Corp didn't luck into this award

If it is true that luck occurs when preparation meets opportunity, then Aaron Corp is one lucky guy.

Two years ago, when Corp was a sophomore at Orange Lutheran, an injury to projected starting quarterback Seth Blackamore gave Corp the opportunity to start. He was prepared to contribute, and contributed well enough to help Lutheran win its first CIF football championship.

This year, Corp had the opportunity to display his skills in perhaps the most challenging football league in the state, the Trinity League, and perhaps its most challenging playoff division, the Pac-5 Division. He led the Lancers to league and division championships.

Then came a unique opportunity, the CIF State Championship Bowl Games. In the first state championship format in 79 years, Corp turned in one of his best performances of his high school career and led Lutheran to a 42-28 victory over Palo Alto in the state Division II game.

The opportunity was there for Corp to prove he is the best. He was prepared, and showed it, and is the Register's Offensive Player of the Year for the 2006 season.

Corp, a 6-foot-4, 190-pound senior who is going to USC, beat teams all season with his passing and running talents. He exploited those one final time, against Palo Alto, by scoring on touchdown runs of 31 and 52 yards, and throwing four touchdown passes. Corp rushed for a game-high 155 yards and completed 16 of 32 passes for 208 yards.

But what most impressed Lutheran coach Jim Kunau, that night and all season, was Corp's leadership.

"It all really starts with Aaron's value structure," Kunau said. "He is a true servant-leader who is driven to excel."

Corp is naturally quiet, so becoming a team leader is a position he grew into gradually.

"I kind of assumed a little bit of a leadership role last year, being the quarterback," he said of his junior year. "But now I'm the senior quarterback, so I really assumed that role this year.

"I'm not a real vocal-type of guy," he said. "I lead more by example, really. But if something needed to be said then I had to say it. Being a leader kind of came to me, a lot of that was because of the amount of respect all of the guys on the team showed me."

How couldn't they? Corp finished second in the county in passing, with 2,379 yards, and threw 21 touchdown passes with seven interceptions. He completed 68 percent of his throws.

Corp also rushed for more than 1,000 yards, finishing with 1,197, the 25th-highest total in the county. He averaged 8 yards a carry and 86 yards a game.

One of Corp's best games came in the Lancers' Trinity League triumph over Mater Dei, a 24-21 overtime victory. He ran for 65 yards and a touchdown and was 24 for 29 passing for 264 yards.

Mater Dei coach Bruce Rollinson remembered how Corp almost singlehandedly swung momentum Lutheran's way in that game.

"We forged ahead in the fourth quarter," Rollinson said, "and we're playing really well on defense. We have him trapped in the pocket, and all of a sudden he breaks out of there and scrambles for 23 yards and a first down. That play broke our backs."

He had many other games in which his throwing and running abilities paced the Lancers to victory. In a 49-20 victory over San Clemente in the playoffs, Corp was 18 for 24 for 320 yards and a touchdown, and he rushed for 162 yards and three touchdowns. In a 49-39 league victory over Santa Margarita, Corp ran for 111 yards and passed for 278 and two touchdowns.

"That's what makes him special," Rollinson said. "He runs their option so well, and he can throw the football. He has a quick release, and he reads the defense very well."

Corp was prepared to do both, and took advantage of the opportunities he was given to do so.

Contact the writer: (714) 796-2245 or sfryer@ocregister.com