Sports Shorts: Los Al's Barnes Leads O.C. Football Coaches in Wins

Los Alamitos football coach John Barnes, who retired as a teacher in June but returns as the Griffins coach this fall, has an Orange County-high 288 career coaching victories.

Next in line, according to the Orange County Register, is Mission Viejo’s Bob Johnson (255) and Valencia’s Mike Marrujo (246). Among active coaches, Mater Dei’s Bruce Rollinson has 214 victories and Newport Harbor’s Jeff Brinkley has 208.

Los Alamitos opens its season against Norwalk at Excelsior High on Friday night. Kickoff is 7 p.m.

If you have time to read anything other than Patch, check out this story on Barnes that appeared in the Long Beach Press-Telegram.

Time Keeps on Ticking, Ticking...

If a football team leads an opponent by 35 points or more by the end of three quarters of play, there will be a running clock during the fourth quarter. This “mercy rule,” approved by the CIF Southern Section last spring, will be in effect for all CIF Southern Section football games -- nonleague, league and the playoffs -- beginning this fall.

During a “running clock,” the clock will be stopped only after a score, a fair catch, a charged team timeout or an official’s timeout. Coaches can agree to establish a running clock earlier in the game, but if the points gap between the teams is reduced to less than 35 points in the fourth quarter, the running clock will remain in operation.

Read more about the new "mercy rule" .

Have sports news or results you'd like to report? Send it to Bob.Rohwer@patch.com.