Breakers face road test

As first games go, this one couldn’t have turned out much better for

the Laguna Beach High football team.

A 40-19 victory over Centennial of Compton was sweet for the

Breakers, many of whom had no game experience prior to the Sept. 2

season opener.

Opening night jitters included costly penalties and mistakes, but

the Breakers played solidly throughout the night at Guyer Field.

“We played hard every play for four quarters,” Laguna coach Jimmy

Nolan said. “Sure, we made a lot of mistakes, and that’s to be

expected from a team where most have never played football before.

“There were many players on this team who saw their first game

experience ever -- including no Pop Warner Football growing up. The

boys were in great shape. They flew to the football and overcame many

obstacles after consistently shooting ourselves in the foot with

penalties and fumbles.”

One player suiting up for his first ever game was George Chheng.

“I was really impressed with George,” Nolan said. “At one point he

asked where to go in the lineup. I told him, ‘Go to tailback,’ and he

said, ‘What’s that?’ I told him what and where, and he said, ‘I

thought that was called running back.’ So the guy ran hard and broke

many tackles while learning as the game went on. He really impressed

me.”

Another player donning a Laguna jersey for the first time was

sophomore quarterback Chuck Bowman, a transfer from Montana.

“Chuck Bowman also really impressed me at the quarterback spot,”

Nolan said. “For a young sophomore, he showed a lot of maturity and

did a great job directing traffic. The kid had a few early jitters,

but came through both passing and running the ball.”

Laguna overcame a 6-0 deficit against Centennial. The Breakers

broke away from a 6-6 tie after the first quarter by outscoring the

Apaches, 27-0, over the second and third quarters.

Bowman rushed for a pair of touchdowns and threw for another;

Chheng rushed for a score; Garrett Preston caught Bowman’s touchdown

pass and also recovered a fumble in the end zone for another score;

and Max Hilburn rushed for a touchdown.

Matt Renault, who hadn’t practiced the week prior to the game due

to a bad hamstring, came up with a few clutch tackles. Ben Olson,

starting center and nose guard, also played a strong game.

“This is the first time I have coached in four years where there

was not one bad snap by our center,” Nolan said. Cooper Henderson had

a big hit on kickoff that got the Breakers fired up. Hilburn and

Marshall Thomas played solidly on both sides of the ball, and running

back Jody Stevens ran over a couple of would-be tacklers. Laguna’s

offensive line was strong all night.

In addition, Jason Scott returned an interception nearly 100 yards

for an apparent touchdown -- breaking five tackles along the way --

but the play was called back due to a penalty on the Breakers.

“Every kid on this team played at least one quarter and gave

everything he had,” Nolan said.

Tonight, Laguna goes after its second win of the season when it

takes on host La Quinta of Westminster at 7 p.m. at Bolsa Grande

High.

La Quinta also opened its season on Sept. 2, losing to host

Vasquez of Acton, 32-12.

Last year, the Breakers pinned a 38-12 loss on the Aztecs in the

second week of the season.

It is the first road game of the new season for Laguna, which wore

its new away uniforms when it hosted Centennial last Friday.

Laguna fans did not travel well in 2004, Nolan said, and addressed

the school’s fan base with a plea.

“We wore our new away uniforms last game to show everyone just how

great we will look on the road this year,” Nolan said. “Last year we

had mismatching numbers and each jersey could have fit a giant. We

look sharp now and need your support. We will put a good show on for

you. It’s worth the price of traveling, we promise. Please come

support us.”