Tight End

A transfer from Loara where he started a handful of games at quarterback as a sophomore. He is expected to lend balance to attack. Being recruited by most Pac-10 schools as a linebacker, he will also open holes as lead blocker at fullback on offense. An all-league cornerback last fall, he will see time at wide receiver this season, a position at which the Mustangs lack experience. A Kansas transfer, this running back is more cruncher than comet.

Quickness and speed make him a top receiving target and he also plays defensive back. He had thrown for 1,611 yards coming in, then went for 260 and three TDs in opening win. Quick and courageous, he should help out in the backfield and the secondary. Taking over at tailback, he rushed for 94 yards on 15 carries in win over Palos Verdes. Strength and agility are the tools he uses against bigger opponents in the trenches. His toughness will prove invaluable at a linebacker spot and he'll also start on the offensive line.

Rick Devereux Jeff Thomason will be using his two weeks vacation time from his project manager job at a construction company in New Jersey to go to Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville Feb. 6. Actually, he will be in the Super Bowl. Thomason, a former Corona del Mar High standout football player and swimmer in the late 1980s, signed a one-game contract with the Philadelphia Eagles as a backup tight end. Starting tight end and pro bowler Chad Lewis broke his foot in the NFC championship game against the Atlanta Falcons and will be unavailable for the big game in two weeks.

Barry Faulkner CORONA DEL MAR - Corona del Mar High football coach Dick Freeman was gratified to have opened the Pacific Coast League season with a 35-6 triumph over Estancia Friday night. But almost as positive as the scoreboard, was the absence of injuries for the Sea Kings, who even welcomed the limited return of a couple casualties who had been sidelined. John Daley, a junior two-way standout, saw his first action since breaking his wrist Week 3 against Newport Harbor and Tyler McClellan, who suffered a rig cage injury in the Battle of the Bay, also saw time against Estancia.

Rick Devereux The T-shirts Randy Thomason will be handing out today at his Super Bowl party today in Newport Beach say it all. "From hard hat to helmet." The saying is in recognition of his brother's unbelievable comeback to the NFL after a two-year hiatus and working for a construction company in New Jersey. Jeff Thomason, a former Corona del Mar High standout swimmer, went on to play tight end for the University of Oregon and had a 10-year career in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals, the Green Bay Packers (where he won one Super Bowl and played in an other)

Reckoning Barry Faulkner Luis Day will always remember his first big hit. So will his ribs. The crucial collision occurred two short football seasons ago, when the then-Costa Mesa High sophomore, with only one season as a Pop Warner reserve under his belt, was thrust onto the varsity scout team, a.k.a. human blocking dummies for Mustang starters. "(Getting drilled by a teammate) was my initiation to real physical football," said Day, who took his lumps, but also more than a few mental notes, while awaiting his chance to turn the tables.

Steve Virgen He was a part of the rise of high school basketball in Costa Mesa in the early 1990s. Now he wants to be one of the reasons for creating more popularity for boxing in Costa Mesa. Jeff Byrne, who played on the 1990-91 Estancia High boys basketball state championship team, is back in his home town, building a house of pain made for entertainment and competition. It's called Uppercut Boxing, which made its debut July 26 at the Costa Mesa Hilton.

Richard Dunn Marlin McKeever's weight was felt almost as much on the political turf in the off-season as it was on the football field every Sunday for 13 autumns. A former Pro Bowl selection as a tight end, who later earned team MVP honors as a linebacker for the 1971 Rams, McKeever could also mix it up pretty well off the gridiron. In 1968, McKeever, who served on two presidential campaigns for Richard Nixon, moved to Washington, D.C., and launched a unique dual career -- football and politics.

The blank canvas of history took the form of plush green grass Friday afternoon at Sage Hill High as the Lightning football team hosted tiny Midway Baptist from San Diego in the first varsity game for the Newport Coast-based private school that opened in the fall of 2000. After playing two lower-level seasons before hitting the varsity big time, Coach Tom Monarch's Lightning didn't seem to mind at all that traffic delayed Midway Baptist's arrival till after the scheduled 4 p.m. kickoff.

Patrick Laverty Jeff Waldron's pregame routine doesn't exactly conjure up images of loud music, head butting and locker pounding that are commonly associated with getting ready to play football. Waldron, a junior at Costa Mesa High, does spend his time on game days with his teammates in the Mustangs locker room, but most of that time is spent in thought as the wide receiver and outside linebacker goes over the game in his head. "They don't really think of me as a mean player," Waldron said.

