The city of Laguna Beach is known for art galleries and beautiful beaches, while water polo and volleyball are two of the most popular sports at Laguna Beach High.
Basketball, baseball and tennis have also been successful at the school, but not football, despite its fine stadium and view of the Pacific Ocean from the press box. While the gridiron has not been a top priority among student-athletes, interest and excitement in football, along with winning, have been building like ocean waves during a big swell.
Last year, Coach John Shanahan’s Breakers captured the school’s first CIF-Southern Section football championship in 76 years, and this year an eye-popping 75 kids are playing in the program.
The Breakers were edged in overtime by an excellent Chino team in the season opener, 27-26, and defeated Dana Hills, 24-10, in week two.
“Laguna Beach is not really a football town,” Shanahan said. “There’s not a lot of youth football going and for people who live here, they know it can be tough getting in and out of town. (Traffic) can be brutal. But the school has been tremendous in other sports. There are great water polo and volleyball teams, and a solid baseball team. They’ve been good in basketball. But kids have focused on football as a secondary sport.”
In addition to the bulging participation numbers, the Breakers feature an outstanding quarterback in junior Jackson Kollock and one of Orange County’s best tight ends in senior Ryner Swanson, who has committed to BYU.
The 6-foot-4, 240-pound Swanson often worked in the middle of the field last year and proved difficult to tackle, catching 83 passes for 952 yards, both team highs, for an average of 68 receiving yards per game in the Breakers’ memorable 11-4 season. Laguna Beach beat Diamond Bar, 36-28, in the CIF Division 9 championship game for its first section title since 1946.
Kollock, who has received scholarship offers from Texas, Cal, Washington, Colorado, Minnesota and some…
Read the full article here
