High School Football: CdM pulls away in Battle of the Bay
The only ball Chase Garbers lost in the Battle of the Bay football game came when he dropped back to pass for the first time in the second half. He fumbled and the turnover helped Newport Harbor High cut Corona del Mar’s lead to one.
The miscue fired up Garbers. Three of the next five passes the senior completed went for long touchdowns.
The Cal-bound quarterback lit up the Sailors on Friday, throwing 34-, 57- and 61-yard touchdowns in the second half. The Sea Kings blew out Newport Harbor, 41-13, at Orange Coast College, giving them four straight wins in the rivalry.
One week Garbers is throwing three touchdowns to wide receiver TaeVeon Le, and the next he is hooking up for three scores with Billy Shaw. The Sailors tried to double team Le, who set a CdM single-game record for receiving yards (234) last week, leaving Shaw in single coverage.
Garbers, who completed 12 of 14 passes for 277 yards and five touchdowns, targeted Shaw. The senior receiver finished with seven catches for 175 yards. His two second-half touchdown receptions, which went for 34 and 57 yards, turned a close game into a rout.
“Bill Shaw balled out tonight,” Garbers said. “They left Billy one-on-one, which is not a good sign for any defense.”
The 55th edition of the Back Bay rivalry easily went to CdM (3-1), ranked No. 6 in the CIF Southern Section Division 4 poll. The ranked opponent is the first of four straight for Newport Harbor (2-1).
Next week for the Sailors is Los Altos, ranked No. 5 in Division 6. After that is Manhattan Beach Mira Costa, No. 6 in Division 6, and then the Sunset League opener with Edison, the top-ranked team in Division 3. Newport Harbor was in the first test against a ranked team, only down, 14-13, early in the second half, and then CdM outscored the hosts, 27-0.
“For a while [we were in it],” said Newport Harbor Coach Jeff Brinkley, whose program still leads the series with CdM, 38-17. “We let them hit a couple of slants and the kid [Shaw] broke it, and that kind of wiped it out.
“We’ve got to learn to play with teams like this because the teams in our league are equal to or better than these guys. They’re probably going to be in the league next year.”
The Sea Kings, the four-time reigning Pacific Coast League champions, have one more nonleague contest before they open league. They play host to Trabuco Hills at Jim Scott Stadium on Sept. 30.
The Sea Kings did a good job against Newport Harbor running back Cole Kinder. The senior rushed 26 times for 124 yards and one touchdown.
The first six plays from scrimmage featured Kinder. He ran it five times for 24 yards, moving the chains twice, and caught a pass for three yards. After CdM linebacker Teddy Barber tackled Kinder for a one-yard loss, Newport Harbor tried to go to someone other than Kinder. On third-and-eight on CdM’s 40-yard line, quarterback Sam Barela threw a long pass to Levi Hooper, but it went out of bounds. The Sailors punted, and CdM took over just inside its 20-yard line.
The Sea Kings wasted no time in striking first. Their four plays all went for 16 or more yards. Garbers hit Shaw for a 17-yard pass, running back JT Murphy busted for a 16-yard run, and then Shaw made a spectacular one-handed, 28-yard grab.
With CdM on the Sailors’ 20, Garbers went back to Murphy. This time on a screen pass to the left, and Murphy ran in untouched to complete the scoring drive in 70 seconds.
While CdM scored in a hurry, Newport Harbor was more methodical. The offense started on its 20 and it ran 15 plays, nine of which were handoffs to Kinder for 32 yards. The key plays came through the air. Barela found receiver Dayne Chalmers on passes resulting in first downs, the first on third-and-nine went for 20 yards and the second one on fourth-and-four went for eight yards and got the Sailors inside CdM’s 20-yard line.
Late in the opening quarter, Newport Harbor had to settle for a 30-yard field goal by Chandler Siemonsma. Field goals are all CdM’s defense allowed in the first half.
After Jaydin Moses and Murphy combined to gash the defense for 53 yards on six runs during CdM’s second possession in the second quarter, Garbers aired the ball out. He found Shaw, hitting him in stride for a 19-yard touchdown. The Sea Kings took a 14-3 lead midway through the second.
