SGV/Whittier Prep Sports Zone: Escarcega on Preps: La Serna's Andy George and players has reached into there "soul" to reach a state final.

George's ability to stay within the program's core values has helped him and his team reach the program's ultimate moment.

Andy George addresses his team after last Friday’s win over Orange Vista in a CIF State Regional Final. (Photo: Arnold Leos Graphics)

WHITTIER - And then there was one.

One team – 71 players.

That is what the La Serna High School football team will bring on Friday afternoon to Saddleback College to take on Grant High School of Sacramento in the CIF State Div. 2-AA championship game.

We all know that one is the “loneliest number that you’ll ever do.” Three Dog Night reminded us of that fact in their 1968 smash hit.

When the 2023 football season started back in August, more than 50 area football teams had dreams of being in this spot today. Being “one” of those teams to be playing for a championship.

And it didn’t matter what your favorite team was, everyone had “a chip and a chance” when the season kicked off. Could Bishop Amat get over the hump and finally reach the promised land. Could Matt Bechtel finally get something going at Damien? Could Robert Maxie create the magic at Baldwin Park like he did at Pasadena? And the questions kept mounting as the season went along.

In the end, it was the program with the least amount of questions that quietly worked its way to the top. And even then, they still had some questions to answer. No one around La Serna was talking about state championships in late August and early September when the Lancers lost to Los Alamitos, Warren, and Damien.

But to understand where La Serna is today is to understand their history. There was a time when La Serna was not a team that everyone talked about. It was St. Paul and Santa Fe that were the focus of football fans before the 2010 decade. It was easy to understand why. They were coached by two of the more iconic football coaches in the area, Marijon Ancich and Jack Mahlstede.

Both won the big games and were the toast of the town in the Whittier area. Meanwhile, there was a coach that wasn’t winning championships but was developing players to become men. His name was Ken Lavigne. He coached for over 30 years but never felt the sensation of winning a sectional title.

But he developed great players and great coaches as well. One of those coaches was a young man by the name of Andy George. And it was in that first year that George learned about the philosophy of the program… in three words.

Courage, Character, Commitment.

“Back in 2003, coach hired me and introduced me to that philosophy and those principles and I fell in love with them,” George said recently.

Three words that can easily describe the 2023 Lancers.

Courage: To get themselves off the mat with a 2-3 record, not listening to the noise and putting together a run that will be remembered in school history.

Character: The character to stick with each other through the good and tough times. It was easy to show the character of what champions are all about through an impressive CIF-SS championship run, but it’s another thing to show it while you are involved in a highly emotional state regional game against Orange Vista last week in which they came out successful.

Commitment: That word could be traced back to 2015 when an assistant coach named Andy George took over to Margarito Beltran as the head coach of the program and showed everyone that season what commitment was all about. It was his commitment that led him to become the program’s full-time football coach.

Eight seasons later, here they are – on the doorstep of school history.

It hasn’t been without some bumps along the road. The pain of defeat stung hard in 2019 when La Serna suffered a gut-wrenching loss to St. Paul (34-30) in a CIF-SS quarterfinal. While many called it one of the greatest games in the history of the Whittier area, someone must be on the short end of the stick – and on that night it was the Lancers.

The pain of defeat was ratcheted up in 2022 when La Serna lost a first-round game to Palos Verdes. This was a team that many considered to be the best in school history. But in today’s CIF-SS world of competitive equity, you are what your CalPreps.com rating is and for that team, their rating was so good that it vaulted them to one of the most competitive divisions in years.

The scene afterward was so gut-wrenching, you would have thought you were at a presidential funeral. No one wanted that season to end, but, as former Super Bowl-winning quarterback Trent Dilfer once said, “You have to experience pain at its most extreme, to reach the ultimate goal you are chasing.”

It was those three words of Courage, Character, and Commitment that helped fuel the fire that was the 2023 La Serna football team. The courage to start the process all over again, with the character to remain solid to the program’s philosophy and the commitment to make every training season in the offseason and every practice during the spring and summer.

And it’s those words that have allowed George and his band of warriors to take one more bus ride (let’s hope it’s a charter bus) to Saddleback College to compete for the state’s highest honor.

As for Lavigne, he left the grind of football for a higher calling. He describes it best in his book, “Coach the Soul” which was published in 2019 and is available in print or on a reading device on Amazon.

“Our principal, Martin Plourde, asked me to do something I really didn’t want to do. He asked me to start a program at La Serna to help our most at-risk students,” Lavigne wrote. “I wanted to simply be a teacher, who didn’t lead anything but my own classroom. My principal had something else in mind for me.”

It was during that time that he developed the At-Risk program at the school that he was reminded that a coach’s voice is as powerful off the field as it is in the heat of a battle.

“What saved me were not the beautifully designed lessons given to me by outstanding teachers,” Lavigne wrote. “What saved me were the teachers and coaches who reached deep into my soul to give me a sense of identity and a reason to try… From them, I learned to look beyond the particular moment, day, or week in which I found myself. I came to realize the value of patience and the need for sacrifice to achieve my goals.

“What literally saved me were my teachers and coaches who taught me the invaluable lessons of life,” Lavigne said. “These lessons transcended all the challenges I faced as a student and a person… They taught my mind, developed my skills, but most importantly, they coached my soul.”

When you speak with George today, you know that he had to reach deep into his soul to overcome a tragedy that no one should experience, the loss of his sister in the most tragic of situations.

However, just as Lavigne teaches in his book, you could tell that George looked beyond the moment and gave his players lessons that have lasted the test of time. Maybe that’s why each player gives George a hug (regardless of win or loss) after each game.

Just like his mentor in Lavigne, George reached the apex of what it means to be coaching in high school sports – he has found his way into the soul of his football players. He has used the tools of patience and sacrifice to reach the program’s ultimate moment on Friday afternoon.

The late John F. Kennedy once said, “The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word crisis; One brush stoke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger – but recognize the opportunity.”

For the La Serna football team, the opportunity has arrived. And they’ve done it with a coach that has “Coached the Soul.”

It’s the La Serna way.