A new day arrives for Breakers
Corey Brown is excited about the prospects for his first Laguna Beach High football team.
Summer football arrived at Guyer Field last week and the Breakers already have competed in two passing tournaments starting with a seven-on-seven tournament July 11 at JSerra. Irvine High, followed Wednesday with a tournament at Irvine High.
Brown, in his first year as head coach of the Breakers, was glad to have the summer session arrive.
“Finally,” he said. “We have been preparing for summer camp and fall camp since the first week of January, beginning with strength and conditioning. We have had a solid, 25-30 [players] on the roster since January, [and] our numbers have grown with spring ball and now with summer camp. We are operating with 40 varsity athletes and 30 frosh athletes. I’m very excited and encouraged with this group.”
Since summer camp began July 8, Brown continues to discover what his team has to offer. He summed up his take on the 2013 Breakers in two words: “tough and unselfish.”
“Our team is coming together quickly,” he said. “This group has been playing together the past few seasons and we have players who are leaders and ready to be important players for this year’s team.”
Laguna has experienced incredible success on the gridiron in the past two years. During that time, the Breakers established numerous program records, won a league championship, and reached the CIF Southern Section Southern Division semifinals both years. Several players from that two-year run have moved on through graduation.
Gone are key components from a high-scoring offense, and on both sides of the ball.
“True, we lost a big chunk of offense, but we also lost a big chunk of defense and special teams,” said Brown who was a varsity assistant to Mike Churchill the past two years and the head frosh/soph coach the past three. “Last year’s team was one the best in Laguna Beach history and a very special team with special players, but it’s our time now.
“We are going to have a season here and focus on one game at a time. The bar is set high but we want to be successful and reach those goals and expectations. We are focusing on having a complete team.”
At the JSerra passing tournament, Laguna was part of a field that included the host Lions, Canyon/Anaheim and San Juan Hills. Wednesday at Irvine, the competition included Laguna, Irvine, El Toro and Newport Harbor.
Laguna goes to Claremont for its final passing league competition Saturday, the 19th annual Claremont Varsity Passing Tournament. Sixteen teams will compete in round-robin play.
Sophomore Jack Simon and senior Keaton Martinez have shared time at quarterback for the Breakers.
“Overall, we did average,” Brown said of the JSerra tournament. “The best part of the tourney was having a chance to evaluate our players in a competition setting. What we took away from the tourney as a group is that we have to get better. We have to get better at the little minute things in order to execute on a larger scale and in competition. We have to get better at every position. This was a good starting point early in the summer for evaluation and competition.
“Both of these young men [Simon, Martinez] bring a lot to the table in terms of play making ability for our team. We had a great competition in spring ball between these two and will continue through summer camp and fall camp. I think our offense overall did well. We absolutely have to clean some things up and know our assignments and reads better in order to execute. Our quarterbacks have to get better every day and continue to grow into leaders.”
The Breakers’ summer session will run through Aug. 15, then they go straight into the start fall camp Aug. 16. They launch their 2013 season on Sept. 6 hosting Bolsa Grande at 7 p.m. The Laguna frosh/soph team, which last year went 4-1 in Orange Coast League play under Brown, also opens at home (3:15 p.m.) that day against the Matadors.
“Should be a great day,” Brown said of the home opener doubleheader.
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Remaining summer schedule
Saturday: at Claremont Passing Tournament
July 30: vs. Dana Hills, 6 p.m., Guyer Field.
July 31: at Dana Hills, 5 p.m.; frosh/soph vs. Dana Hills, Guyer Field.