Breakers hoping for a fresh start

The Laguna Beach football team can look at it as having a clean slate.

That really is what the Breakers have going for them tonight, as they begin the second leg of their season by hosting Godinez in an Orange Coast League opener for both teams.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Guyer Field.

A victory tonight against a program that is trying to find its identity would help move the Breakers toward their goal of winning the league championship for the first time since 2006. Last year’s championship was shared by Estancia and Costa Mesa.

“It’s great to get a fresh start,” Laguna Coach Jonathan Todd said. “We have a lot of seniors on this team and I tell them that they won’t have this opportunity again and that I hope they do everything they can this week and in the next four weeks to give it their all. That means working hard when it comes to conditioning, going through drills or on game night. It all starts this week.”

Godinez is playing its first year of varsity football and is a newcomer to the Orange Coast League. The Grizzlies recorded their first victory at the varsity level on Oct. 3 when they won, 15-7, over Marshall of Pasadena.

Since that historic win, Godinez, which doesn’t have a single senior on its roster, last week dropped a 56-0 decision to Valley Christian. The Grizzlies also have lost to San Juan Hills (35-12), Santiago/Garden Grove (61-0), Bolsa Grande (32-7) and Century (26-14).

The Grizzlies haven’t mustered much offensively in six games and sophomore quarterback Victor Silva has thrown for just under 400 yards with two touchdowns and six interceptions. They’ve also struggled to run the ball in a rushing attack, led by a pair of juniors in Michael Graves and Gabriel Sauceda who have combined for just 240 yards.

Defensively, the Grizzlies are strong up front.

“They are a young team, but they have some good players,” Todd said. “I see potential there. Like us, they have one win but regardless of their record, they are a team that we need to go out and beat, go out and execute. The big thing is that we don’t look at their record and play as hard as we can. It all comes down to execution, and that’s something we’ve had problems with in our nonleague games.

Fumbles, dropped passes and missed tackles have plagued the Breakers at times throughout nonleague play, Todd said, noting that practices this week have focused on correcting those issues.

Last week, Laguna ended nonleague play against Francis Parker and ran into a buzz-saw in the San Diego Section team that left Guyer Field with a 49-7 victory on the Breakers’ homecoming night.

The Breakers’ lone score in the game came on a 95-yard kickoff return by senior Andrew Paddon in the second quarter. Laguna has dropped two in a row since beating St. Monica, 37-7, on Sept. 26. In four of the five losses, two came by shutout and in two others, the Breakers were held to a touchdown.

The Breakers won’t be at full strength tonight, either. Senior receiver/cornerback Jason Colladay is still out due to an ankle sprain he sustained in the St. Monica game, senior running back Jeremy Kaplan suffered an arm bruise in the first quarter of Friday’s Francis Parker game, didn’t play the final three quarters and has sat out practices this week and is “questionable,” Todd said. As is sophomore receiver Chris Paul, who is nursing an ankle injury.

MIKE SCIACCA covers sports. He can be reached at (949) 494-4321 or by e-mail at [email protected].