PREP FOOTBALL : PREP FRIDAY : El Toro Still Seeking Playoff Berth : Nemeth Hopes to Turn Around Odd Season Against Irvine

It’s homecoming week at El Toro High School and among the activities leading to tonight’s football game against Irvine is something called “Baby Day.”

No one is sure how this silly event started, but every year the seniors dress in baby clothes and parade around campus all day. Even the football players get into the childlike act.

Fullback David Nemeth, the team’s leading rusher and scorer, is dressed as Bam-Bam. His girlfriend, Kristi Harris, is, naturally, Pebbles.

The couple right out of the Stone Age have been virtually inseparable since the eighth grade and rank among the top athletes at the school.

“She’s Miss Athlete and he’s Mr. Athlete,” said Jim Harris, Ocean View basketball coach and Kristi’s father. “They’re both very focused. They don’t interfere with each other’s activities or sports and support each other very well.

“When Kristi was elected girls’ athletic commissioner and David lost the election for school president, Kristi felt terrible. This week, David is one of the finalists for homecoming king and Kristi didn’t make the finals, and he feels horrible.

“They help each other with their homework. Their grades have actually gotten better by helping each other. I think they’ll wind up going to the same college and getting married.”

Kristi Harris is the top player on El Toro’s volleyball team. Nemeth is a 3-year starter on the Chargers’ football team and was a starting center fielder on the baseball team.

Tonight, Nemeth will suit up for his 38th varsity game when El Toro meets Irvine at Mission Viejo High School for third place in the South Coast League and a berth in the Division III playoffs.

It’s an unusual situation for Nemeth after playing on teams that swept to two Southern Conference titles. This year, El Toro has struggled, losing twice as many games as it did in 2 previous seasons.

“It’s been tough,” Nemeth said. “People around here expect to win. It’s bad enough that we (the players) have to deal with losing, but then we have to hear about it from everybody else. It’s not like we’re not trying.”

Nemeth has experienced some great times at El Toro. He was a member of the 1986 team that opened the season with a 20-19 comeback victory over Whitehall in Allentown, Pa., and finished 14-0.

He started on the 1987 team that successfully defended its Southern Conference title by winning 12 games, including a memorable 13-12 victory over Santa Ana in the semifinals.

Then, there was the low point of Nemeth’s athletic career, a 34-22 loss to Capistrano Valley last week. The defeat has placed the Chargers in a must-win situation against Irvine to reach the playoffs.

“We were terrible,” Nemeth said. “They wanted to win that game badly. They had to win to make the playoffs, and they deserved to win. We were awful.”

But Nemeth had his usual steady game, rushing for 74 yards in 16 carries, catching 3 passes for 47 yards, scoring 3 touchdowns and converting 2 point-after kicks. He has rushed for 713 yards and scored 11 touchdowns in 9 games.

Despite his consistency, the 5-foot 10-inch, 182-pound senior is not being recruited by a major college and is hoping to draw interest from some Division I baseball schools this spring.

“I didn’t expect to be recruited,” he said. “I think of myself as a good high school player, not a superstar that colleges are fighting over. I’d like to attend a 4-year school next year, even if it means playing Division III football.”

Nemeth’s realistic approach to his future is part of a refreshing maturity that Bob Johnson, El Toro coach, said is an extension of Nemeth’s parents. Nemeth’s father, David Sr., is the school’s booster club president.

“You couldn’t ask for greater parents or boosters,” Johnson said. “David is a very mature young man and that’s a reflection of his upbringing.

“After all the players we’ve had recruited here in the past 3 years, you would think there would be a lot of ‘Why nots?’ because David isn’t being recruited. But the family has kept a clear head about everything.”

David Sr., a former football player at now-closed Capistrano Union, encouraged his son to play soccer as a youngster while growing up in San Ramon.

“We were fortunate to have good coaches all along and one of the things I stressed early to David was to listen to his coaches,” Nemeth said. “We’ve always supported him and his coaches. When a parent starts to bad-mouth the coach, you’ll find their kids pick that up and that isn’t good for anybody.”