With the 2021-2022 Lancers football season over in the first round of CIF playoffs, head coach Peter Karavedas can now focus his gridiron attention on prepping for Feb. 5.
That’s when he will lead the North Orange County team to play against the South, directed by San Juan Hills High School (1-2) football coach Robert Frith, in the All-Star Classic football game at Orange Coast College’s Lebard Stadium in Costa Mesa at 7 p.m., according to the Sept. 29 OC Register article.
“It’s a tremendous opportunity for a really honorable staff because people need to understand that in football, more than any other sport, coaching is about your entire staff,” said Karavedas, who was originally tapped to coach the North in 2020 but was unable to because the rise in coronavirus cases then led to the all-star matchup to get canceled.
Along with Karavedas, his entire coaching staff will join him in the event as he attributes this opportunity to his entire team.
As of this month, COVID-19 positive cases have remained low, so next February’s game is still set.
“They [the people in the Register responsible for the OC All-Star game] asked if I still wanted to coach [this year], and I said yes because it’s a great opportunity,” he said.
The nomination of players for the All-Star OC team will not be released until the first week of December. In the meantime, Karavedas and his eight coaching staff members plan to use a spreadsheet with a compilation of potential North OC players’ names, schools, positions, heights, weights, films and notes taken to form the offensive and defensive squads, he said.
“We [need] to put a team together in two weeks, so obviously, [it’s important] that they’re really good players and that they’re going to be committed,” the head coach said. “I believe the North lost 11 out of its last 12 games, and for the last six straight [games], the South has won, so it’s a big deal.”
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps football commit running back senior Nick Wilde is among other athletes nominated on the compilation of potential North OC players.
“It made me super happy and proud that my own coach was chosen because it shows how much respect we have earned over the past decade as the best coaching staff is usually chosen from the county for the game,” Wilde said. “It would be a blessing to play my last game on the All-Star team because it shows how far I came.”
Once the team is finalized, Karavedas said he plans to integrate different techniques to strengthen the team and even incorporate some of Sunny Hills’ past strategies.
“We’re going to have to look at our team and build around our system, but we’re going to definitely evolve [the team] for having some different talent,” he said. “We’ll [use our strategies], but maybe take a different take on some of them because maybe we’ll have a different quarterback or different receivers.”
Despite Karavedas’ coaching the event for the first time, he anticipates that it will be a fun experience for him and the players.
“I look forward to just coaching incredible talent at every position,” he said. “What I’m a little nervous about is that the South County has a lot of really good players, so it’s going to be a big challenge to win that game.”
“It’s the [players’] last time to play high school football, so we want to have fun [and] make it enjoyable,” Karavedas said. “We hope to make it a wonderful experience for everybody, [but] we also want to go out and win.”
Following his recognition as Orange County Register’s 2019 Coach of the Year, Sunny Hills football head coach Peter Karavedas has been selected to lead the North OC team in the North-South All-Star Classic football game at Lebard Stadium in Costa Mesa on Feb. 5 at 7 p.m.
“It’s a tremendous opportunity for a really honorable staff because people need to understand that in football, more than any other sport, coaching is about your entire staff,” Karavedas said.
Although Karavedas initially received the offer in February of 2020 for the previous year’s All-Star game, he was unable to coach the game because the event got canceled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“They asked if I still wanted to coach [this year], and I said yes because it’s a great opportunity,” he said.
The nomination of players for the All-Star OC team will not be released until the first week of December. In the meantime, Karavedas and the SH coaching staff plan to use a spreadsheet with a compilation of potential North OC players’ names, schools, positions, heights, weights, films and notes taken to form the offensive and defensive sides, Karavedas said.
“We [need] to put a team together in two weeks, so obviously, [it’s important] that they’re really good players and that they’re going to be committed,” he said. “I believe the North lost 11 out of its last 12 games, and for the last six straight [games], the South has won, so it’s a big deal.”
Once the team is finalized, Karavedas plans to integrate different techniques to strengthen the team and even incorporate some of Sunny Hills’ past strategies.
“We’re going to have to look at our team and build around our system, but we’re going to definitely evolve [the team] for having some different talent,” he said. “We’ll [use our strategies], but maybe take a different take on some of them because maybe we’ll have a different quarterback or different receivers.”
Despite Karavedas coaching the event for the first time, he anticipates that it will be a fun experience for him and the players.
“I look forward to just coaching incredible talent at every position,” he said. “What I’m a little nervous about is that the South County has a lot of really good players, so it’s going to be a big challenge to win that game.”
While Karavedas oversees the North OC team, San Juan Hills High School football coach Robert Frith will direct the South OC team for this match, according to the Register.
“It’s the [players’] last time to play high school football, so we want to have fun [and] make it enjoyable,” Karavedas said. “We hope to make it a wonderful experience for everybody, [but] we also want to go out and win.”
