O.C. teams show it often is more than a game

We have excellent teams, players and coaches who get outstanding administrative, parental and community support.

What really makes Orange County football so great could be found at three games this past Friday, the final night of the regular season ...

Santiago vs. Garden Grove: Senior night for Garden Grove, a night to honor all Argonauts seniors but especially one, Kevin Telles, who died after collapsing on the field during the opening-night game in September. Telles' family was on the field and participated in the senior night ceremonies. Two Garden Grove players carried a banner honoring Telles, who remains such a big part of a season in which the Argonauts carry a 10-0 record into the playoffs with perhaps their greatest victory yet to come.

Mater Dei vs. St. John Bosco of Bellflower: The father of Mater Dei senior defensive back Brian Denning, Matt Denning, died Friday morning, hours before a must-win game for the Monarchs' playoff hopes. Sometimes, the best refuge is among one's brothers on the athletic battlefield. Denning was on that field for almost every defensive play and contributed an interception to Mater Dei's 42-14 victory.

Tesoro vs. Aliso Niguel: Aliso senior player Matt Morris has cerebral palsy, but that has not stopped him from practicing with the team and suiting up for every game for four years. On Friday, he finally got in a varsity game and scored on an 86-yard run. It was a golden moment for Morris, a true gamer, and for Aliso Viejo coach Jeff Veeder, Tesoro coach Brian Barnes, both teams' players and the game officials for their participation.

Taking a look around Orange County high school sports:

•Troy Thomas is 5 for 5 at Servite — five years as the school's football coach, five league championships. This year, the Friars went 5-0 in the Trinity League to become the league's first outright champion since it was formed in 2006. Ask Thomas about that and he changes the topic to how excited he is about Servite's formation program and all of the other non-football accomplishments there.

•The Mayfair of Lakewood-Segerstrom football playoff game, a Southern Division first-round game, has a 7 p.m. kickoff tonight (we had a 7:30 kickoff in the paper this week). The CIF-Southern Section sets 7:30 p.m. kickoffs for all games, but those starting times can be changed upon CIF approval. It's always a good idea to call the participating schools in case starting times have changed.

•When the Pacifica football team heads for the locker room at halftime of the Mariners' playoff game tonight at Fullerton High, junior two-way lineman Keenan Burt will stay on the field. Burt plays baritone horn with the Pacifica marching band. Typical of well-rounded young people, Burt also is an excellent student, carrying a 4.5 grade-point average.

•Newport Harbor kicker Dillan Freiberg had his county-record streak of successful extra-point kicks snapped at 71 earlier this season. Trabuco Hills kicker Mitch Maurer has made 67 in a row going into this week.

•At the CIF-SS water polo championships Saturday at the William J. Woollett Aquatics Center are two matches pitting league rivals — the Empire League's Katella and Valencia in the Division VII game at 9:30 a.m., and the Trinity League's JSerra and Mater Dei in the Division II final at 2:45 p.m. And the Division I final, El Toro-Newport Harbor, brings together teams that had been in the Sea View League together for brief periods in the 1980s and 1990s.

•It's league reunion time in the girls volleyball finals at Cypress College on Saturday, too. The Sunset League's Los Alamitos and Newport Harbor play in the Division I final at 7:30 p.m.

•The CIF-SS cross country finals, a five-division meet, are Saturday at Mt San Antonio College. Top teams and individuals will qualify for the state championships Nov. 28 in Fresno.

•A clinic for shot put and discus throwers will be at Golden West College on Dec. 19 and 20. College coaches will be among the instructors. For more information, visit winterthrowsclinic.com.

•Here is a busy coach — former Cypress football head and assistant coach John Selbe was an assistant coach with the freshman football team at Magnolia this season, will assist with the Cypress boys basketball team and the Anaheim girls basketball team this winter, and will assist with the Loara boys volleyball team in spring. Mike Anderson is keeping pace with Mr. Selbe. Anderson will again be coach for both the Magnolia boys and girls basketball teams and will coach the softball team this coming fall.