Strini Has Seen Lean Times, Good Times : Football: Orange linebacker was a starter during two losing seasons. This season, though, the Panthers’ fortunes have turned.

ORANGE — Scott Strini learned all about football tradition during his first two years at Orange High School.

Unfortunately for him, it wasn’t a winning tradition.

Strini, an outside linebacker and an offensive guard, always knew what to expect when he trudged off the field after a game.

And it wasn’t very pleasant.

Strini learned to deal with the bumps, bruises and exhaustion that accompanied playing both offense and defense.

But losing, well, that was a different story.

Strini, you see, was a starter as a sophomore and a junior on Orange teams that were a combined 6-14. Those numbers weren’t much motivation for him.

“Last year, when we were 2-8, we expected to lose,” he said. “But now if we lose, it’s actually a letdown.”

Losses have been a rarity for Strini and the Panthers this season. They’re 10-2-1, finished second to Trabuco Hills in the Pacific Coast League and are having their best season in school history.

It’s the first winning team Strini has played for since he was knee-high to a nose guard and a terror in the Pop Warner leagues.

And tonight, the Panthers have a chance to avenge an earlier loss to Trabuco Hills when the teams meet for the Division VIII championship at Santa Ana Stadium. Kickoff is 7:30.

“I wouldn’t say we’re surprised by our success,” Strini said. “But there are a lot of people who follow us who are surprised.”

Orange fans had reason to be shocked.

It’s not every year that the Panthers have played this well. In fact, they haven’t played this well any year.

Consider:

--The last time Orange was playing for a football playoff championship, Strini wasn’t even born. In fact, his father wasn’t even born.

--The Panthers’ last playoff appearance was in 1929, a little more than a month after the stock market crashed. They beat Bonita, 13-0, in the small-school division championship.

--The Panthers had won only 18 games total in the 1980s until this season. Seven of their victories were in 1986, when Strini’s brother, Joe, helped the Panthers win the Pacific Coast League title.

“It has been a long drought for us,” Orange Coach Tom Meiss said.

Meiss, who’s in his first season at Orange, is one of the main reasons the Panthers are in the Division VIII finals, Strini said.

“We work together well as a team,” Strini said. “It all clicks for us. Coach Meiss really knows football and he has us believing in ourselves.”

It was Meiss who moved Strini, 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds, from defensive end to outside linebacker during preseason. Meiss’ philosophy: defensive end limited Strini to one side of the field and his strength and hard-hitting play are more suited for an outside linebacker.

Still, Strini didn’t know what to expect when Meiss took over.

“We had only a few returning starters and a couple of transfers, (Jeff) Peterson and (Gregg) Campbell,” Strini said. “They brought in new coaches and everyone was frustrated at first. It was a new system and we all had new responsibilities.”

Strini has done more than his share of work, especially on defense. He averages five solo tackles and knocks down three passes a game.

He has been productive on offense too. He scored the Panthers’ only touchdown in a 20-7 loss to Trabuco Hills when he recovered a fumble by teammate Brian Remmel.

“He’s always out there chasing somebody around,” Meiss said. “In some formations he’s a defensive back and others he was a hard-nosed linebacker. Sometimes he’s even an inside linebacker.”

Strini’s fumble recovery was about the only thing that went right for him against Trabuco Hills. Meiss said Strini was a step away from making a key tackle on several plays, but came up empty-handed each time.

Strini said he has been waiting for a chance to redeem himself against Trabuco Hills tonight.

“I’m glad we’re playing Trabuco again,” he said. “It wouldn’t be right if we played another team.”