two-mile: “I thought I did great, so great. . . . I didn’t know where I was or who I was near. I’m so psyched. I’m wired. I have a headache.”

When the Games Aren’t That Much Fun:

Dick Enright, talking about his resignation at Capistrano Valley: “I feel so bad about what has happened. Thursday, I felt so low that part of me wanted to go to China, where they tell me a billion don’t care about football. The other half wanted to go to church where God can forgive you. I decided to go to church. It was a lot closer.”

Todd Marinovich, Capistrano Valley’s record-setting quarterback, on winning only one playoff game in four years: “It’s tough to still be in high school and already have the rap that you can’t win the big one.”

Michele Granger, Valencia softball pitcher, after striking out 40 in 25 innings of the 3-A semifinal, which Valencia lost on an unearned run: “I never really got my intensity back this season. I let my team down.”

Ken Ostrowski, Westminster baseball coach, after his team was ordered to forfeit a victory and its share of the Sunset League title: “I have to take the blame. I cost the kids a championship patch. I took the patch off their backs.”

Leo Hand, Servite football coach: “Looking back, I’m glad I came here. But to be honest, if I had known what this job would be like, I would have never applied.”

Add Hand: “I may be here for 20 years, and I may be gone in the next 20 hours.”

A Servite booster, when asked if other Servite fans would want Hand fired if his team lost to Mater Dei: “Why should next week be any different? They want him fired every week.”

Tom Goode, Bolsa Grande defensive end, after learning that his team would forfeit five victories and a league title: “That day, something died inside of me. There’s been something missing inside of me since that day.”

Just Plain Nutty:

Gary Bowden, Canyon wrestling coach, on dealing with parental pressure: “I think if I had a wish, I’d wish I could be a head coach at an orphanage.”

Dan DeLeon, El Toro baseball coach, after watching his team lose, 8-4, in the Southern Section’s 3-A championship game: “We lost, but I’m still going to Disneyland.”

Leo Parker, Tustin basketball player: “My dad used to play (basketball). And he’d always watch the Lakers on TV. I hated that. I wanted to watch ‘Three’s Company.’ ”

Pat Blottiaux, on missing field goals of 58, 59, 61 and 62 yards: “I knew I was in trouble when I saw the goal posts in back of me were closer than the ones I was kicking at.”

Leo Hand, on how he coaches Blottiaux: “When Pat makes one, I say, ‘Hey, good kick.’ When he misses one I say, ‘Hey, not such a good kick.’ ”

Corey Reuter, Western offensive tackle: “Just once I’d like to see a reporter come running up after the game and say: ‘How ‘bout them blocks?’ ”

Gylan Dottin, Saddleback guard, explaining the origin of his first name and that of his younger brother, Malru: “My father made them up. Malru has an excuse; he was named after two people. I have no idea where mine came from.”

Pete Schmitt, Laguna Beach All-Southern Section tight end, on his basketball career: “I averaged two points and five fouls a game.”

Kevin McIntyre, Los Alamitos water polo player, on being recruited for the team: “They said that we’d always have a tan, that girls would be hanging around all the time, and that we’d be famous. Well, at least they were right about the tan.”

Greg Shadid, Bolsa Grande football coach, about his team’s big margins of victory and waning popularity with opponents: “You can’t expect to be undefeated, average 42 points a game and be popular.”

Travin Lui, Bolsa Grande running back: “This year we’re the red dot in the middle of a dart board. And everybody’s throwing darts.”

Alyson Schoeny, mother of Heather Schoeny, Capistrano Valley basketball player, after piling numerous compliments on her daughter: “Oh, this is gross, isn’t it? I must sound like Mrs. Brady on the ‘The Brady Bunch.’ ”

Guys Who May Have Stood in the Sun Too Long:

Vince Brown, Tustin baseball coach, on the Tillers’ expertly maintained field: “Since I was 13, my hobby has been working on baseball fields. It’s my form of relaxation. I don’t have the players work on it. I don’t have them rake. I figure I’m the one who can handle the rake. It’s sort of my fetish.”

Mike Dodd, Huntington Beach baseball coach, on the 40-foot-high left-field fence he says has cost his team several games: “That thing is a monster. I sometimes go out and hit balls against it, just to show it how I feel.”

(Un)happy Campers:

Tom Danley, Katella coach, whose team missed the playoffs for the first time in 22 seasons: “Maybe someone upstairs was trying to send me a lesson in humility.”

John Liebengood, Estancia football coach, looking back at the 1986 season, when his team went winless: “I knew things were going to be bad, but I thought we could win one game. I knew things had hit rock bottom when the press wouldn’t even talk to me.”

Larry Doyle, Marina assistant football coach, explaining the Vikings’ 2-5 start: “We’re averaging 137 yards in total offense a game. You could go against air and have a tough time scoring with an average like that.”

Coy Collins, Loara sophomore running back, after gaining 190 yards in a losing effort against Katella, giving the Saxons a losing record (4-6) for the season: “There are some teams that are going to pay for this year over the next two seasons.”

Happy Endings:

Char Ruppel, Mater Dei center, explaining an uncharacteristic seven losses in basketball: “You lose a game here, and everybody asks what’s wrong. It’s been a tough year, and I think I’ve heard from everybody. But they love you here when you win.”

Mater Dei ended up winning its fourth consecutive Southern Section championship.

Scootie Lynwood, Santa Ana point guard, who missed most of his junior season when he dropped out of school: “I’ve got a lot to prove to people. But I will. There’s no doubt in my mind. I will.”

Lynwood won back his starting job and helped lead Santa Ana to the 4-A semifinals.

Mitch Olson, Kennedy football coach, on defensive back Jeff Murakami, who was born without a left arm: “I look at him and ask myself, ‘How can this kid be playing?’ ”

Sandy Bergan, mother of Jeff Bergan, Mission Viejo wrestling coach, who needed a life-saving kidney transplant: “The facts are, someone is going to have to die for my son to live.”

Jeff Bergan, on waiting for the donor: “The whole thing sounds a bit spooky. But what’s my alternative? I think you know what my alternative is, and I’m not ready for that.”

Bergan had the transplant.