Orange Lutheran | OC Catholic

EPISODE #56
CATHOLIC SPORTS VIEW: GUESTS INCLUDE HANK EVERS, ERIC BORBA & BRETT KAY

Host Bob Gibson interviews coaches and players throughout the various Catholic high schools in Orange County. We’ve got another terrific program for you with a cornucopia of special guests!

Our guests include: Hank Evers (director of development and communications with the Orange Catholic Foundation). He’ll be talking about a huge honor that will soon be bestowed upon Mater Dei’s longtime head football coach, Bruce Rollinson. We’ll also hear from Eric Borba (baseball coach at Orange Lutheran H.S.) and Brett Kay (head baseball coach at J Serra H.S.).

Originally broadcast on 4/14/18

EPISODE #53
CATHOLIC SPORTS VIEW: GUESTS INCLUDE STEVE MIKLOS, CHAS HAMANN, CHRIS MALEC AND LES LUKACH

Host Bob Gibson interviews coaches and players throughout the various Catholic high schools in Orange County. We’ve got another jam-packed show for you today.

Our guests include: Steve Miklos, the girls softball coach at Orange Lutheran H.S.; Chas Hamann, the head Lacrosse coach at Rosary Academy; Chris Malec, the head baseball coach at Santa Margarita High School, and Les Lukach (prepbaseballreport.com)

Originally broadcast on 3/17/18

EPISODE #44
CATHOLIC SPORTS VIEW: GUESTS INCLUDE BRUCE ROLLINSON, RYAN ABRAHAM, TOM HOWARD & KEVIN KIERNAN

Host Bob Gibson interviews coaches and players throughout the various Catholic high schools in Orange County. We’ve got a packed show for you today.

First, we’ll check in with Mater Dei’s head football coach, Bruce Rollinson. We’ll talk about his team’s run of success as the 2017 CIF State Champions. Then, we talk to Ryan Abraham of uscfootball.com. Then it’s on to Tom Howard, the girls basketball coach at Orange Lutheran. And finally, Bob visits with Kevin Kiernan, who also coaches girls hoops. He’s at Mater Dei.

Originally broadcast on 12/30/17

THE LONG SHOT

The player who scored a school record 42 points earlier this season had netted just four at the half. The one who broke another school record with nine 3-point baskets in a game hadn’t made a field goal from anywhere on the court through the first two quarters.

How did that affect Chris Williams? Not one bit.

The Orange Lutheran senior didn’t hesitate the next time he was ever-so-slightly open, calmly sinking a deep 3-pointer early in the third quarter against visiting St. John Bosco, giving the Lancers the lead for good in the 59-49 victory in their second Trinity League game.

“There’ve been nights where he hasn’t shot well, and our guys still want to get him the ball,” said Orange Lutheran coach Chris Nordstrom. “They know he’s still our guy.”

Williams was just one of the guys the last two seasons, but two of the top four scorers graduated and the other transferred, putting a wide load of responsibilities on his shoulders this winter.

That’s just fine with Williams.

“You’ve got to play for the team, not just yourself,” he said after finishing with 13 points against St. John Bosco. “As you start playing for the team, it’s easy to make shots because they start trusting you more.”

Of course, nothing’s more important than scoring, and Williams didn’t waste any time doing more of that this season, producing 42 points in the second game this season. The 6-foot-3 guard came into the St. John Bosco game averaging 20.4 points, struggled early on but ultimately scored nine of his 13 points in the decisive second half.

“You know you have to score for your team to be successful,” Williams said. “It’s easy to keep that confidence knowing that you have the coach and the rest of the players behind you.”

Williams played at Moreno Valley High School as a freshman and then transferred to Orange Lutheran, where he was the fourth-leading scorer as a sophomore on one of the most successful teams in school history, one that finished 24-6 and 8-2 in the Trinity League.

That team was led by seniors Rogers Printup, Keisean Lucier-South and CJ Hankins, making it easy for Williams to keep a low profile.

“When he first got here as a sophomore, he never talked,” Nordstrom said. “I didn’t know he had a voice.”

