Jim Barnett

Trabuco Hills High School combined a power running game with big plays to beat Estancia, 35-7, in Pacific Coast League football Friday night at Davidson Field. Late in the first quarter, a 63-yard touchdown run off left tackle by Trabuco Hills running back Jeff Clayton and Jason Teno's conversion gave the Mustangs a 7-0 lead.

Lynwood Coach Bill Notley and Harry Taylor, former coach at Long Beach Wilson, are the finalists for the varsity basketball coaching position at Trabuco Hills High School, Dr. Bill Brand, the school's principal, said Wednesday. Brand said he has recommended Notley and Taylor to Ken Anderson, associate superintendent of the Saddleback Valley Unified School District.

Jim Barnett was officially named the football coach of Trabuco Hills High School in a meeting of the Saddleback Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees Tuesday night. Barnett, who has served as head coach at Long Beach Poly for the past five seasons, will attempt to build a program at Orange County's newest high school. Trabuco Hills will consist of grades 9, 10 and 11 next fall and will have an estimated enrollment of 800.

Ronnie Lievanos stood in the press box beside Costa Mesa Coach Tom Baldwin Friday night and watched Trabuco Hills High School roll over his grandfather's team, 35-6, in the Pacific Coast League opener for both teams. Lievanos said he hopes to play quarterback for "Papa" Baldwin someday, and Baldwin certainly could use a quarterback right now. But Lievanos, 10, is in fourth grade and plays on a Pop Warner team. So Baldwin must wait a few years.

Esperanza's Gary Meek and Trabuco Hills' Jim Barnett were named Tuesday as coaches for the 36th Orange County North/South All-Star football game. Meek, who played in the 1959 game for Santa Ana Valley, will coach the North. Last season, the Aztecs finished 7-4 and were eliminated by Trabuco Hills in the first round of the Southern Section Division I playoffs. Barnett, who was on the opposite sideline in that game, will coach the South.

Orange County high school players have been selected to play for the South team in the 39th Shrine All-Star football game July 28 in the Rose Bowl. Heading the list of selections is defensive back Tim Manning, who was named The Times' Orange County back of the year after leading Trabuco Hills to the Division VIII championship for the second consecutive season and setting a county career interception mark.

Montalvo School is asking the Ventura school board to approve its plans to paint a 40-foot-long mural on a wall near the school's kindergarten. The design of the mural, which would cover a seven-foot-high cinder-block wall, depicts letters of the alphabet and cartoon characters, said Montalvo Principal Marie Atmore. Kindergarten teachers have asked for years for a mural to cover the wall, which is dirty and streaked with rust, Atmore said.

A Navy F-14 jet fighter crashed in a barren area of northwestern Nevada Thursday after its two crewmen ejected safely, the Navy said. It was the 100th crash of an F-14, the third in 11 days. The $40-million jet was demolished when it crashed in the desert 50 miles northeast of here during a routine training mission, said Navy spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Bob Pritchard. The pilot and radar-interceptor officer, whose names were withheld, escaped injury after parachuting from the cockpit, Pritchard said.

Try as it might, Costa Mesa could not stop Trabuco Hills from clinching the top spot in the Pacific Coast League Friday night. Trabuco Hills' 39-6 victory at Orange Coast College, coupled with Estancia's 16-0 loss to Laguna Hills, gave the Hawks (5-4-1, 4-1) the top league seeding for the playoffs. Laguna Hills finished with the same league record but was second because of a head-to-head loss to Trabuco Hills. Estancia would have finished No. 1 by winning Friday.

Bill Crow, who won led Mission Viejo to a Southern Section title, is expected to be named Trabuco Hills' football coach next week. Crow will be recommended to the Saddleback Valley Unified School District's board of education for approval Tuesday at its monthly meeting, a source close to the process said. Trabuco Hills officials were unavailable for comment. Crow has been an assistant at Trabuco Hills since resigning as Mission Viejo's coach in 1988. Crow said he could not comment.