Winning attitude finally pays off with victory

Teammates quit. Classmates wonder why you keep trying.

Saddleback's football players finally got their deserved reward last week. Saddleback had lost 24 football games in a row before the Roadrunners' 34-21 victory over Century last Thursday.

It was their first victory since a playoff triumph over Rosemead in November of 2006.

Two-way lineman Ricardo Rodriguez is one of those Saddleback seniors who stuck with it for so long and conquered a challenge that some refused to confront.

"It's been tough," said Rodriguez, a three-year varsity player. "We've just been trying for three years to climb up that mountain, to get that win."

Guys like Rodriguez sometimes are ridiculed at their schools by other kids, especially by those who quit the team. But Rodriguez and his teammates, just like athletes at other struggling programs everywhere, are real winners and true examples of what hard work, determination and courage can accomplish. While some coaches would have bailed out, Saddleback coach Jim O'Connell, used to winning league and CIF titles when he was head coach at Tesoro earlier this decade, never wavered from his commitment to his players; Thursday's victory was his first at the school since taking over the program there before the 2007 season.

All involved celebrated joyously after that victory Thursday.

"Everybody went crazy," Rodriguez said.

But the Roadrunners want more.

"We've got a real natural bond on this team," Rodriguez said. "We're only going to word harder and try to get some more wins."

Taking a look around Orange County high school sports:

•The county's second-leading rusher, behind Tustin's Anthony Wilkerson, is Estancia's Alex Abalos, a 5-foot-5, 160-pound senior who has rushed for 938 yards and is averaging 9 yards a carry and 188 a game. Abalos rushed for 325 yards and three touchdowns last week against La Quinta. Said Estancia coach Mike Bargas: "Alex is not very big, but he has very good lower-body power, and he's a very shifty runner."

•Another good running back to keep track of this season – Beckman 5-10, 175-pound senior Keith Lawson, who is No. 4 in county rushing with 723 yards and is averaging 11 yards a carry and 181 a game. He tore an ACL in the final week last season and had knee reconstruction surgery. Beckman coach Fred Shambaugh's assessment of Lawson: "Keith has great vision and really sets up his next moves, which means he drifts his shoulders one way then moves his hips the other way to set up his next cut."

•Here is the best argument for 7:30 kickoffs for Friday night football games: San Clemente at La Habra, this Friday. It's difficult to travel anywhere on Friday nights in this county, but being on time for the 7 p.m. kickoff for people making that trip from San Clemente to La Habra is a huge challenge for families that have other kids involved in post-school activities. While 7 p.m. kickoffs are fine for Thursday, which is a school night, or Saturday, all varsity football games should start at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays.

•La Habra had a big crowd when it played at San Clemente in football last year. Expect San Clemente to have a big following at La Habra this Friday. Those two football programs enjoy fantastic community, administrative and student support.

•In recent praise in these pages of Dana Hills' football team, running back Brandon Howe was overlooked. Howe is the Dolphins' leading rusher, with 238 yards and 6 yards a carry.

•Football coach Bob Johnson's record at Mission Viejo is 104-16-1 this decade. Mission has won a county-best 86 percent of its games during that time.

•During Jim Kunau's tenure as Orange Lutheran football coach, which began in 1993, the Lancers have lost more than three games only once, and that was in 1995 when they went 10-4 and were CIF-Southern Section Division X runners-up. Lutheran is 1-3 this year, and those losses are to good teams with a combined record of 11-3. Kunau has won 80 percent of his games, the best among all county coaches in history with 100 or more victories.

•Rosary girls golfer Lloyd Hoehle had a great week last week, averaging a score of 42 with rounds of 41, 45 and 40. The school has a load of athletes who are taking recruiting trips – softball player Alexandra Fieldhouse went to Boston College, water polo player Katelyn Riger went to Princeton and goes to Brown this weekend and teammate Hannah Croghan is off to UC Santa Barbara this weekend and UC Irvine the next weekend, and volleyball player Justine Ricigliano visits San Diego State this weekend.

•Congratulations to Capistrano Valley boys water polo coach Steve Yancey, who got his 400th career victory Monday when the Cougars defeated Huntington Beach. Not only has Yancey been a great coach for a long time, at Capo and previously at San Clemente, he also has been one of the great ambassadors of his sport.