He was one of a handful of returners on last season’s team and they, too, managed to beat everyone in league play except Mater Dei. Williams led the team in scoring and was a first-team all-Trinity League selection, making him a big mark this season, especially with the newcomers around him.

Nordstrom said Williams has handled the increased attention, both from his young teammates and the opposition, incredibly well.

“He’s really stepped up and been a leader,” Nordstrom said. “Everybody’s keying on him every night.”

Williams showed his confidence and determination in late December, when he combined to shoot 4-for-25 from 3-point distance during a three-game stretch at a tournament in San Diego, then returned home and made 9-of-13 from beyond the arc against Westminster to establish another school record.

“If you’re not making shots, you have to forget about it,” Williams said. “Take it to the basket, pass it to your teammates. … Whatever you have to do to win.”

It’s a recipe Williams seems to have mastered.

A TALL ORDER

That magical season of 2013 remains the high watermark for the Orange Lutheran girls’ volleyball team. That group won the outright Trinity League title with a deep and experienced roster, one that featured 10 juniors and seniors who would continue playing at the college level.

Coming close to that team’s performance level has been a struggle, however. Graduation took its toll following the league championship and run to the CIF-SS Division I-AA semifinals three years ago, and so did season-ending injuries to key players the last two seasons.

This fall, Orange Lutheran coach Andrew Mabry has his most experienced and talented group since that 2013 team, but he’s realistic of their expectations, especially this early in the season.

“[2013] was one of the best teams we’ve had in school history, so I think we’re worried about right now,” Mabry said. “These seniors, especially, have put a lot into this program, been working for a long time, mixed in with some good, young talent, some young returners even, so there’s a lot of motivation in our gym right now. It’s a fun place to be.”

Altogether, the Lancers return four players who are in their third year with the varsity, led by outside hitter Kaylie Milton, a first-team all-league selection as a junior last season.

“Things are coming along very well,” Milton said. “We have a lot of togetherness and we all love playing together.”

The other third-year players are 6-foot-2 middle blocker Olivia Root, setter Bailey Anderson, both seniors, and junior outside hitter Alice Samoylovich.

Root missed a big stretch of her sophomore year with a torn ACL, and last season it was Orange Lutheran’s top player, Brooke Bastien, who broke her foot during the first month of the season and was sidelined the rest of her senior year.

“This group has been through a lot in three years,” Mabry said. “There’s been a lot of togetherness that’s been built out of that, but there’s been a lot of adversity, very legitimate adversity, not dramatic adversity, but physical adversity.”

The Lancers will be tested right from the start of league play, as they open Sept. 22 at Santa Margarita, a team that returns last season’s Trinity League player of the year, Meghan McClure. Santa Margarita opened the season ranked No. 6 in the nation by MaxPreps, four spots behind Mater Dei.

“We know what we’re preparing for in late September and through October, but that’s what you want,” Mabry said. “You want to play good teams and be ready for it.”

One difference this season is the Lancers won’t have to battle it out with Mater Dei and Santa Margarita come playoff time. Competitive equity has taken over as the criteria for placement in the Southern Section playoffs—unlike school enrollment or league affiliation in the past—and Orange Lutheran has been placed in Division 2, a level below Mater Dei and Santa Margarita.

Mabry can think of no better way for Milton and the other seniors to wrap up their careers than with a deep playoff run.

“There’s motivation to capitalize on the opportunities they have on a daily basis,” Mabry said of the seniors. “They’re setting the tone for what’s going on, and the younger kids are feeding off of it.”

OLU HAD A LOT TO PROVE

The Orange Lutheran softball team began this season with plenty to prove. The Lancers had shown they could build a snazzy regular-season record and win Trinity League titles, but advancing deep into the playoffs had become a towering obstacle.

Despite some talent-laden rosters over the years, and many more wins than losses in league play, Orange Lutheran hadn’t advanced past the quarterfinals since 2002, when it competed at the much less competitive CIF-SS Division 4 level.

