Hope Springs Eternal for Breakers Football in 2012

It had been 180 days since the Laguna Beach football players stood on the grass at Guyer Field together. But for many of them, it seemed like just yesterday.

It was on December 2 that the Breakers dream season was vanquished in a 41-14 defeat to Corona del Mar in the CIF-Southern Section Division semifinals. Laguna Beach had finished its best season since 1962 at 10-3 under first-year coach Mike Churchill.

So for the 43 players who took the field on a sunny Tuesday afternoon for the first of 14 days of spring practice, the challenge will be to match—and even exceed—the results from last season. Suddenly, the bar has been raised. Expectations will be higher.

“I don’t think anybody thought we would what we did last year,” said Breakers assistant coach Bill Douglass. “This year the expectations will be higher. But that’s a good thing. We have a lot of our skill players back. We just need to get more physical. With a full year now in our weight training program, I think we will do that.”

Laguna Beach had one of the most explosive offensive in Orange County last season, averaging 45 points a game. Drake Martinez and Robert Clemons led a rushing attack that averaged 333 yards per game, and quarterback Larry Stewart completed 49 percent of his passes and threw 18 touchdowns. All three will be back for their senior year.

“I think we’re going to have a very good team this season,” said Churchill, who also is the school’s athletic director. "We have a lot of speed, but if we can keep teams from pushing us around we should be alright.”

On Tuesday, though, it was back to the basics—blocking, tackling, and learning the playbook. After the two-hour practice, Churchill called out the two words that he’s hoping to say again and again this fall.

“We’re undefeated!”