Dream Team

Patrick Laverty

The hush that came over the Newport Harbor High crowd every time

junior wide receiver Spencer Link touched the ball told as much as

any statistic.

It was as if the Sailors crowd was saving up their energy for an

ensuing roar, with the expectation that Link was about to do

something special.

He often did, turning short passes into long touchdowns and making

near-impossible catches along the sidelines.

His importance to the Newport Harbor team, the only Newport-Mesa

school to make the CIF Southern Section playoffs, was actually

magnified in the Sailors’ first-round loss to Los Altos. The

Conquerors, who like most teams used a safety over the top of a

cornerback to cover Link, were the only team to shut out the junior

receiver this season. As a result, Los Altos shut out the Sailors.

But there was no denying that had it not been for Link and his

ability to turn short gainers into long touchdowns, Newport Harbor

would not have even had the chance to play top-ranked Los Altos.

After a season in which he caught 53 passes for 945 yards and 13

touchdowns, Link has been named the Daily Pilot’s high school

football Player of the Year.

He highlights a dream team of 25 players from Newport Harbor,

Corona del Mar, Costa Mesa and Estancia high schools.

Also earning top individual honors were Costa Mesa senior running

back Omar Ruiz, the Offensive Player of the Year, and Mustangs junior

linebacker Jeff Waldron, the Defensive Player of the Year.

The team was led by nine players each from Harbor and Mesa, with

four players selected from what was an injury-riddled Corona del Mar

team and three selected from Estancia, which did not have a

representative on the 2002 team.

In a season where the majority of teams, with the exception of

Estancia, were led by younger players, there were 14 seniors, nine juniors and two sophomores selected to the team. Newport Harbor had

four juniors and a sophomore chosen, Mesa had four juniors selected

and CdM had a junior and a sophomore on the team.

One of the 14 seniors, Ruiz was another player who could often be

counted on to make the big play. The 5-foot-8 running back ran for a

district-high 1,548 yards this season and finished his three-year

varsity career with 2,330 yards.

He was aided on offense by Waldron, who had 27 catches for 395

yards and four touchdowns as a wide receiver, but made his true

impact on defense.

A standout rebounder on the basketball court, Waldron, an outside

linebacker, was one of Mesa’s leading tacklers, but seemed to make

his most important impact with turnovers. As an outside linebacker in

Mesa’s three-five alignment, Waldron often dropped back into coverage

and came up with five interceptions.

The Dream Team offense is led by Harbor junior quarterback Kasey

Peters, who was on his way to a fantastic debut varsity season before

his collarbone was broken in Week 7, late in the game against Aliso

Niguel.

As the man who delivered the ball to Link, and often did so with

strong precision, Peters was 69 of 125 passing for 936 yards and 13

touchdowns. Despite missing Harbor’s last four games, Peters still

led all Newport-Mesa quarterbacks in touchdowns.

Joining Peters in the backfield is his own running back, Sailors

senior Matt Encinias, the district’s second-leading rusher with 1,308

yards and nine touchdowns. Playing running back for the first time

since his freshman season, Encinias literally carried the Sailors on

his back at times.

Lining up in front of Encinias is Estancia senior fullback Bubba

Kapko, who provided a spark out of the backfield for the Eagles, both

as a blocker and a rusher.

Kapko led Estancia with 601 yards rushing and also scored nine

touchdowns.

At wide receiver, a pair of juniors join Link to form an

impressive trio that will all be returning next season.

Corona del Mar’s Kevin Welch proved himself on both sides of the

ball for the Sea Kings, catching 28 passes for 591 yards and eight

touchdowns and leading CdM with 74 tackles, three interceptions and

two fumble recoveries. Also a standout volleyball player, Welch has

already received some interest from UCLA and should be strongly

recruited next season in both football and volleyball.

At the other wideout position is Costa Mesa’s Jorge Quiroz, the

Mustangs’ No. 1 receiving threat in a run-oriented offense. Quiroz

caught 27 passes for 472 yards and scored one touchdown.