With likely its strongest team in school history this spring, the league champion Lancers finally broke that spell May 26, when they defeated visiting Lakewood in a Division I quarterfinal. Even that win didn’t come easy, as Orange Lutheran took a 9-1 lead into the sixth inning, gave up a two-run homer and then watched Lakewood bring the tying run to the plate in the seventh before the Lancers held on for the 9-5 victory.

“Division I is hard,” says Orange Lutheran coach Steve Miklos, who has been heading the program since 1998. “Everybody that’s left is good. Their pitchers are good, they all have good hitters, so it’s just who plays the best that day.”

Prior to 2011, the Lancers were a middle of the pack team in the Trinity League and were just happy to make the playoffs.

But in 2011, they went 8-0 in league play to win the championship and were building momentum after a 3-1 opening-round playoff win against Corona. Orange Lutheran then went extra innings in its second-round game against Canyon, but two errors on the same play by senior shortstop Brittany Boesel—who had only five errors all season—scored the game-winning run for Canyon.

The Lancers won league again the following season, but were shut out by Edison, 6-0, in the quarterfinals. Three years ago, Orange Lutheran knocked off M.L. King of Riverside in the second round, but was clobbered on its home field by Pacifica, 13-1, in the quarterfinals.

The following season, Orange Lutheran met Vista Murrieta in the second round after Vista Murrieta had upset third-seeded Esperanza, but couldn’t hold a three-run lead in the fifth inning and lost on a three-run walk-off homer in extra innings. The Lancers won 25 more games last season, but couldn’t get past Los Alamitos in the second round.

“I’ve always says, to win in the playoffs, you have to get some breaks,” Miklos says. “You have to play well, but you need some breaks and you have to be a little bit lucky. The best team doesn’t always win.”

That’s why Miklos was far from relaxed when his team took an eight-run lead into the sixth inning in the quarterfinal against Lakewood last month. He knew anything could happen.

Sure enough, the Lancers needed only one out to secure the victory when a routine grounder to shortstop took a bad hop and caromed off the arm of Mackenzie Boesel, the younger sister of Brittany.

Up came the tying run for Lakewood—one of its power hitters—but pitcher Maddy Dwyer bore down and induced a fly out to end the game.

“We know in the playoffs, we’re going to have to deal with pressure and we dealt with it,” Mackenzie Boesel says. “We knew we just needed to get outs and that’s what we did.”

And over in the dugout, Miklos was letting out a big sigh of relief.

BROTHERS IN ARMS

There is belief, bonding and brotherhood deep in the trenches of the Trinity League, widely considered the most competitive high school football league in America.

The league has rightfully earned a reputation for producing NFL and Division 1 college players, but the characters and coaches are what truly make it fascinating. For the players, merely being a part of the Friday night lights can be a life-changing experience.

“We learn from our captains and coaches, such as learning how to overcome adversity,” Servite junior wide receiver and defensive back Terrell Bynum says. “Like tonight (Sept. 18), we won after being down, but we didn’t give up. It was fun to experience what it’s like to come back in that game.”

Amid the Xs and Os, however, are lightheartedness and a sense of playfulness, which sheds new light on the term “team spirit,” since the players spend most of their time as a team either practicing football or conditioning year-round in preparation for it.

After Servite rallied to defeat host Edison at Orange Coast College, 21-14, the Friars stood in respect as Edison played its postgame fight song, then the Friars lined up to perform their traditional Hut Drill, leading to a huge ovation from the visiting crowd. Servite players walked over to greet their fellow students from the edge of the stands, shaking hands and thanking them for their support and attending the game. The players then gathered in a huddle, took a knee and prayed. They followed that up with a solemn, Latin-based hymn, and the pack of brothers in the audience cheered again.

Finally, the players united again on the sideline and sang the theme song of “Gilligan’s Island.”

