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Football: New book heavy on Orange County preps

Los Angeles Times staff writer Ben Bolch
By Ben Bolch
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Everything you wanted to know about Orange County high school football but were too afraid to ask can be found in The Orange County Football Book.

The new publication devotes its first seven chapters exclusively to prep football in the O.C., from Clare Van Hoorebeke to Matt Leinart and Herb Hill to Kris Farris. It is believed to be the first comprehensive history of football in Orange County and includes lots of college and professional info as well.

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There are plenty of colorful anecdotes and factoids about county football. Stat gurus will love appendices that include individual player, team and coaching records as well as complete league standings for county teams. Every O.C. player who received All-CIF honors is listed.

The book is available for $25 (postage paid) and can be ordered online here. Author Dennis Bateman covers high school sports for the Santa Barbara News-Press. He previously worked at the Orange County Register and the Ventura County edition of the Los Angeles Times. He spent about a dozen years researching the book through archives on microfilm and online.

--Ben Bolch

Varsity Times Insider
Ben Bolch

Ben Bolch has been a Los Angeles Times staff writer since 1999. He is serving his second stint as the UCLA beat writer, which seems fitting since he has covered almost every sports beat except hockey and horse racing. Bolch is also the author of the recently released book “100 Things UCLA Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die.” He previously covered UCLA basketball from 2010-11 before going on to cover the NBA and the Clippers for five years. He happily traded in gobs of hotel points and airline miles to return to cover UCLA basketball and football in the summer of 2016. Bolch was once selected by NBA TV’s “The Starters” as the “Worst of the Week” after questioning their celebrity journalism-style questions at an NBA All-Star game and considers it one of his finer moments.

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