When Omar Gutierrez missed school at Estancia High last week, Coach Mike Bargas understood why he was out. It was not the first time the senior was absent this school year. Earlier this month, Gutierrez said he did not attend school because it hurt too much to sit down in a chair. He injured his lower back in a football game on Sept. 30. The setback sidelined him for a few days in the classroom and one game on the field. The pain was so excruciating that Gutierrez found it hard to do something he does before each game.

Sage Hill School’s football team doesn’t get shaken by much, which is why Coach Pete Anderson said the Lightning would be fine, even without starting tight end Craig Jackson. Jackson, a junior, sustained a concussion in the Lightning’s 37-28 win over Brethren Christian on Saturday, so Sage Hill will be employing a three-wideout set tonight at 7 against visiting Capistrano Valley Christian. The Lightning usually switch between a three-wide set and a basic formation with two wide receivers and a tight end. Anderson said they would probably use three receivers more against Academy League rival CVC, and sophomore backup Connor Gaughan will play some at tight end. “He does a real good job on the junior varsity level, so we’ll be fine,” Anderson said.

Danny Pulido stood before the Newport Harbor High football team for the first practice this fall a largely forgotten legend, and, some might say, a cautionary tale. Few among the Sailors players, Pulido said, had the slightest inkling that the 1997 Newport Harbor graduate who played three seasons of varsity football and competed in two CIF Southern Section title games, left the program as its all-time leading receiver, with a scholarship to the University of Oregon. Pulido, a 6-foot-4, 225-pound receiver, outside linebacker and safety, who also started as a freshman on the varsity basketball team and played multiple seasons on the varsity baseball squad, was one of the most decorated athletes to come out of Newport Harbor in the 1990s.

Rick Devereux The T-shirts Randy Thomason will be handing out today at his Super Bowl party today in Newport Beach say it all. "From hard hat to helmet." The saying is in recognition of his brother's unbelievable comeback to the NFL after a two-year hiatus and working for a construction company in New Jersey. Jeff Thomason, a former Corona del Mar High standout swimmer, went on to play tight end for the University of Oregon and had a 10-year career in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals, the Green Bay Packers (where he won one Super Bowl and played in an other)

Rick Devereux Jeff Thomason will be using his two weeks vacation time from his project manager job at a construction company in New Jersey to go to Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville Feb. 6. Actually, he will be in the Super Bowl. Thomason, a former Corona del Mar High standout football player and swimmer in the late 1980s, signed a one-game contract with the Philadelphia Eagles as a backup tight end. Starting tight end and pro bowler Chad Lewis broke his foot in the NFC championship game against the Atlanta Falcons and will be unavailable for the big game in two weeks.

Patrick Laverty Jeff Waldron's pregame routine doesn't exactly conjure up images of loud music, head butting and locker pounding that are commonly associated with getting ready to play football. Waldron, a junior at Costa Mesa High, does spend his time on game days with his teammates in the Mustangs locker room, but most of that time is spent in thought as the wide receiver and outside linebacker goes over the game in his head. "They don't really think of me as a mean player," Waldron said.

A transfer from Loara where he started a handful of games at quarterback as a sophomore. He is expected to lend balance to attack. Being recruited by most Pac-10 schools as a linebacker, he will also open holes as lead blocker at fullback on offense. An all-league cornerback last fall, he will see time at wide receiver this season, a position at which the Mustangs lack experience. A Kansas transfer, this running back is more cruncher than comet.

Quickness and speed make him a top receiving target and he also plays defensive back. He had thrown for 1,611 yards coming in, then went for 260 and three TDs in opening win. Quick and courageous, he should help out in the backfield and the secondary. Taking over at tailback, he rushed for 94 yards on 15 carries in win over Palos Verdes. Strength and agility are the tools he uses against bigger opponents in the trenches. His toughness will prove invaluable at a linebacker spot and he'll also start on the offensive line.

Steve Virgen He was a part of the rise of high school basketball in Costa Mesa in the early 1990s. Now he wants to be one of the reasons for creating more popularity for boxing in Costa Mesa. Jeff Byrne, who played on the 1990-91 Estancia High boys basketball state championship team, is back in his home town, building a house of pain made for entertainment and competition. It's called Uppercut Boxing, which made its debut July 26 at the Costa Mesa Hilton.

The blank canvas of history took the form of plush green grass Friday afternoon at Sage Hill High as the Lightning football team hosted tiny Midway Baptist from San Diego in the first varsity game for the Newport Coast-based private school that opened in the fall of 2000. After playing two lower-level seasons before hitting the varsity big time, Coach Tom Monarch's Lightning didn't seem to mind at all that traffic delayed Midway Baptist's arrival till after the scheduled 4 p.m. kickoff.