That’s right. The Servite players performed a rather impressive two-way variety show featuring the likes of Gilligan, Ginger, Mary Ann, the professor, the skipper, Thurston Howell III and his wife, “Lovey.” While none of the current Friars were around when the popular sitcom appeared on prime-time television from 1964-67, the song helps create teamwork for the players, and comes across as if the boys are ready for Broadway. (Servite has a large theatre auditorium on campus, so the drama students better watch out!)

“Coach (Glenn) Killingsworth says it would bond us together and it definitely has, and now it’s one of our fight songs,” Servite senior offensive lineman Nicholas Ramirez says. “At first, it was just a defensive linemen tradition to sing it, then the offensive linemen joined in, and then we decided to let the whole team in.”

Ramirez (6-foot-4, 241 pounds) was not one of the eight elected captains, but serves as a “lieutenant” on the team, a second tier of eight leaders.

One of the Servite captains, senior offensive lineman Alex Fernandez (6-1, 245), says it is important for the captains and lieutenants to show the way for the younger players.

“The younger players look to us for leadership,” Fernandez says. “Somewhere you want to be able to follow someone and have someone to look up to.”

Servite’s Hut Drill is mirrored by Mater Dei’s postgame team collaboration of timely body and helmet slaps and orchestrated movements and exercises, but the Friars started the tradition in 1972 under former coach George Dena.

“It is very important to get [the Hut Drill] right,” Ramirez says. “We do it because of tradition and to show our discipline. It’s an old tradition, and if you weren’t able to do the Hut Drill under [former] coach [Larry] Toner (in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s), then you wouldn’t be able to play football.”

Mater Dei’s football-rich tradition began in the 1950s, but since Bruce Rollinson took over as coach in 1989, the Monarchs have enjoyed national prominence.

“There’s no substitute for hard work, commitment and strength and development,” Rollinson says. “You create the effort. God controls the outcome.”

The Monarchs have rolled under Rollinson’s guidance to five CIF Southern Section championships, one state title and two USA Today national championships (1994 and ’96). Entering this year, Rollinson has compiled a 229-72-2 record at Mater Dei.

The Mater Dei program has been recognized with countless individual honors and players advancing to college and professional football, and Student Sports Magazine ranked the Monarchs among the Top 10 football programs in the nation.

But other Trinity League schools are on the rise, including JSerra, which defeated Mater Dei last season for the first time. JSerra coach Jim Hartigan was named Orange County Coach of the Year in 2014 after the Lions qualified for the CIF playoffs for the first time, won their first playoff game and reached 10 wins for the first time in school history.

Santa Margarita also qualified for the CIF playoffs last season under coach Rick Curtis, who is hoping to return the Eagles to national distinction.

TRINITY LEAGUE 2015 FALL FOOTBALL PREVIEW

When you compete among the nation’s best, anything can happen week to week.

That’s the gist of how three Trinity League head varsity football coaches view the upcoming gridiron league season, which kicks off Oct. 9 under bright Friday night lights.

St. John Bosco, the league champion the past three years with perfect 5-0-0 records, still is viewed as the probable team to beat for top Trinity League honors this season.

But in a league that is so competitive, any team — Bosco, Mater Dei, Santa Margarita, JSerra, Orange Lutheran, Servite — is capable of stepping up to beat a league rival, coaches say.

The Trinity League has produced three of the last five Pac-5 Division champions.

“To try to say which schools will do well is almost impossible to answer,” Mater Dei head football coach Bruce Rollinson says. “The league is so balanced, with great coaches and great players, that any team can beat another one any given week.”

Adds Rollinson, “Bosco is still the favorite, as they will just reload. To me, the rest of us will all hope that somebody upsets Bosco and that we don’t come up short in our [game].”

The Orange County Register’s OC Varsity actually predicts Mater Dei to win the Trinity League championship and contend for the Pac-5 championship, followed by Bosco at No. 2 and, in order, Santa Margarita, Orange Lutheran, JSerra and Servite.

A Trinity League coaching poll yields the following predicted finish: St. John Bosco, Mater Dei, Santa Margarita, Orange Lutheran, JSerra and Servite.

