Calvary Chapel’s streak ends, but Coach Pat McInally, former NFL standout, still upbeat

Calvary Chapel Coach Pat McInally gets ready for Thursday night’s game. (Photo Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone)

Calvary Chapel’s football team had its six-game winning streak snapped Thursday night.

But Eagles Coach Pat McInally remains excited about the rest of the season and the team’s prospects of reaching the CIF Division 13 playoffs. That assessment came a day after watching his team lose to Santa Ana 35-6 in an Orange Coast League game at Orange Coast College.

“We knew they would be very physical, they’re very strong and they work hard on their front seven and on defense and they have a very efficient running game,” McInally said of Santa Ana. “We knew it would be tough. We put in a couple plays to supplement our normal offense to try and get some extra points on the board.”

It didn’t go as planned however as Calvary Chapel (6-1, 1-1) had five turnovers against the defending league champion Saints (4-3, 2-0). Other than the turnovers, McInally said he was impressed with his squad’s play.

“We knew we couldn’t have turnovers,” McInally said. “We needed a great game to beat them. We needed a couple turnovers from them, not us giving up five, that’s the biggest difference. But I will say I’m very excited about the way the kids played. I was very proud of them.”

Calvary Chapel’s emergence into a CIF playoff contender after a 1-9 season has sparked new interest at the Santa Ana school with a solid crowd turning out for Thursday’s game.

McInally, 66, the former NFL standout with the Cincinnati Bengals where he was a wide receiver and punter from 1976 to 1985, took over the program this year. He had been the head coach at Brethren Christian for six years before the school dropped 11-man football two years ago because of low numbers. It has resumed with an 8-man program. Brethren Christian had a 31-3 record in its final three years McInally said.

Hard work has produced better results this year for Calvary Chapel.

“They’ve had a couple of tough years here and I think they really fought (against Santa Ana),” he said. “I told the kids after the game that we’ve had six months with them and their coach and staff (from Santa Ana) has had four or five years of success and really built their program from the weight room and going to camps.

“That’s a big advantage and we have a long ways to go but we are taking great strides. We have 300 kids (enrolled in the school) and we go out there with 20 kids, 24 kids (on the football team) and they have a lot of players and they’re good.”

McInally said he is impressed with the Santa Ana program, led by Coach Charlie TeGantvoort.

“After the game, I noticed them boarding their bus and they’ve just got a lot of neat traditions and their program has done a great job building it,” McInally said. “It’s going to take us a while to get that kind of team cohesiveness but I couldn’t ask for more from our kids than they’re giving us. They’re doing great.

“We’ve done it with only three new players, it’s just that these kids have worked hard to improve their fundamentals and we’ve tried to get into the weight room and condition them, but it’s more of what they’ve done mentally in their ability to compete. They have some real talent on this team.”

Despite the loss on Thursday, the goal remains the same.

“Our goal, somehow from the beginning, was to somehow make the playoffs, so we were pleasantly surprised to be 6-0 and now we got get ready for Costa Mesa and try and get back in the win column,” McInally said.

McInally has found a new home and said he feels blessed that it all worked out.

“We all talked about in case things didn’t work out at Brethren numbers wise, where would we coach and Calvary was the one perfectly geographically location that we all kind of settled on,” he said. “When we had a chance this year, we took it.

“The biggest thing was talking to the administration and what they wanted to do with the program and Jon Hughes, the athletic director, made it very clear they want a good football program and one representing the school with academics and character. It sounded perfect to me, so I took it and I was lucky because my son, Jack, the offensive coordinator, who was offensive coordinator last year at Long Beach Poly, decided to come.”

In addition, defensive coordinator Keith Laszlo and offensive line coach Marty Burns joined McInally at Calvary Chapel.

There have been great efforts along the way.

Quarterback Ian Capuano did a solid job, passing for 142 yards and a 30-yard TD pass to Jacob Sutika in the fourth quarter.

“He is a great one and he’s developing more and more as a quarterback but as a leader,” McInally said. “I remember seeing him play in a passing league game and he just has a presence and an ability to compete. I can’t believe he is a sophomore.”

Sutika has also been a top player for the Eagles all season.

“Jake is an excellent senior leader and a strong running back and very good middle linebacker,” McInally said.

Several other players are standing out as well.

“Gavin Price is a gifted offensive player and he’s played well on defense and Sky Oliver is a really good wide receiver and on the line, we’re led by Nate Scott the center and noseguard and the quarterback has played amazing for his first varsity experience,” McInally said.

McInally knows it’s a building process, but he plans to be around for a while to help the program grow.

“We were blessed with a good group of seniors this year,” he said. “We will be graduating 16 of our 22 starters, many of them going both ways. But we have some good talent coming back. We plan on building this thing.”

“We have to stay healthy, we’re very thin as far as players. I would not have predicted we would go 6-1 the first seven games.”

Coaching the young players is his top priority. McInally undoubtedly has plenty of stories to share about his days in the NFL. However, he said there really isn’t that much extra time to share them.

“We’re too busy teaching them how to play football,” he said. “Occasionally I give one or two. We’re doing better than the Bengals (who are 0-5). But I think they’ll come back eventually. They have a good young coach, it’s just going to take a while.”

RELATED: Photos and game story from Calvary Chapel vs. Santa Ana

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com