CdM routs Mesa again

COSTA MESA — The result from the football game the night before showed up on the scoreboard.

The operator cleared it before Costa Mesa High played host to Corona del Mar Friday night. He really didn’t have to change much.

Sure, it was a different game with different teams. The result turned out to be the same for the second home team to use Jim Scott Stadium in as many nights.

There was no home-field advantage for the second Costa Mesa school. The Sea Kings won, 34-6, ruining the Mustangs’ season opener for the second straight season.

Costa Mesa asked for another crack at CdM after last year’s 55-3 beatdown. This one wasn’t as brutal.

Yet, the game almost began with the Sea Kings, ranked No. 4 in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division preseason coaches’ poll, delivering the knockout blow right away.

Donald Dalton ran back the opening kickoff 88 yards for an apparent touchdown. A block below the waist nullified the return.

The Sea Kings offense jogged onto the field and J.D. Abbott hit the Mustangs hard on the sixth play from scrimmage. The running back tearing up Costa Mesa last year hurt the defense again.

Abbott took a sweep to the left. In the open, no defender stood a chance of stopping Abbott from scoring on a 37-yard run.

Abbott ran through the Mustangs in the first half, totaling two touchdowns and 95 yards on the ground and he caught a 31-yard pass. The second half saw the senior go for much less and he finished the game with 104 yards on 12 carries.

A year ago against Costa Mesa, Abbott recorded a career-day, 205 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries. The Mustangs made sure Abbott failed to reach the 200-yard mark again, slowing him down and shutting CdM down in the third quarter.

Cramps also contributed to Abbott touching the ball only three times in the second half. The problem for the Mustangs was their inability to take advantage of Abbott’s absence.

The offense mustered zero points after halftime. Quarterback Todd Davis’ memory didn’t help Costa Mesa’s comeback bid.

“He kept telling me, “I keep forgetting the play on the way to the huddle,’” said Osso, adding Davis suffered blurry vision in the third quarter after getting his bell rung on a couple of plays.

Osso, who was on his way to dropping his fourth opener, said he questioned Davis.

“Be honest with me, are you OK?” Osso asked Davis and the senior replied with, “I’m fine. I’m fine.”

The Mustangs looked in bad shape.

Dalton flattened them with 18 seconds left before halftime. Seventeen seconds earlier, Josh Erno cut CdM’s lead to 23-6 on a seven-yard run.

Dalton already had two returns for touchdowns called back because of penalties. The third wasn’t supposed to go to him, but the junior starting for the first time got his hands on a squib kick on the 30-yard line.

“It was my buddy [Jeff] Condino,” said Dalton of the player who first touched the ball. “I knew he was going to drop it, so I just came up behind him and just picked it up.”

The rest was history. Dalton raced 70 yards, giving the Sea Kings a 25-point lead at halftime.

On the sideline, CdM Coach Jason Hitchens never smiled or cheered until he scanned the field.

“When he went for the third time, I was just looking for some yellow [flags],” said Hitchens, who in his first season last year led CdM to the semifinals of the playoffs. “That’s how you want to start off a season.

“[But] all we could muster [in the second half] was three [points]. That’s where it’s disappointing. At some point in time if we want to be one of the better teams in the division, we’re going to have to learn to put four quarters together. [Friday], I think we played one half of a football game.”

Corona del Mar 34, Costa Mesa 6

SCORE BY QUARTERS

CdM 16-15-0-3--34

Costa Mesa 0-6-0-0--6 

FIRST QUARTER

CdM – Abbott 37 run (Boehm kick), 9:20.

CdM – Tam blocks punt out of end zone for safety, 9:20.

CdM – Abbott 2 run (Boehm kick), 0:30

SECOND QUARTER

CdM – Borchard 2 run (Boehm kick), 7:42.

CM – Erno 7 run (run failed), 0:35.

CdM – Dalton 70 kickoff return (Abbott pass from Borchard), 0:18.

FOURTH QUARTER

CdM – Boehm 26 FG, 9:52.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

CdM – Abbott, 12-104, 2 TDs; Borchard, 11-58, 1 TD; Swigert, 6-50; Condino, 5-14; Gardner, 1-2.

CM – Erno, 13-74, 1 TD; Grayson, 4-33; Waldron, 3-23; Scheffner, 2-8; Alvis, 2-6; Gomez, 1-3; Garduno, 1-0; Davis, 4-0.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

CdM – Borchard, 12-19-1, 162; Gardner, 0-2-0, 0.

CM – Davis, 8-16-1, 53; Waldron, 0-1-0, 0.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

CdM – Dalton, 5-74; Abbott, 1-31; Christian, 2-25; Tam, 2-15; Jones, 1-10; Swigert, 1-7.

CM – Waldron, 4-38; Gomez, 2-12; Marquez, 2-3.