Football games up in air

Wednesday marked the 12th day since the last time Estancia High’s football team was in full gear.

Coach Mike Bargas blamed a bye week and the fires in Orange County for Estancia not being able to return to its normal routine this week.

Estancia is one of five football programs in the Newport-Mesa area, just as the rest of the local high school and college athletic teams, affected by the nearby fires polluting the air with smoke, gas and dust, forcing teams to cancel, postpone and alter practices and live events because of the unhealthy air quality.

Four of the high school football teams have their games scheduled Friday night at 7, with Corona del Mar playing Saturday night. With the extra day, CdM Coach Dick Freeman still isn’t optimistic the game at Irvine will be played.

“If I could predict the weather, I’d have a better job,” said Freeman, whose team like the rest of the local teams are playing their league schedule, where records determine which schools advance to the postseason.

Paul Orris, CdM’s athletic director, said the Newport-Mesa Unified School District is treating the situation day-to-day and added that he wouldn’t be surprised if the local games are postponed until next week.

“If you look 100 feet away, it looks relatively clear, but you don’t see all the [dangerous] stuff that’s in the air and harmful to breathe,” Orris said. “I understand [the NMUSD] is trying to protect the kids’ health and safety. It does set us back with some of our game plans. But I think it would be foolish not to err on the side of caution because these are just games.”

It will be up to the schools if they decide to postpone or cancel games, said Thom Simmons, director of communications for the CIF Southern Section, which governs high school sports for most of the Southland, with 565 member schools.

“There’s a misconception that we run these regular-season games, but the schools, the school districts know the danger and the quality of air in their area better than we do here in Los Alamitos,” said Simmons, referring to the section’s offices. “What’s affecting Orange County might not be affecting Barstow. We’re 35 miles away from the nearest fire and it’s affecting everyone in the Southland.

“People are calling and asking, ‘What are you going to do if this happens, if it doesn’t improve?’ It’s too early for hypotheticals. As of right now, it is way early to discuss this and no we wouldn’t push back the playoffs because of [the fires]. That would mean pushing the season further back and that would affect the student-athletes and winter finals.”

If the games are postponed, one way schools can make up lost time is by playing two games during an eight-day span, which Simmons said is allowed under CIF rules. Simmons said he doesn’t see any teams missing games in their normal 10-game regular-season schedules. The last time fires torched Southern California and impacted the section’s football scene was in 2003, when Simmons said only two teams canceled two games each because of the fires.

“Both were in San Bernardino, an area severely damaged by the fires,” Simmons said. “The schools are going to do what’s best for the student-athletes.”

Right now Bargas said the NMUSD is playing it safe with its four schools. Estancia, Corona del Mar, Costa Mesa and Newport Harbor were each ordered for the third straight day to refrain from their usual football practices, which involve conditioning, lifting, hitting and simulated game situations.

Sage Hill School, a private school in Newport Coast, on the other hand practiced inside the basketball gym the last three days, said football coach Pete Anderson. The Lightning are preparing for their Academy League opener at St. Margaret’s, the reigning league champ.

“We will find out Thursday morning whether we’ll play,” Anderson said. “There are three options the school is looking into. Either play Friday night, Saturday night, or Monday night.”

Orris said the four NMUSD programs might also move their games to Saturday, or next week.

Most teams started the week just going through walk-throughs and watching film due to the poor air, but Bargas said the district the last couple of days has mandated each program to halt the walk-throughs as well, indoor or outdoor. For a first-year coach, the long layoff without pads has been tough for Bargas to adapt to this week.

Bargas and his players are itching to return to the field after last playing and wearing their gear in a 37-20 win at Vasquez on Oct. 12. They’re ready for Estancia’s (3-4) big Orange Coast League opener against Calvary Chapel (0-7) at Orange Coast College. The field might not be available due to the air quality, and it won’t be free the next day with OCC’s football team playing Golden West College. That game at 5 p.m. is also up in the air, according to a school official.

“Kids can only last for 15 minutes [watching film] and then they go bonkers,” said Bargas, whose team appears as the league favorite, with Costa Mesa, Laguna Beach and Calvary Chapel with a combined record of 1-20. “The good thing is that we have been able to watch a lot of film. Calvary Chapel every week comes out with something different on offense, the double wing-T to one-back and two-back formations. We need to be prepared for all of that.

“But we couldn’t even line up for anything [Wednesday] and that can be frustrating.”

Local coaches understand Bargas’ situation. If the games go on as planned, they will all be big. Newport Harbor will try to regroup in the Sunset League after losing 28-7 to Esperanza, No. 9 in the Pac-5 Division. The Sailors (5-2, 1-1) play No. 6 Los Alamitos (6-1, 2-0) at home.

Another key game is Sage Hill at St. Margaret’s. The No. 9 Lightning (6-1) have never beaten the No. 1 Tartans (7-0), who are blowing teams out by 31.5 points per game. A rough game for Anderson, who’s in his first year and has to match wits against Coach Harry Welch, who in 2006 led Canyon of Canyon Country to section and state titles.

Costa Mesa (0-7) is searching for its first win when it opens OCL play at Laguna Beach (1-6). The other local game involves CdM at Irvine, two teams heading in different directions in the Pacific Coast League.

Last week CdM (3-5, 1-1) got shut out and Irvine (7-1, 1-1) bounced back after dropping its first game. CdM’s 20-0 home loss against Laguna Hills left Freeman speechless. Now he’s just frustrated with the fires and the air disrupting this week.

“It’s hard to figure out what they’re going to do. The CIF said it won’t move the playoffs back. I talked to [Orris] and he said they’ve got all their stadiums reserved ... for the postseason,” he said. “There’s a few stadiums being offered in [the Los Angeles area], but there’s not enough and it would be a logistical nightmare to move the games.”

Los Angeles would work for Estancia, if it means players don’t have to go through another day without their football gear.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at [email protected].