Blocking for this skill-position set is a mammoth offensive line,

led by three players from Costa Mesa, including two juniors.

Mustangs center Luke Sapolu, the son of former San Francisco 49er

and current Mustangs offensive line coach Jesse Sapolu, is one of

five players to make the Dream Team for the second consecutive

season, joining Link, Welch, Encinias and Mesa linebacker Junior

Epenesa.

Sapolu (5-11, 250 pounds), being recruited by the University of

Hawaii, was the leader of Mesa’s front five, which also included

Dream Team selections Bryce Carich (6-3, 255) and Rodrigo Gutierrez

(6-4, 275).

The other two members of the offensive line are tackles from

Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar. Senior Nick Watkins (6-3, 244) was

a constant for the Sailors this season, protecting Peters and opening

holes for Encinias. Senior Andy Lujan (6-3, 270) was one of many Sea

Kings to miss time due to injury this season, but when he was

healthy, Corona del Mar’s offense took on a new dimension.

Adding an extra blocker to this group, Costa Mesa tight end Brett

Via also joins the Dream Team. A guard in previous seasons, the 6-3,

225-pound senior filled in for Gutierrez in the first two games of

the season, then moved to tight end, where he also posed a

pass-catching threat.

On defense, a plethora of strong linemen puts the Dream Team in a

unique five-three formation, led by bookends Matt Burgner, a

sophomore from Corona del Mar, and Saami Khalifian, a junior from

Newport Harbor.

Burgner was one of the leaders of a Sea Kings defensive unit that

featured just two senior starters. After putting up 35 tackles, eight

sacks and recovering a pair of fumbles, he should continue to be a

leader for the unit in the coming years.

Khalifian could have made the team simply for his performance

against Los Altos, when he dominated the offensive line of the

Conquerors, compiling 2 1/2sacks and two other tackles for a loss.

But going into that playoff game, Khalifian had already made eight

sacks on the season.

Making up the interior of the defensive line is the Newport Harbor

senior duo of Mark Temple and Austin Nieto and Estancia 300-pounder

Gary Strawn.

Temple and Nieto were constants for the Sailors defense throughout

the season, with Temple also filling in admirably on the offensive

line. Strawn, also a senior, was the Eagle’s big defensive stopper

before going down with a separated shoulder in the final weeks of the

season.

At linebacker, Epenesa, the top college recruit from the

Newport-Mesa area, follows his teammate Waldron. A run stuffer at

middle linebacker, Epenesa also stared at fullback, gaining 389

yards, scoring nine touchdowns and often providing the lead block

that opened holes for Ruiz. He is being recruited by USC, BYU and

Arizona State among other schools.

Newport Harbor junior Thomas Martin was the Sailors linchpin in

the middle of the defense and also their leading tackler. He also

made appearances in the Newport Harbor backfield in short-yardage

situations.

Like Epenesa and Martin, Mike Cahill was a two-way player for

Estancia who stood out at linebacker. The senior combined with Kapko

and Strawn to earn the Eagles three victories this season, two more

than they had in the previous two years combined. In addition to his

linebacker work, he gained 391 yards and scored a pair of rushing

touchdowns.

Leading the secondary are a pair of seniors, Costa Mesa’s Luis

Gonzalez, second on the Mustangs to Waldron with three interceptions,

and Corona del Mar’s Mordy Ornguze.

Gonzalez, a cornerback, led Mesa’s three-man secondary against

opponent’s passing attacks. Ornguze, who played a strong safety type

position in Corona del Mar’s alignment, was one of just two senior

starters, but set an example for the youngsters to live up to.

Rounding out the secondary and the defense is Newport Harbor

sophomore Ryan Rippon. Like most of the rest of the players on the

Dream Team, Rippon will likely be a two-way player in the coming

years, but this season, he played solely on defense and excelled at

strong safety as one of the Sailors’ leading tacklers.