Newport Harbor got inside the Sea Kings’ 15-yard line for the second time in as many quarters. Barela connected with Hooper on a 43-yard pass. The only problem was finishing the drive, as the Sailors brought on Siemonsma again. He converted a 34-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 14-6.
With less than four minutes left before halftime, CdM got the ball and it went to work. The Sea Kings reached the opponent’s 35-yard line with 2:17 left, and then a holding penalty and an intentional grounding penalty on CdM put the offense in a tough spot. No team, not even CdM, can move the chains facing a third-and-30 near midfield.
The first half ended with the Sailors only down eight points. A turnover by CdM four minutes into the second half helped Newport Harbor’s cause.
Alex Michaelsen, a defensive end, stripped Garbers and lineman Spencer Blake came up with the fumble for the Sailors on CdM’s 27. The Sailors’ crowd erupted, and Kinder gave the fans more to cheer about on first down. Kinder rushed to the right and beat the defense down the sideline for a 27-yard touchdown.
Instead of trying a two-point conversion to even things up at 14-14, the Sailors decided to bring on the kicker, Ethan Schroeder. He made the PAT and Newport Harbor trailed, 14-13, with about 8½ minutes remaining in the third quarter.
The rest of the third belonged to CdM. The Sea Kings ran right at the defense. They used Moses, who rushed 12 times for 86 yards. They used Murphy, who rushed 13 times for 89 yards. They even used Garbers, who ripped off a 48-yard run right after the Sailors got within one on the scoreboard.
The run, coupled by a personal foul penalty on the Sailors, put CdM on Newport Harbor’s 18. Three plays later, Moses was in the end zone on an eight-yard run, allowing CdM to take a 21-13 lead.
Newport Harbor faced a tough decision on its next drive. The offense had a fourth-and-two situation on its 40-yard line, and Barela tried to draw the defense offside. The Sea Kings didn’t bite, and the Sailors punted.
“We weren’t stopping them at that point,” Brinkley said was the reason why he decided not to go for it on fourth down. “If we would’ve given them the ball [in our territory], they would’ve punched it in. Then they would’ve broken our backs.”
Garbers did break the Sailors with his right arm.
The longest of his five touchdowns was the one to Le midway through the fourth quarter. He heaved it 50 yards to Le, whose outstretched hands hauled in the ball near the 15-yard line and he raced in to complete the 61-yard score.
“They were playing Cover 2, and he’s putting the ball in windows you’re not supposed to be able to fit in,” CdM Coach Dan O’Shea said of Garbers, who also rushed nine times for 75 yards.
The Sea Kings’ four-game winning streak over the Sailors is only the second time that has happened in the series. The other successful run was from 1985-88.
“[That’s impressive], especially as good as that football program is,” O’Shea said. “Jeff Brinkley [and his staff] does an amazing job. We were fortunate just to make a few plays in the passing game that kind of broke it open.”
Battle of the Bay
Corona del Mar 41, Newport Harbor 13
SCORE BY QUARTERS
CdM 7 – 7 – 13 – 14 — 41
Newport 3 – 3 – 7 – 0 — 13
FIRST QUARTER
CdM – Murphy 20 pass from Garbers (Casper kick), 7:03.
NH – Siemonsma 30 FG, :12.
SECOND QUARTER
CdM – Shaw 19 pass from Garbers (Casper kick), 6:11.
NH – Siemonsma 34 FG, 3:50.
THIRD QUARTER
NH – Kinder 27 run (Schroeder kick), 8:29.
CdM – Moses 8 run (Casper kick), 6:37.
CdM – Shaw 34 pass from Garbers (kick failed), 1:00.
FOURTH QUARTER
CdM – Shaw 57 pass from Garbers (Casper kick), 10:57.
CdM – Le 61 pass from Garbers (Casper kick), 6:19.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
CdM – Murphy, 13-89.
NH – Kinder, 26-124, 1 TD.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
CdM – Garbers, 12-14-0, 277, 5 TDs.
NH – Barela, 9-17-0, 88.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
CdM – Shaw, 7-175, 3 TDs.
NH – Hooper, 3-43.
