Sea View League

COACHES POLL

1. Trabuco Hills, 12-2 in 2007
2. Foothill, 9-3
3. El Toro, 6-6
4. Huntington Beach, 5-5
5t. Woodbridge, 0-10
5t. Northwood, 1-9

(Click on team link to reach schedule and roster)

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

El Toro
The Chargers are in the fourth season in Coach Jake Haley’s system. They had a strong offseason, bringing in new strength coach Luke Johansen. El Toro, which has eight returning starters, is inexperienced at some positions, but that is no different than the other top teams in the league. Can the Chargers improve on last season’s quarterfinal finish?

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Trabuco Hills
The Mustangs lost a lot of their star players from last year’s team, which reached the Southwest Division finals. The good news is Trabuco Hills has a big strong offensive line, depth a running back and solid linebackers and secondary to anchor the defense. The bad news is the Mustangs have a lack of depth on both the offensive and defensive lines and a lot of newcomers to the varsity level.

PLAYER TO WATCH

Jordan Winger
Foothill, linebacker
The 6-1, 230-pounder leads an explosive linebacker corps for the Knights. He made second team all-league and All-Southwest while racking up 122 tackles in '07.

OTHER TOP PLAYERS

El Toro: Mike Timo, Sr., OL/DL; Vince D’Amato, Sr., K; Joe Peacock, Sr., OL/DL; Andrew Wellman, Sr., WR/DB
Foothill: James Song, Sr., LB; Richard Song, Sr., LB; Brandon Dupre, Sr., WR
Huntington Beach: Jason Spangler, Sr., OL/DT
Northwood: Kevin Juby, Sr., RB/DB; Patrick Pancoast, Sr., WR/DB
Trabuco Hills: Mickey Meila, Sr., SS; Kyle Pruitt, Sr., OL/DL
Woodbridge: Anthony Wimbley, Jr., RB

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Foothill vs. El Toro
Nov. 14 at Laguna Hills High
Foothill, El Toro and Trabuco Hills are expected to be locked in an extremely tight race, so the regular-season finale between the Knights and Chargers should have a lot riding on it. Foothill edged El Toro in a 34-33 thriller last season

TOUGHEST SCHEDULE

Foothill easily has the toughest schedule in this league with four of its five nonleague coming against preseason top-25 teams. The No. 17 Knights open up at No. 19 Dana Hills before taking on No. 25 Tustin in cross-town rivalry game. Then they get another road game against No. 10 Santa Margarita. Foothill gets No. 18 Canyon at home before finishing up the nonleague portion of its schedule with a home game against El Modena.

Related:
• Sea View League schools: El Toro | Foothill  | Huntington Beach  | Northwood | Trabuco Hills | Woodbridge
• All Football Kickoff '08 articles

Contact the writer: carias@ocregister.com