Coach Scott Meyer is new to Servite. He hopes to turn around the recent fortunes of the Friars, who went 10-13 the last two seasons. Meyer left marquee varsity football powerhouse Corona del Mar this year to become head coach at Servite.

During his four seasons at Corona del Mar, Meyer’s squads won a CIF State title in 2013 and won three CIF-SS divisional championships. His career record with the Sea Kings is 50-6.

But Meyer wasn’t about to make bold predictions to Orange County Catholic about Servite’s prospects this fall.

“Every year is a new year, with players moving on and newcomers stepping up,” Meyer says. “We expect all of our players to work hard every day to become better players and better teammates.”

Adds Meyer of the upcoming season: “In my opinion, the Trinity League is the best league in the nation, so I would expect that all teams compete at the highest level.”

JSerra head football coach Jim Hartigan’s varsity team finished second in the Trinity League last year with a record of 4-1 and an overall record of 10-2.

As for the upside of the Lions’ 2015 season, Hartigan cites his team’s youth and “tremendous” amount of potential, adding, “We compete in a very physical league.”

But Hartigan also cites the Lions’ youth as a weakness this season, noting that a lot of starters graduated from JSerra this spring. Key losses include quarterback Nick Robinson, who went to Georgia; defensive lineman D.J. Bailey, now at Harvard; and wide receiver and defensive back Sam Philippi, now at the University of Pennsylvania.

Hartigan’s squad has two returning starters on offense and six on defense.

Hartigan singles out returning third-year starter Conor O’Brien, a senior wide receiver and defensive back, as the most inspirational player on his team.

“He’s passionate and a very hard worker and a good Catholic,” says Hartigan, now in his ninth season as head varsity football coach at JSerra.

As for the most promising newcomers and younger players coming up at JSerra, Hartigan likes senior wide receiver and defensive back Avery Williams; senior running back, linebacker and defensive lineman Corey Selenski; senior wide receiver, running back and defensive back Charlie Mestaz; and junior offensive lineman and defensive lineman Zelan Tupuola.

“Goal-setting and follow-through are critical aspects to the success of our program,” notes Hartigan, whose career record at JSerra is 45-36.

Rollinson, of Mater Dei, also says his team lost a number of players this year to graduation.

“Here at Mater Dei,” Rollinson says, “the expectations are that the younger players will take advantage of the opportunity that has been presented to them. We have a lot of young players.

“The reality is, we could start as many as five or six sophomores, so they better grow up fast or it could be a long year. But we do have some good solid experienced players coming back.”

FROM UNDERSTUDY TO QUICK STUDY

Aaron Corp has climbed a few ladders in his football career. After ascending as high as he could as a player, he’s now on the rise as a college coach.

“I’ve got ambitions to take this as far as I can go,” he said last week from his football office at Norfolk State University in Virginia, where he’s in his first season as quarterbacks coach.

Corp created his own chapter in Orange County high school football lore. As an undersized 15-year-old sophomore at Orange Lutheran in the fall of 2004, he stepped in for injured star quarterback Seth Blackamore in the fourth game of the season and calmly led the Lancers to 10 consecutive victories, the last capturing the program’s first CIF-SS title.

His growth over the next two years earned him a scholarship to USC, and Corp flirted with becoming the full-time starter before an untimely injury opened the door for Mater Dei grad Matt Barkley to begin his four-year reign as the Trojans’ starting quarterback.

Corp didn’t throw in the towel, however, transferring back East to Richmond, where he started the next two seasons for the Spiders. He even put his name in the NCAA record books before he was through, completing 31 of 34 passes in a loss at Towson, which remains the top single-game completion percentage for an FCS game.

Although his playing career ended after 18 months of trying to break into the NFL, Corp’s attraction to the football field did not. Upon retirement, his first phone call went to Latrell Scott, the head coach during his first season at Richmond who had moved on to Virginia State. Scott just happened to have an opening for a quarterbacks coach.

After finishing 10-3 last season and winning a conference title, Scott was hired at Norfolk State last winter and invited Corp to join him.

