Tiger tale begins with veteran head coach

Valencia football story (with CIF title game coverage)Valencia, led by Mike Marrujo, has much in common with Newport Harbor -- most notably success.They grew up in nearby cities, became high school football head coaches at a young age, and went on to long, successful tenures at their respective Orange County schools.

Valencia High’s Mike Marrujo and Newport Harbor’s Jeff Brinkley also share many coaching philosophies, including an offensive approach that is a virtual mirror image.

They also have forged the kind of perennial success few achieve.

Marrujo’s Tigers (12-1) will meet Brinkley’s Sailors (10-3) in the CIF Southern Section Division VI championship game Saturday at 7 p.m. at Orange Coast College.

It is only the third time the two coaches have squared off on the field. The first two also came in the CIF Division VI playoffs. Valencia defeated Newport Harbor, 35-28, in the first round in 2002. The Tigers topped the Sailors, 28-8, in the 1991 quarterfinals.

Marrujo, who grew up in Lakewood, is 214-86-7 in his 25 seasons at Valencia. He also won 21 games in four seasons at Pius X High, before taking over at Valencia in 1981.

One of only four coaches to top 200 career victories at Orange County schools, Marrujo is widely revered in Placentia and respected throughout the Southland.

“You know what you’re going to get when you play them,” said Brinkley, who grew up in Norwalk and coached at Norwalk and Excelsior high schools before coming to Newport in 1986. “Mike does a nice job and I have a lot of respect for their program. The kids are well-disciplined, they understand their system and they have had so much success, they expect to win.”

The same can be said of Newport Harbor, which is 174-67-3 in Brinkley’s 20 seasons. Brinkley also won 30 games at his previous stops, giving him 204 career wins as a prep head coach.

Valencia has been to the playoffs in 24 of Marrujo’s 25 seasons, including the last 10. This is the Tigers’ sixth trip to the finals under Marrujo, and their first since 1992. They won Division VI titles in 1991 and ’92 and claimed the Central Conference crown in 1991.

Newport Harbor has now been to the finals seven times in the last 14 seasons, including a Division V title in 1994 and a Division VI crown in 1999.

Valencia senior quarterback Luis Cruz said a first-round exit from last year’s playoffs helped motivate the team to maximize its potential this season.

“That was a wake-up call,” Cruz said of the 15-13 setback to Tustin. The loss was the second straight for the 2004 Tigers, who opened 9-0 before falling to Orange Lutheran in their regular-season finale. “Everyone worked harder in the offseason.”

The Tigers won their first six games this season, before falling to Kennedy, 35-28. Two weeks later, Valencia upset Orange Lutheran, the reigning Division VI champion, and wound up sharing the Empire League title with Kennedy and Orange Lutheran.

The Tigers opened the playoffs with a 35-13 win over a Laguna Hills squad that shared the Sea View League crown with Newport Harbor and Aliso Niguel.

Valencia then surprised top-seeded Mayfair, 28-7, in the quarterfinals, before avenging its loss to Kennedy with a 19-13 semifinal win.

“We’re pleased to be back in the finals,” Marrujo said. “This is a bunch of kids who are very team oriented. They have stuck together all year and played exceptionally well in big games. We beat some really quality people. We beat Orange Lutheran when they were 8-0, we beat Kennedy when they were 11-1, and we beat the No. 1 seed in Mayfair when they were 10-1.”

VALENCIA Tigers (12-1)