High School Athletics Orange

Austin Moherman knew exactly what he wanted. His goal was to be the Mission Viejo High varsity quarterback before his junior year. So, from the be-careful-what-you-wish-for file, Moherman looked over the Mater Dei defense late last season. Here was a freshman being asked to decipher and beat--not to mention survive--one of the most vicious teams in Orange County. It would be enough to make most experienced quarterbacks tremble in their cleats. But Moherman was too concerned to be scared.

Austin Moherman knew exactly what he wanted. His goal was to be the Mission Viejo High varsity quarterback before his junior year. So, from the be-careful-what-you-wish-for file, Moherman looked over the Mater Dei defense late last season. Here was a freshman being asked to decipher and beat--not to mention survive--one of the most vicious teams in Orange County. It would be enough to make most experienced quarterbacks tremble in their cleats. But Moherman was too concerned to be scared.

It has become one of the favorite cliches of Orange County coaches: "In my next life, I want to coach at an orphanage." Are parents of high school athletes really that unbearable? Is dealing with them so awful? The way some coaches moan and groan, you'd think they were dealing with auditors from the IRS instead of moms and dads. It is that perception--parents as necessary evil--that prompted Larry Lovenduski to call.

On a slow weekday afternoon, Mike and Joy Flynn, owners of Lamppost Pizza in Fountain Valley, might seem to be a typical hard-working couple consumed with shredding mozzarella, chopping pepperoni and making lots of dough--literally and financially. But consider their 90-hour work weeks, their coffee-and-pizza diets, their ability to withstand a horde of hungry, hyperactive teen-agers, and the Flynns suddenly become more than your average pizza parlor owners. They become. . . Mr. and Mrs.

A high school cross-country runner crashes his car after drinking at a party, killing himself and two other students. A high school baseball player says he pitched his first varsity game with most of his teammates drunk. A high school football coach starts a drug-testing program after finding two football players and a cheerleader had become addicted to drugs.