CdM says bye to nonleague

Rick Devereux

The bye week happened at an opportune time for the Corona del Mar

High football team.

The Sea Kings (3-2) were coming off consecutive losses and were

nursing some injuries. The bye week enabled the team to refocus its

attention on the Pacific Coast League opener against Calvary Chapel

at 7 p.m. Saturday at Westminster High.

The Eagles (2-3) have won two in a row, including last week’s

33-28 nonleague victory over Santa Ana Valley, despite only suiting

up 15 players due to disciplinary suspensions of 22 players.

“Anytime you win a football game with only 15 players, you know

there’s a lot of heart on that ballclub,” Coach Dick Freeman said.

“There’s something about high school football where that kind of

stuff matters. If we take these guys lightly, we can be in trouble.”

On paper it looks as if the Sea Kings should roll over Calvary

Chapel.

The Eagles have gained close to 550 rushing yards as a team. By

comparison, Wess Presson alone has amassed 651 rushing yards and

seven touchdowns for CdM. In last year’s 24-7 CdM victory, Presson

rushed for 92 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries.

Freeman said Calvary Chapel runs a versatile defense with three

down linemen and three linebackers.

“That three-three stack gives you a lot of problems,” he said.

“They can do almost anything out of that defense. We have to be ready

for every alignment known to man.”

Freeman said he wants the offense to be more consistent and commit

less penalties.

“We’re still making mistakes,” Freeman said. “We put ourselves in

long yardage with dumb mistakes. We’re not helping ourselves any.”

Even though the Eagles’ offense has scored a league-worst 102

points this year, Freeman still has respect for what Calvary Chapel

can do.

“Their running back [Jordan Thoma] is a real hard runner,” Freeman

said. “Their quarterback [Cameron Baird] has improved with every

game.”

Freeman said he was pleased with the CdM defense so far this year,

but the players need to be disciplined against Ocean View.

“Our defense has been playing fairly well,” he said. “We take

plays off now and then. Calvary Chapel runs a lot of shotgun and

misdirection and a little bit of option. They will try to out-flank

you.”