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Laguna Beach football coach John Shanahan respects the CIF-SS rules but knows the sting that forfeiting games can cause.
While coaching at Tustin many years ago, he remembers the Tillers forfeiting games in football and baseball.
“It was just gut-wrenching,” he said.
So when the news broke last week that Yorba Linda forfeited four victories, including a 34-21 win against Laguna Beach in the teams’ season-opening game, Shanahan offered his support. He sent an encouraging message to first-year Mustangs coach John Domen.
“I know what those kids and those coaches are going through,” Shanahan said. “When (Yorba Linda) beat us, they were incredibly classy coaches, incredibly classy kids. They played hard, they played clean.”
“That’s as good of a program as there has been in Orange County,” he added of Yorba Linda, a two-time CIF-SS champion. “That’s such an unfortunate thing.”
Yorba Linda forfeited wins against Laguna Beach, El Dorado, Esperanza and Long Beach Poly because of CIF-SS violations that involved administrative oversight and undue influence, the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District stated last week.
“The substantiated violations involve more than one student and more than one incident,” the district stated in a press release. “The investigation documented deficiencies over time in eligibility verification, communication between coaches and athletic administration and participation clearance.”
The forfeits dropped Yorba Linda’s record to 0-5. The Mustangs lost to No. 6 San Clemente 28-0 later in the week in their Alpha League debut.
Yorba Linda plays host to No. 4 Mission Viejo (5-1, 1-0) on Thursday.
Esperanza coach Tommy Leach also empathized with Yorba Linda and the district.
“I have friends on the staff there and that is my daughter’s alma mater,” the Aztecs’ first-year coach said. “I know this is hard for the kids there and their community. I know as a district it must be hard as well. We will take the win and actually we can all learn from this.”
“Transfers are tricky,” he added.
The win via forfeit gave Esperanza (3-3) its third victory. That could be a key threshold for the Aztecs since starting with this season, teams need to have at least three victories or a .300 winning percentage to apply for an at-large berth to the playoffs.
El Dorado (4-2) already had three wins on the field before receiving the forfeit. Laguna Beach also is 4-2 overall.
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The playoff brackets, including the at-large selections, are constructed using the power ratings from HSratings.com.
Do forfeits affect a team’s computer-generated power ratings?
“Forfeits just aren’t counted,” Ned Freeman of HSratings.com explained. “You can’t do power ratings with forfeits counting or, for example, the worst team in the country could literally get a win over the best team in the country, and that would destroy the ratings of everyone who’s played either of them and so on.”
INJURY UPDATES
Laguna Beach quarterback Jack Hurst suffered a dislocated knee cap last week in a 28-14 victory against Troy and will be out four to six weeks, Shanahan said. “Underlying structure (of the knee) is OK,” the coach said. …
Laguna Beach running back Charlie Christian sprained his ankle against Troy and will miss three to five weeks, Shanahan said. ..
Los Alamitos running back Kamden Tillis didn’t play in the Griffins’ 61-10 loss to San Juan Hills last week because of injury, Los Alamitos coach Rory Schoonmaker said. “Kam will be having some evaluations done for a lingering injury,” Schoonmaker said.
IN THE WORKS
Santa Margarita and Sierra Canyon are discussing playing a nonleague game next season, Eagles coach Carson Palmer and Trailblazers coach Jon Ellinghouse said.
Santa Margarita and Sierra Canyon are ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the CIF-SS by HSratings.com.
Last season, Santa Margarita defeated Sierra Canyon 21-9 in the Division 1 playoffs. In 2023, Sierra Canyon beat the Eagles 37-20 in the playoffs.
SHORT ROUTES
Players from Santa Ana’s Class of 1976 are expected to attend the Saints’ homecoming game Friday against Garden Grove at Santa Ana Stadium. In 1975, Santa Ana’s football team was dubbed the “Cardiac Kids” after winning seven of its games within the final two minutes. …
Marina coach Charlie TeGantvoort earned his 100th win in Orange County as the Vikings defeated Northwood 25-14 in the teams’ Iota League opener last week. He earned 76 victories at Santa Ana before taking the helm at Marina. …
Loara (6-1) has matched its best start since 2010. The Saxons lead the Tango League by one game with a 5-0 record. Loara takes it bye this week before playing at Santa Ana Valley on Oct. 16.
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