http://www.dailybreeze.com/sports/20130918/mike-waldner-south-bay-football-reunion-in-orange-county
Mike Waldner: South Bay football reunion in Orange County DailyBreeze.com
Football, football and more football.
After watching USC reclaim a small measure of respect Saturday with a 35-7 victory over undermanned Boston College, it was time to venture to the other side of the Orange curtain to meet Bill Cunerty, Vince Ferragamo and Bob Johnson. Dave Demarest was an unexpected addition to this South Bay South reunion.
Cunerty played his high school football and baseball at North Torrance High. He coached the Saxons to a Bay League football championship, moving on to Orange County and eventually settling in at Saddleback College.
Ferragamo was the Los Angeles City Player of the Year when he played quarterback for older brother Chris at Banning High. He would go on to play at Cal, Nebraska and with the Los Angeles Rams before Georgia Frontiere stole away with the team to St. Louis. He now owns Touchdown Real Estate in Orange.
Each of these gentlemen was a quarterback, as was Bob Johnson, the Mission Viejo High coach who played at Redondo High and El Camino College.
Cunerty was Ken Swearingen’s offensive coordinator at Saddleback when the Gauchos won two community college national championships. He won another national championship as the head coach.
Demonstrating how indeed it is a small world, Swearingen also played at Redondo High and El Camino College.
Cunerty and Ferragamo are analysts on Cox 3 cable television broadcasts of high school football games, teaming with play-by-play announcer Kevin Turner, a former Arizona State wide receiver. They worked Mission Viejo’s overtime 28-25 overtime victory Saturday over Don Bosco Prep, a perennial New Jersey powerhouse.
About 30 minutes before the game, Johnson pointed to Curtis Madden, his running backs coach, and said, “There goes a happy father.”
Madden’s son, Tre, a Mission Viejo graduate, has gained more than 100 yards in each of USC’s three games this season. The last Trojan tailback to be this productive this early in a season was a fellow named Marcus Allen. That was in 1981 when he was in the process of winning the Heisman Trophy.
Johnson also is a happy father. His staff of 15 varsity assistants — Jim Morra at UCLA and Lane Kiffin at USC have to get by with only 13 assistants — includes his sons, Rob and Bret, two more quarterbacks. Also on the staff are Mike Piel, a defensive end with the Rams, and Keyshawn Johnson, the live-wire dancing former wide receiver from Dorsey High, West Los Angeles College, USC and the NFL.
Rob Johnson played at USC and for nine years in the NFL. Bret Johnson played at UCLA and Michigan State. Pop Johnson has won six CIF championships split evenly between El Toro and Mission Viejo.
Another South Bay footnote involves former El Camino quarterback Matt Simms, now a New York Jets
Page 1 of 3 Oct 10, 2013 11:03:29AM MDT http://www.dailybreeze.com/sports/20130918/mike-waldner-south-bay-football-reunion-in-orange-county reserve. He was a Don Bosco star.
Demarest wandered over to visit with Cunerty before the game. He won 22 baseball league championships at La Quinta High, finishing his career with a run of 15 titles in a row. His foundation was set at Palos Verdes High, where he played baseball and basketball.
Baseball lessons he learned and carried with him to Orange County were administered by men he calls “the Mt. Rushmore of coaches” — John Stevenson (El Segundo High), Mike Gillespie (Peninsula High when it was Rolling Hills High), Jerry McIlvaine (South Torrance High) and Jim O’Brien (North Torrance High and Harbor College).
The Cunerty-Ferragamo team is solid. They were calm, informative and did not go where ex-quarterbacks tend to go, which is reducing games into nothing more than a quarterback-vs.-quarterback battle.
As an example, Cunerty explained that Don Bosco might run “a flip” to the side away from the tight end because Mission Viejo had an extra man across from Tom Sweeney, a 6-foot-6, 220-pound senior tight end.
Ferragamo pointed out Don Bosco was playing twin safeties wide, leaving the middle of the field open for a pass.
Off the air during halftime, Ferragamo said brother Chris, winner of eight LA City championships at Banning, continues coaching, working with the offensive line at New Mexico Highlands University.
“He’s never going to retire,” Vince said, chuckling.
On the air, Cunerty mentioned JoJo, his 5-year-old granddaughter. She was a cheerleader Friday at the Orange Lutheran game. Grandpa called to ask about the experience.
“Papa, it’s very stressful,” JoJo said.
For Mission Viejo, the game pivoted on a heads-up play by backup quarterback Hunter Bland serving as holder on the field goal team. He turned a bad snap on fourth down in overtime into a pass for a first down, setting up Alex Suchesk’s winning 12-yard touchdown run.
“We practiced that all week — roll the ball back, pick it up and throw for a first down,” Johnson joked.
He knows reality when it bounces his way.
“We were lucky,” he said.
And no doubt nearly as stressed as a 5-year-old cheerleader.
Clearing out the notebook:
Update >> Nick Ekbatani, the former UCLA offensive lineman out of South Torrance High and Harbor College who lost part of his left leg due to a motorcycle accident, has gone over to the other side. He’s a student at USC’s graduate school of business and “really enjoying it.” This said, It is safe to assume that on Nov. 30 when UCLA faces USC in the Coliseum, Ekbatani will be rooting for the Bruins. ... Page 2 of 3 Oct 10, 2013 11:03:29AM MDT http://www.dailybreeze.com/sports/20130918/mike-waldner-south-bay-football-reunion-in-orange-county
Opinion >> The old school no-bleachers Manhattan Open was fun. ...
Credit and credibility >> Interesting how on television and occasionally in print Magic Johnson, owner of a small percentage of the Dodgers, gets credit for all the good work of manager Don Mattingly, general manager Ned Colletti, president Stan Kastin and principal owner Mark Walter. ...
Bottom line >> Rather than blame manager Mike Scioscia for the sad state of the Angels, owner Arte Moreno should be looking in the mirror.
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