Ubiquitous Corcoran Comes to Chaminade's Aid

By STEVE ELLING

Oct. 16, 1991 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

It has become the running gag at Chaminade High. Friday night, it was also a tackling gag, a kicking gag, a receiving gag and a game-saving gag.

The in-house joke at Chaminade, among those who have been around for a few years, is that Ted Corcoran has been there forever.

Moments before the kickoff against St. Paul on Friday night, Corcoran trudged to midfield with the Chaminade co-captains. During the coin toss, Corcoran again was subjected to good-natured gibes from folks who were aware of his lengthy career.

An official, in fact, patted Corcoran on the backside and said, “Are you still here?”

Corcoran, it seems, has been at Chaminade for what seems an interminable period. It could be said that he put the long in longevity.

“I guess most of them are tired of seeing me around,” Corcoran said of the officials. “It’s kind of funny to see their reaction.”

In his fourth year on the varsity, Corcoran is easily recognizable. To begin with, he is an eyeful at 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds. What’s more, atop his head is a shock of hair the color of copper cable or a Caltrans traffic cone.

“It’s either the hair or the freckles,” he said.

Big Red Ted is difficult to miss. In last week’s thrilling 12-9 victory over St. Paul, he hardly missed an opportunity to step forward and take the game by the throat.

All Corcoran did was score all of Chaminade’s points and personally deprive St. Paul of the go-ahead score with a heady play in the game’s waning moments.

Coach Rich Lawson calls Corcoran--who also plays baseball and basketball--Chaminade’s “man for all seasons.” In the St. Paul victory, he was a man for all positions.

Corcoran kicked field goals of 47 and 40 yards in the first half as Chaminade took a 6-0 lead. St. Paul, the runner-up in Southern Section Division III last season, rallied for a 7-6 lead entering the fourth quarter, setting the stage for Corcoran’s heroics.

First, quarterback Travis Hall connected with Corcoran on a nearly unbelievable six-yard scoring pass to give the Eagles a 12-7 lead.

Corcoran, a tight end, ran a pattern into the end zone and curled around the defender, who had Corcoran well-covered. Hall, flushed out of the pocket, threw the ball low and outside as Corcoran slid feet-first into the right side of the end zone to make the catch.

It was a broken play, to be sure, but St. Paul refused to snap. The Swordsmen drove inside the Chaminade 10-yard line with three minutes to play, and on third and goal from the one, St. Paul quarterback Matt Lenzen dived over the top into the middle of the pile, extending the ball toward the goal line.

“I saw a ball there and tried to see if there was anything chaotic I could do,” said Corcoran, who also is the team’s middle linebacker. “I didn’t want him to break the plane.”

What followed was plainly a game-saving play. Said Hall: “I thought the guy scored.”

Said Lawson: “The quarterback dives, all the officials run in there, our kids are going crazy. I didn’t know who did what or what happened.”

Corcoran had dislodged the ball with a tomahawk chop to Lenzen’s wrists and recovered at the one with 1 minute 34 seconds to play.

“The funny thing was, for a second, the ball was resting on the back of one of their linemen,” Corcoran said.

The fate, soon to be the weight, of Chaminade had rested squarely on the shoulders of Corcoran and he was equal to the task. After three running plays, Hall took an intentional safety with 14 seconds remaining. A few ticks of the clock later, Corcoran was buried under a pile of teammates.

“The guy’s an animal,” Hall said. “He feels no pain. He throws up every halftime because he works so hard. Every halftime.”

Corcoran’s defensive play preserved Chaminade’s victory, its school-record fifth in succession to open the season. The Eagles are 2-0 in Mission League play after going 1-8-1 last season and failing to win a league game.

Everyone but Corcoran was willing to point out the player largely responsible for the victory. If ever a player had a right to ask a coach for a keepsake videotape, Corcoran did. But he prefers to view things from the collective viewpoint.

“I guess it was a pretty good game if you want to talk individually,” Corcoran allowed after being pressed several times for an evaluation of his performance. “The important thing is that we won and we’re off to the best start in school history.”

Corcoran is arguably the school’s best athlete of his tenure. A left-hander, Corcoran has been a starting pitcher on the baseball varsity since his freshman season. He played varsity basketball for the first time last season.

In the fall, Corcoran has played tight end, fullback, punter, kicker and linebacker. Linebacker, judging by the way Corcoran wrestled the ball from Lenzen’s hands last week, might be his most natural position.

There is other evidence.

Entering a wrestling meet with Alemany last season, Chaminade needed someone to compete in the heavyweight division so it wouldn’t be forced to forfeit the points in the weight class. Corcoran was contacted and agreed to give it a shot.

“He never wrestled before in his life,” Lawson said. “And he pinned the guy. He’s done things that would give him bragging rights in a lot of areas. But the way he sees it, he’s just another piece in the puzzle.

“He’s the most serious of all the kids in terms of dedication. All I can say about Teddy is that he’s the first one on the practice field and the last one to leave.”

This also might have something to do with Corcoran’s place of residence. His family lives just up the road from the school--the house is located on Chaminade Avenue, in fact--and he could kick a football onto the campus grounds if he wanted to.

“You can watch a baseball game from our back yard,” Corcoran said.

This, of course, ensures that even after graduation, Corcoran will be hanging around Chaminade’s yard for years to come.