ORANGE COUNTY PREP FOOTBALL : El Toro-Tustin: Hyperbole Squared : Ancich Talks Up the Chargers, Plays Down His Tillers

During the past 23 years, Marijon Ancich, football coach at Tustin High School, has become the master of boosting opponents while downplaying his team’s chances of winning big games.

But Ancich--who has 207 victories at St. Paul and Tustin, the most of any active coach in the Southern Section--outdid himself this week as the Tillers prepared to play El Toro, defending Southern Conference champion, at 7:30 tonight in Orange Coast College’s LeBard Stadium.

A sampling Ancich’s comments:

- “I saw the El Toro intrasquad scrimmage and I thought I was at Rams camp.”

- “El Toro could compete with any team in Ohio or Texas where high school football is a way of life.”

- “My teams at St. Paul played against Vince Ferragamo at Banning and Pat Haden at Bishop Amat and (El Toro quarterback) Bret Johnson is right there with them.”

- “I only hope we can make a first down or two. Our goal is just to stay within reach.”

So why did the Tillers schedule El Toro?

“It was either play them or scrimmage,” Ancich said.

Both teams needed opening games for this season, having played out-of-state opponents last year. Tustin traveled to Hawaii to play Kapaa; El Toro traveled to Allentown, Pa. to meet Whitehall.

“This isn’t like going to Hawaii,” Ancich said. “(El Toro Coach) Bob Johnson called me up and convinced me he had lost everybody. He was really looking for somebody to beat up on.”

Naturally, Ancich neglected to point out that he has 11 starters returning from last year’s 9-3 team, which was the best mark in Tustin’s 65-year history.

Quarterback George Menges and tailback Lani Machado are starting their third year, and linebackers Jim Russell and Jeff Dart were all-league selections last year as juniors.

Still, the Tillers will be facing a formidable opponent. El Toro, the top-ranked team in Orange County, has a 14-game winning streak.

Bret Johnson, who passed for 2,458 yards and 27 touchdowns as a junior, is rated one of the country’s top five quarterbacks.

In other games tonight, Ocean View meets Cypress at Western High School, Corona plays Canyon at El Modena High School and Mission Viejo plays host to San Diego Morse. All games begin at 7:30.