PREP FOOTBALL ’99 : SUNSET LEAGUE : FACTS AND FIGURES

A LITTLE HISTORY

With The Times All-Orange County football team marking its 40th anniversary this season, here is a selection of prominent all-county choices from Sunset League schools:

Ken Laszlo

Marina, 1981

Coming back from a broken neck the previous season, Laszlo ran and passed for 1,914 yards in leading the Vikings to an 11-2 record, the best in school history, and the semifinals of the Big Five playoffs.

Robby Katzaroff

Los Alamitos, 1985

The first in the recent line of standout Griffin receivers, the diminutive Katzaroff (5-9, 168) led the county with a record 93 catches, and in scoring with 139 points. The previous spring, he had set a county record with 51 hits, and went on to play professional baseball in the Montreal Expos’ farm system.

Travis Kirschke

Esperanza, 1991-92

The 6-foot-5, 255-pound Kirschke was a two-time county lineman of the year, anchoring the defense for an Esperanza team that won two Southern Section championships during his career. After recording 26 sacks and 112 unassisted tackles in his prep career, he went on to play at UCLA.

1998 IN REVIEW

The League Race: Los Alamitos was in familiar territory when it opened its league schedule: unbeaten, top-ranked and in need of getting past long-time nemesis Esperanza. The Griffins edged Esperanza, 22-17, in the sixth week and went on to complete its regular season unbeaten, winning its third Sunset League title in five years.

Game of the Year: Mike Hill’s 18-yard field goal with 52 seconds to play gave Los Alamitos a 24-23 victory over Fountain Valley in the eighth week, a game that had six lead changes. The Barons had a pass play to Los Alamitos’ two-yard line called back because of a penalty in the final seconds.

Play of the Year: Jarrod Schuster’s 25-yard run to the Fountain Valley four-yard line set up Nathan Fikse’s last-second field goal in Esperanza’s 19-17 victory during the 10th week. The decision clinched second place for the Aztecs.

The MVP: Ryan Hanson and Keenan Howry, Los Alamitos’ pass-and-catch tandem, shared the honor; they teamed for 13 touchdown pass plays.

Playoff performance: Huntington Beach earned the wild-card berth in Division I but lost in the first round, as did Esperanza and Fountain Valley. Los Alamitos advanced to the semifinals before being upended by Mater Dei, 33-6.

League

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Standings W L T Los Alamitos 5 0 0 Esperanza 4 1 0 Fountain Valley 3 2 0 Huntington Beach 1 3 1 Marina 1 4 0 Edison 0 4 1

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Overall

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Standings W L T TP PA Los Alamitos 12 1 0 509 229 Esperanza 9 2 0 419 253 Fountain Valley 7 4 0 232 210 Huntington Beach 6 4 1 167 173 Marina 4 6 0 220 282 Edison 3 6 1 297 351

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Leaders

Statistics include regular-season games only

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PASSING Att Cp TD Yds Hanson, Los Alamitos 220 151 24 2,451 Wagner, Esperanza 204 142 24 2,162 Breska, Fountain Valley 227 119 18 1,915 Kripavicius, Edison 212 118 15 1,747 RUSHING Att Yds Avg TDs Mietkewicz, Marina 221 1,544 7.3 15 Schuster, Esperanza 187 1,544 8.6 19 Pope, Edison 223 1,179 5.4 20 Doby, Los Alamitos 172 1,106 6.7 18 RECEIVING Att Yds Avg TDs Howry, Los Alamitos 55 1,106 22.4 13 Kadau, Edison 53 879 17.3 5 Carter, Fountain Valley 51 1,061 21.2 13 Hill, Esperanza 39 641 16.8 7 SCORING TD FG XP TP Pope, Edison 23 0 2 140 Doby, Los Alamitos 20 0 2 122 Schuster, Esperanza 20 0 0 120 Carter, Fountain Valley 13 4 25 115

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