Ocean View Football ’99

Last year, the Ocean View High football program grew in big

strides, although the Seahawks were left with the nagging feeling of

‘What if...’

Ocean View was just 3-7 in Coach Harold Eggers first season at the

school, but the Seahawks were as competitive as any three-win team could

be: a touchdown or less decided four of the seven losses.

Knowing that they were thisclose to a winning season has left the

Seahawks wanting more.

‘Actually, we are much further along this year than last,’ said

Eggers, who was hired late in the 1997-98 school year. ‘Our number

(players) have increased at all three levels, and that’s great to see.

‘We were a competitive group a year ago, but I really feel that

this team can be even more competitive than its predecessor. Yes, I

expect to win some more ball games this year.’

Eggers will attempt to do so with 10 returnees, including six on

the defensive side of the ball.

The leader among the group is returning All-Golden West League

linebacker Chris Hill, a 6-foot-1, 230 senior. ‘He’s a real hard-hitting

player, and we’re expecting big things from Chris,’ Eggers said.

Deshai Houston, a returning all-league performer, will start at

free safety, and also at quarterback.

Houston started the final five games of the ’98 season, and grew

as a player as the season wound down.

‘Deshai’s a strong young man, and after a shaky start last season,

he really developed into a fine football player by the time the season

ended,’ Eggers said. ‘He will be a key for us on both sides of the ball.’

Perhaps Ocean View’s strongest area lay in its receiving corps,

which includes junior Phillip Smith and sophomore Patrick Campbell, the

starting quarterback at the freshman level last year, and Houston’s

back-up this season.

‘We threw the ball quite a bit last year, and we’re going to stay

within that same philosophy in ‘99,’ Eggers said. ‘Deshai’s going to be

the one to pull the trigger for us, and we feel we have some really good

receivers that he can throw to.’

Ocean View, which dropped its final six games last season, opens

its ’99 campaign with a Sept. 10 home date with Twentynine Palms at

Westminster High. But after hosting Garden Grove Sept. 17 at Huntington Beach High, the Seahawks hit the road for the next five weeks.

‘That’s a grueling stretch, but it will show us what we’re made

of,’ Eggers said. ‘What we’re trying to do is put ourselves in a position

to be competitive each and every game, year in, and year out. To have an

opportunity to win each game, well, that’s very important to us. That’s

the first step in becoming a solid football program, one that can

challenge for a playoff spot each year.

‘We have some young kids on this team and we’re green in some

spots, but I really feel we have a shot at making the CIF playoffs in

November.’