A season unseen culminates

Mike Sciacca

It was just 10 weeks ago that spirits were sky-high and the outlook

bright for an Ocean View High football program that was about to

embark on a landmark year.

Already a program that traditionally doesn’t get the big numbers

in terms of players that other schools do, and where injuries must be

avoided in order just to survive, Ocean View has suffered through a

season that even it couldn’t prepare for.

“It’s been the most challenging year in all my years of coaching,”

said Vern Vander Sluis, the Seahawks’ defensive coordinator.

The great news of 10 weeks ago came on the night of Sept. 19, when

Seahawk Stadium was opened among plenty of hoopla and pageantry,

giving the Ocean View football team a place to truly call home.

But on that same night, that joy was tempered when senior starting

quarterback Alex Hickerson, a collegiate prospect, went down to a

hamstring injury on Ocean View’s first offensive possession.

Hickerson did not return to play that night, and subsequently was

sidelined for the next five weeks.

He finally was cleared to play and returned to action on Oct. 31,

a 34-33 Halloween night home victory over Santa Ana that ended a

six-game winless streak for the Seahawks

It was the first-ever victory for the school in its new stadium.

And Hickerson wasn’t the only starting player to be sidelined at

some point this season.

The Seahawks also lost such key players such as Ryan Morejon,

Aaron Gonya and Jimmy Donald, some two-way starters, to various

injuries, creating a depleted squad and forcing other players to play

out of position.

Three weeks after losing Hickerson, though, on the day of the

Costa Mesa game, the Seahawks would lose the services of their head

coach, Harold Eggers.

In the early morning of that Oct. 10 day, while on the Ocean View

campus, Eggers, who teaches physical education, said he had all the

symptoms of a heart attack.

He went to the school nurse, then was taken by paramedics to a

local hospital. He was put through various major tests, each

returning negative and none of which revealed any heart damage.

Although he didn’t suffer a heart attack, Eggers, who turned 50 on

Oct. 29, is still under doctor’s evaluation and supervision.

He returned to his teaching post last week but has not been able

to coach on the sidelines.

Fatigue and stress have kept him away from a game he loves.

“It’s been really tough this past month,” Eggers said. “Football

is like a magnet and I get drawn to it, but I haven’t been able to

join the team.

“Being taken away from the playing field, which is a big part of

my life, has been a challenge. My involvement with the kids has been

down but I know they are in great hands.”

Serving a interim head coach is Vander Sluis, who has coached with

Eggers off-and-on, Eggers said, for the past 15 years.

“Harold is missed a lot,” Vander Sluis said. “I’ve never actually

been a head coach before, so now I’m finding out about all the

trappings the position holds.

“Since he was also our offensive coordinator, we’ve had to make

some changes on offense so that we have a better feel for it. This

year’s team has suffered more injuries than I’ve seen on any team

I’ve been around and now, with coach out temporarily, it’s just been

another blow.”

Eggers, who began coaching in 1980, said he “certainly hopes” to

return to his coaching duties.

But that won’t happen this year, as tonight, Ocean View concludes

its 2003 season with a Golden West League game against Saddleback.

“I’m on my feet and hoping to get back on the field again,” he

said. “I have the utmost respect for my coaching staff and for our

players and what they all have gone through this season.

“Being a football coach, educator and family man is not a normal

life for most people but now, I’m looking at things with a little

different perspective. I’m also very grateful and thankful for my

incredible family and school staff and football boosters that I work

with. Their support has been incredible through all of this.”