Tustin Wins Opener Over Kapaa, 14-6

The second season of the Marijon Ancich era at Tustin High School opened Saturday night on Northrup Field, and it looked an awful lot like the veteran coach’s first year, when he turned the Tillers into winners.

Ancich had inherited a team that was 1-9 before he arrived and hadn’t reached the playoffs since 1967. While it may be premature to start planing for a playoff position in 1985, the Tillers showed they are solid.

Tustin wasn’t flashy but still managed to get the job done in a 14-6 victory over visiting Kapaa of Kauai as Ancich gained his 195th career victory.

Considering that the heart of the Tillers’ offense--quarterback Pat Hegarty (1,365 yards passing) and fullback Darren Webster (1,091 yards rushing)--have departed, the victory was a good start for the young team. Sophomore quarterback George Menges played an almost mistake-free game and allowed his host of running backs to pile up the yardage in a game that was more one-sided than the final score.

Defensively, Tustin limited Kapaa to only 46 yards rushing, and Warrior quarterback Dawson Carvalho completed just 6 of 21 passes for 78 yards. Tiller defensive back Todd Nelson had a fumble recovery and interception, and returning all-league lineman Willye Thomas recorded two sacks.

Despite the victory, the Tillers still don’t appear to have the firepower to challenge Century League powers Foothill or El Modena. Ancich and his crew will most likely have to be content to duplicate last year’s 6-4 record as the rebuilding project continues on Laguna Road.

“We certainly didn’t play Century League football,” Ancich acknowledged. “This was a typical first-game operation. Our offense had fumbilitis, and we had a bad interception that ended a scoring threat. The game was almost exactly like our opener last year against Rancho Alamitos.”

One area that the Tillers will be working on this week is execution. Tustin was penalized 12 times for 120 yards, including seven major penalties. But the Tiller defense shut down Kapaa as the Warriors’ only score came on a fumble recovery.

Kapaa took a 6-0 lead early in the first quarter when linebacker Nestor Gorosope picked up a Tim Hollinger fumbled and raced 33 yards for a touchdown. But the Warriors didn’t come close to scoring again until late in the fourth quarter as Tustin dominated the line of scrimmage.