Parochial, Public Football Teams Peacefully Mix It Up

The security guards were ready for action. No doubt they had been briefed on the gravity of the situation:

Santa Margarita High School versus Corona del Mar. Parochial schools in public leagues. After more than a decade, the county’s No. 1 political feud was finally going to be played out on a football field. Who knows what could happen.

Naturally, the security guards were playing it cool, feigning nonchalance as they discreetly surveyed the crowd for funny business. One guard held a hamburger. He took a bite. And another bite. A brilliant cover, to be sure.

“Hey,� a passerby asked him, “you guys expecting trouble tonight?�

“Only if they run out of burgers,� he deadpanned.

And so it went. This interleague meeting of parochial and public, a peaceful beginning to what hopefully will be an amicable future.

Friday night, Santa Margarita took on Corona del Mar in a Sea View League game at Saddleback College; Servite played Edison in a Sunset League game at Cal State Fullerton. And on Oct. 16, Mater Dei will make its public--South Coast League--debut against Capistrano Valley.

The New Age of Orange County football? At this point, it still probably depends on which side of the field you’re on.

Edison fans might want to blame the Chargers’ 28-6 loss to Servite on the fact that Servite, like all parochial schools, can bring in students from anywhere inside--or outside--the county, while Edison, like most public schools, must take what it gets from its enrollment area.

It’s the classic, woe-is-me cry of the anti-parochial faction. Sing it with a twang and a gee-tar and--boom--you’ve got yourself a proper Country & Western ballad. Just keep the volume down. No one else wants to hear it.

The fact is, Servite is hot this year. A few years back, you hardly heard an encouraging word about Friar football. This proves, Charger fans, that everything comes in cycles. Just wait and see.

As for Corona del Mar, a 35-14 loser to Santa Margarita, any complaint about having to play a parochial school should be instantly snuffed by a review of Friday night’s game film.

Can you say . . . missed tackles?

Certainly, when it comes to escaping defenders, Santa Margarita quarterback Sean O’Brien can out-scramble an egg. But there were so many missed tackles in his wake Friday night you had to wonder. Was O’Brien really that slippery or did the Sea Kings forget to wipe all that pregame pate from their fingers?

It should be noted that Corona del Mar has fallen below 1,000 in enrollment this year. You’ve probably already heard this from Sea King Coach Dave Holland. (If you haven’t, you probably will). Certainly, it is tough for smaller schools to be competitive. They have fewer student-athletes to work with, less depth, fewer voices for that spirited pregame cheer.

But, small school or not, the Sea Kings might have had a few other things thrown at them Friday night. At least things they hadn’t seen before in league play.

First, there were those Santa Margarita tailgate parties in the parking lot. Maybe the Corona players were dazed by that dinner-time smell wafting over the stadium.

Then there was the spontaneous pregame blessing of a game official, courtesy of Msgr. Michael Harris, Santa Margarita’s principal. This wasn’t an ordinary occurrence, mind you. But after seeing the monsignor bless the Eagle players and coaches, the guy in stripes jogged over and asked for similar treatment and Harris graciously obliged.

Another potentially tricky deal was the rush of Eagle fans out of the stands after O’Brien scored his first touchdown. The moment O’Brien dashed into the end zone, this pack of screaming meemies--presumably the more rambunctious Eagle freshmen players--leaped from their seats, gathered in a pack at the base of the bleachers and did push-ups. Such camaraderie and the security guards couldn’t even stop them.

Finally, Corona del Mar also might have been concerned about being lulled into a false sense of neighborliness. After all, Santa Margarita was doing wonders on the hospitality circuit last week.

After a tri-meet Thursday, the Eagle cross-country team served watermelon and soft drinks to the Corona del Mar and Saddleback runners. On the same day, the Santa Margarita-Corona del Mar freshman football game finished with a hot dog cookout, thanks to Eagle boosters.

Said Harris: “We’re very lucky to be in this league--big time. We need to go out of our way to demonstrate hospitality.�

And demonstrate they did. The Eagles were so nice, they gave Corona del Mar an up-close-and-personal view of what may be the league’s best offense. Difficult to understand why the Sea Kings watching from the sideline screamed and moaned so.

Maybe, unlike the guards who watched over them, they just weren’t ready for action. Not Friday night, at least.