“Luckily, I’m in a good position now,” Corp says. “Even though [Norfolk State] is a smaller Division I school, I’m actually coaching on the field, and so I’m learning a lot and gaining good experience at the same time.”

Even though his maturity level and responsibilities are night and day compared to high school, Corp still carries with him the primary philosophy espoused by Jim Kunau, his head coach at Orange Lutheran.

The biggest thing that I took away from that was giving yourself up for something that’s greater than you,” Corp says. “That’s something that he always preached and that’s something I’ve tried to take with me wherever I’ve gone. It’s a team effort and it’s just not about you.”

And Corp’s not talking about personal statistics, such as throwing fewer touchdown passes because the team has such a powerful run game. For him, it’s about spending extra time in the film room, or studying in the library, or just making it to class on time because, as Corp has seen during his playing career, “one false step, one false move that you may do selfishly, can affect the team in a negative way.”

And no player is more in the spotlight than a quarterback. That’s why Corp regularly reminds his athletes of potential pitfalls.

“There are bigger things at stake than just your personal ambitions,” he says. “I was lucky enough to be taught that mindset when I was 16 years old and it’s helped me playing and now coaching.”

MATURITY IS SERVED

You never know when you might get that tap on the shoulder.

Edwin Carrera received his last May, when the Orange Lutheran aquatics coach was asked to compete with the Ecuador men’s water polo team at the Pan Am Games in Toronto.

He was 40 years old.

He had six weeks to prepare.

What happened over the next two months was a roller coaster of emotions, heavy doses of self-discipline and self-doubt and a lesson in coaching he’ll never forget.

“For me, it was about showing the 12 guys who were there that I could contribute and I could help and I wasn’t just along for the ride,” says Carrera, head coach of the boys’ and girls’ swim teams at Orange Lutheran High School and an assistant with the water polo teams.

Carrera passed on an opportunity to play for Ecuador at the 2012 South American Championships—mainly because he and his wife, Kaylen, had just gotten married. Now the father of a 2 1/2-year-old son and 6-month-old daughter, he knew his chances of competing with his second homeland wouldn’t get any easier.

Still, he had plenty of questions for himself and whether he was joining the team for the right reasons.

Was he doing it just to pump his ego? Was he doing it because he thought he could really help? Was he doing it just to experience a free trip?

Carrera had one request for the national team: permission to remain in Orange County and train independently, rather than travel to Ecuador and practice with his teammates.

He was given the OK and immediately hit the weight room at Orange Lutheran, sought advice from the school’s trainers on proper workouts, swam laps, took shots, changed his diet and even competed against 20-year-olds in master’s competition.

“I can’t work out hard if I don’t have an end goal,” he says. “That Pan Am thing was sort of like the carrot in front of me.”

Carrera left for Canada on July 5 and, two days later, faced the gold-medal favorite U.S. squad in the tournament opener. Ecuador lost 27-0.

Not only was the one-sided loss to the Americans quite frustrating, but Carrera barely played. At one point, he made the mistake of asking the head coach to put him in the game, but that seemed to evoke anger and Carrera was promptly benched.

Carrera happened to be roommates with the head coach and apologized that night. More frustrating games and more one-on-one conversations with the coach ensued, and the pair finally seemed to meet eye to eye on July 13, when Carrera was named a starter in a consolation game against Mexico.

In the end, Ecuador lost all five games in Toronto but, following the final game, Carrera approached his coach, grabbed his shoulders, looked him in the eye and thanked him for the opportunity.

“He taught me, there’s no such thing as paying your dues,” Carrera says. “As many years of experience as I had, as great of a career as I’ve had, in that moment, it doesn’t matter. In that moment, you have to gain your respect.”

In that same locker room after the final game, Carrera informed a handful of teammates that his run with the Ecuador national team was likely over. At 40 years of age, it was time to hang up the swim cap.

His teammates, some of whom were more than half his age, urged him to change his mind. After all, the 2016 South American Championships were just seven months away.

“As an older athlete,” Carrera says. “I felt validated.”

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