Back to the drawing board

Eric Johnson has been coaching high school football for the past 12

years, but never before has he seen what transpired last Friday night in

Corona.

With his Fountain Valley High Barons entrenched in a tight battle

with host Centennial, Johnson watched haplessly as the Huskies proceeded

to block three Baron punts and recorded a safety on another punt attempt

en route to a 31-17 nonleague victory.

It was the first-year head coach’s first career loss at Fountain

Valley.

‘I’ve been in charge of punt units for the past 12 years, and

never, never before has anything like this happened to one of my teams,’

said Johnson, who spent the past 10 years as the defensive coordinator at

Mater Dei. ‘I mean, maybe I’ve seen a blocked punt every two or three

years in my coaching career, but this was ridiculous.

‘I take pride in the pass successes of my punt units. But

this...this is unbelievable. We’ve been working hard on our punting game

- and blocking, during practice this week. We’ll need to be sharp if we

hope to beat La Mirada.’

Johnson and the host Barons will attempt to rectify their punting

woes tonight (7 p.m.) when La Mirada pays a visit to Huntington Beach’s

Sheue Field in the third week of the prep season.

While Fountain Valley (1-1) comes into the nonleague clash looking

for answers, La Mirada comes into the game on a roll - although the

Matadores will be looking to find an answer themselves to a huge question

mark.

La Mirada, 2-0 after lopsided victories over West Torrance (40-0)

and Buena Park (41-13), will be without the services of its star running

back, Mike Lemon, who broke two bones in his right leg in the season

opener against West Torrance.

Lemon, a senior who rushed for 2,600 yards and a school-record 34

touchdowns as a junior and was named to the All-CIF Southern Section

Division IX team, is out for the season.

‘Obviously, it’s a big loss to our team,’ said La Mirada Coach

John Mele, now in his 12th year at the school. ‘Mike was a tremendous

running back and a great contributor to our program, and this is

especially tough to take since this is his last year at the school.’

With Lemon out, La Mirada’s other running back, Chris Rudiger,

stepped into the spotlight in the Buena Park game and rushed for 147

yards and three touchdowns in the 41-13 victory.

‘Craig did a nice job in his first start as our premier running

back,’ Mele said. ‘To be honest with you, though, when it comes to our

two wins, we have posted some impressive scores, but, really, we haven’t

played anybody.

‘In the past, we have played a few Division I teams from time to

time, so we’re looking at the Fountain Valley game as a chance to really

show what we’re made of. This (game) will be a good measure to see just

where we stack up against the bigger schools, and it will serve as a good

tune up for us as we approach league play.’

Under Mele, La Mirada has played in a Southern Section divisional

championship game five of the last seven years. The Matadores, whose only

CIF title was won at the conclusion of the 1992 season, were the Division

IX runner-up last year.

Since then, La Mirada has moved up to Division VI, where it

currently is ranked second.

The defending Suburban League champion Matadores not only rely on

a strong rushing attack, but a solid defensive unit, which is tough

against the rush.

Tackle Vince Feula, a heavily-recruited Division I prospect,

spearheads the Matadores stop unit.

‘He’s a good one,’ Mele said of Feula, a senior. ‘Our defense has

looked sharp in our first two games, but our biggest test without a doubt

will come against Fountain Valley.’

Mele also said that, with the loss of Lemon, he intends to

‘balance out’ the offense more.

Quarterback Chris Cox is the team leader on offense.

Fountain Valley will counter with its 1-2 rushing punch of

tailback Nedal Abdelmuti and fullback Steven Fifita, who have combined to

rush for 363 yards in two games.

Still, it would have been interesting to see the game played out

with a healthy Lemon.

‘With or without Lemon, La Mirada’s a very good football team,’

Johnson said. ‘Obviously, his loss is huge to their team, but we’re still

going to have to stop a very good running back in Rudiger, and our

offense is going to have to find a way to stop their big guy (Feula) on

defense.

‘This game, too, is a big test for us. It’s been a tough week at

practice, and hopefully the kids will be ready Friday. I know our punting

unit will be ready.’