Rushing to return

Mike Sciacca

When Patrick Harrigan took a vicious hit to his left knee late in

the opening quarter of a Nov. 8 Sunset League football game against

Edison, the Huntington Beach High senior knew it was serious.

How serious, he wasn’t sure. But the snapping sound he heard

indicated to the Oiler running back that perhaps he couldn’t walk

this one off.

“I tried to move around, but just couldn’t do it,” he recalled of

a cutback move that had him heading for an open hole. He planted his

foot to cut, then was hit. “It was both painful and discouraging when

it happen that night and it came so late in the season, too.”

With scouts from USC sitting in the stands wanting to get a look

at the star of the Oiler backfield, Harrigan, regrettably, was unable

to return to play. He couldn’t play in the final two games, his high

school career over before he wanted.

Despite not playing the final two weeks of the regular season,

Harrigan’s exploits on the playing field did not got unnoticed.

Just last week, the 6-foot, 210-pound Harrigan was named to the

two All-CIF Southern Section football teams.

Harrigan, who set a Huntington Beach High single-season rushing

record this past fall, was named to the Second Team Offense on the

2002 All-CIF Southern Section Football Team.

The All-CIF team encompasses all divisions within the Southern

Section.

Harrigan also was a first-team selection on the All-CIF Division I

squad.

He rushed for 1,653 yards and had a 7.3-yards-per-carry average in

eight games.

He was one of five running backs named to the Offensive Team. The

others, all seniors, were Ryan Bagley of Sunset League and Division I

champion Los Alamitos, UCLA-bound Derrick Williams of St. John Bosco,

Lakewood’s Jason Leggett and Lorenzo Bursey of Long Beach Poly.

“I’m honored and privileged,” Harrigan said. “I don’t look much at

the sports page, so I learned of this through some of my teachers and

friends. I couldn’t believe it.”

Harrigan’s selection came as no surprise to Oilers coach Mike

Groscost.

“He’s most deserving of this,” he said. “Patrick was our team MVP,

as voted on by his fellow players and coaches, and was our go-to guy.

So much of what we did on offense centered around Patrick and he was

always ready for the challenge. What’s key about Patrick was that he

was a good role model and leader for some of the younger players in

our program.”

Harrigan is still on the mend for the injury, a torn anterior

cruciate ligament and meniscus.

He had surgery in December for the ACL and still goes to therapy

up to three times per week.

He hasn’t been able to run but, starting this week, he said he

plans to get in some stretching and workouts in the school pool.

He even revealed that, if his knee responds, he may try out for

the Oiler swim team.

“My intentions are first to get my knee back in shape, and if

things work out, then I probably will tryout ,” he said. “That could

be a lot of fun.”

But his goal is to return to football.

He has no letters or offers coming in from college teams. He says

he might try to play at the community college level first.

“I just really want to play again,” said Harrigan, a power runner

who also possesses strong shifting abilities.

He rushed for more than 300 yards in five games last fall.

“This CIF award means a lot to me,” he said. “As a junior, I

didn’t have the type of season that I wanted. But this year, our

coaches had a great influence on us. I wanted to be our playmaker and

just be able to help out our team anyway I could.”

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports and features. He can be reached at

(714) 965-7171 or by e-mail at [email protected].