Fryer on football: A closer look at the O.C. top 10
Here is how I voted this week for the Orange County top 10: 1. Servite; 2. Mission Viejo; 3. San Clemente; 4. Santa Margarita; 5. Orange Lutheran; 6. La Habra; 7. Tesoro; 8. Edison; 9. Villa Park; 10. Huntington Beach.
Yes, we have no Monarchs. Mater Dei was not on my ballot, but was on the top-10 ballots of eight of the other nine voters in the county Top 10 poll, so that kept them in the county top 10. (No matter how many times we make it clear that the top 10 is a poll and not the Steve Fryer top 10, people still think the poll is a Steve Fryer top 10).
Second-guessing myself about Mater Dei: The Monarchs have not lost to any team ranked below it, did beat No. 3 Santa Margarita (which beat No. 8 Tesoro and No. 5 Orange Lutheran, which beat No. 7 La Habra) and beat No. 6 Edison (which beat Los Alamitos and Huntington Beach). Four of Mater Dei's five losses are to teams with winning records, and the cumulative record of teams that beat Mater Dei is 30-11.
But Mater Dei has lost two in a row by the combined score of 52-3. The way the Monarchs are playing, with their inability to run the ball (an average of 0.76 yards a carry vs. Orange Lutheran last week), a defense that is giving up 23 points a game and a lineup that might be getting hit hard by injuries, the opinion here is that Mater Dei this week would not beat the teams that I had on my top 10 ballot.
REMEMBER THE NAME
Josh Davis. He is a sophomore quarterback at St. Margaret's, and he just had what might be the game that launches him toward bigger and better accomplishments.
He threw four touchdown passes and ran for two touchdowns in the Tartans' 52-16 victory over Brethren Christian this past Thursday. Davis was 10 of 18 for 253 yards, and got some assistance from the offensive line and from the running of Matt Duenes who rushed for 185 yards and a touchdown.
The county's small schools produce good players, some who go a long way in sports like Cleveland Browns offensive lineman Oniel Cousins. Cousins played eight-man football at Eastside Christian, which does not even have a football team this year.
REMEMBER THE OILERS
Sure, Huntington Beach lost to Edison, 20-14, this past Thursday. But a couple of pass-interference calls that were questionable to this impartial viewer who always admits the officials have the superior view and expertise, and the bounce of the loose balls went Edison's way.
The Huntington Beach football program might not be accustomed to going from losing a tough game to a well-regarded opponent then immediately having to move on and get ready for the next challenging opponent, which for the Oilers on Friday is Los Alamitos at Veterans Stadium, Los Al's home field.
Huntington Beach is good enough to beat Los Alamitos and make the Pac-5 playoffs, if ... if the Oilers players accept that within the time frame of a game or a season that the officials' calls and the bounces balance out eventually, if they ignore their parents' obnoxious second-guessing of the coaching staff, and if they realize there really is not a media conspiracy against them.
The Mission Viejo, San Clemente, Santa Margarita and Servite programs endured some difficult times and now are enjoying long-running revivals at least in part because they never assessed themselves to be victims. Positive energy can be quickly drained by negativity.
THE PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE
As expected, this is a great league. The league's three games last week: Irvine 29, Northwood 28; Beckman 24, Irvine 21; and Corona del Mar 31, Woodbridge 30. Three games, with a total of five points in margins of victory.
THE SOUTHWEST DIVISION
La Habra still is the best team in the division, no matter what the division rankings say. But Villa Park is coming on strong and just beat El Dorado by 52 points – and those kinds of victories are huge momentum-builders as the playoffs approach in just a couple of weeks.
Tustin is making its usual late-season surge, as the Tillers' lineup is getting healthy and the timing of the double-wing offense gets tighter.
Yorba Linda is undefeated, and did beat Tustin. El Toro needed overtime to beat Capistrano Valley, but funky stuff can happen in neighborhood rivalry games. Laguna Hills is undefeated, too, and something of a mystery but the Hawks have what the best teams have – confidence, and a veteran coaching staff that knows how to succeed in the playoffs.
This is going to be a fun division to follow in the playoffs.
GAMES OF THE WEEK
It is Servite-Mater Dei week, an attractive game even back when Mater Dei was dominating the series and we still had phone booths and people drank real coffee they actually found time to make for themselves.
Also: St. John Bosco of Bellflower-Santa Margarita (both 2-1 in the Trinity League), Friday at Saddleback College; Huntington Beach-Los Alamitos (2-1 and 1-2, respectively, in the Sunset League); Friday, Tesoro at Mission Viejo (both 2-0 in the South Coast League); Friday, Anaheim-Santa Ana Valley (Anaheim is 2-1, Valley 3-0 in the Orange League) at Santa Ana Stadium; Friday, Costa Mesa at Laguna Beach (3-0 and 2-1, respectively, in the Orange Coast League); Friday, Beckman at Irvine (records don't matter in the Pacific Coast League); Thursday, Brea Olinda-Villa Park (3-1 and 4-0, respectively, in the Century League) at El Modena High; and, Thursday, Yorba Linda-Cypress (4-0 and 3-1, respectively, in the Empire League) at Western High.
