High School Football: CdM opens league strong

Corona del Mar High went into its Pacific Coast League football opener against Woodbridge having captured four consecutive league titles

Judging by the Sea Kings’ (5-1, 1-0) near-flawless performance in a 45-7 victory over the Warriors (2-4, 0-1) on Thursday at Estancia, a fifth title is a good possibility.

The Sea Kings, ranked No 4 in the CIF Southern Section Division 4 poll, have upped their league winning streak to 21 games and defeated the Warriors for the fifth time in a row.

After losing their season opener, 42-20, to Palos Verdes, the Sea Kings have won five games in a row.

“That was a wake-up call for us,” Sea Kings quarterback Chase Garbers said on the loss to Palos Verdes.

Garbers, bound for Cal, once again showed why he had been heavily recruited, completing 24 of 31 passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns.

He also completed passes to six different receivers and ran for a touchdown.

“Woodbridge gave us a lot of problems last year,” Garbers said. “We studied that and we took that into consideration and we came out here and executed.”

Rather than trying to throw the ball deep and score on big plays, the Sea Kings were content to take their time and throw short outside passes.

The Sea Kings’ first three scoring drives came on 12-play, 16-play and 10-play drives.

“Woodbridge came in defensively with a really good scheme and played really good coverage forcing us to throw the ball short underneath,” Sea Kings Coach Dan O’Shea said. “We had to stay patient. We had to take what they gave us.”

Corona del Mar led 17-0 at the half and opened the third quarter with yet another long scoring drive.

JT Murphy’s one-yard touchdown run capped a 10-play, 71-yard drive to give the Sea Kings a 24-0 lead.

Cameron Kormos intercepted Woodbridge quarterback Spencer Weston on the ensuing drive, setting up the Sea Kings on their own 43-yard line.

Five plays later, Garbers threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Reese Perez to make the score 31-0.

Garbers’ night was finished after he connected with Billy Shaw for a 36-yard touchdown, giving the Sea Kings a 38-7 lead.

Junior Nathanial Espinoza came in at quarterback for Corona del Mar, and turned two broken plays into big plays.

The Sea Kings faced a third-and-8 from their 43 when Espinoza scooped up a bad snap and turned it into a 56-yard gain.

On the very next play, the Sea Kings were on the one-yard line when Espinoza had to retrieve another bad snap.

The junior didn’t panic and hit Shaw in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown.

“That’s why he has the back-up job,” O’Shea said. “It’s well deserved. He is a team leader from the junior class. He is going to be dynamite.”

The Sea Kings’ next two games are against Beckman and University.

The PCL is always going to give us everything we can handle,” the coach said.

Pacific Coast League

Corona del Mar 45, Woodbridge 7

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Woodbridge 0-0-7-0 — 7

CdM 7-10-14-14 — 45

FIRST QUARTER

CdM – Murphy 4 run, (Casper kick), 5:09.

SECOND QUARTER

CdM – Casper 3 run, (Casper kick), 9:52.

CdM – FG Casper 42, :49.

THIRD QUARTER

CdM – Murphy 1 run, (Casper kick), 10;23.

CdM – Perez 14 pass from Garber (Casper kick), 7:51.

Wood – Ledoux 9 pass from Weston, (Satchfield kick), 1:26.

FOURTH QUARTER

CdM – Shaw 36 pass from Garber, (Casper kick), 10:36.

CdM – Shaw 1 pass from Espinoza, (Casper kick), 5:09.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

Wood – McBride, 11-92.

CdM – Murphy, 11-86, 2 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

Wood – Weston, 11-20-1-122, 1 TD.

CdM – Garbers, 24-31-0-287, 2 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

Wood – Ledoux, 7-101.

CdM – Shaw 7-99, 2 TDs.