CdM, facing a Trinity League opponent, can’t keep up with JSerra

The talk leading up to Corona del Mar High’s football season opener was who would take over the reins at quarterback.

With the Chase Garbers era over, the Sea Kings planned to use three quarterbacks against JSerra on Friday. There was Nathaniel Espinoza, Erik Zimmerman and Ethan Garbers.

But it was a trio of transfers to JSerra that overshadowed the trio of CdM quarterbacks, resulting in a 45-27 win on the road at renovated Davidson Field.

The McClain brothers from Santa Margarita played well in the first half for their new school. Abdul-Malik, a senior defensive end committed to UCLA, harassed the quarterback, and Munir, his younger sibling, hauled in a 66-yard touchdown pass to spark a 21-0 run.

Add in former Paramount running back Al Fisher’s performance —101 yards and two touchdowns on the ground — and JSerra, ranked No. 7 in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 poll, ran away from CdM.

The Sea Kings, No. 3 in Division 4, faced a Trinity League opponent for the first time. They got a taste of the kind of athletes and talent that is at that level.

Unlike CdM, JSerra had a returning starting quarterback in Matt Robinson. The Montana commit performed at a high level, completing 19 of 30 passes for 340 yards and two touchdowns. Tyler Shimomura had six catches for 118 yards, and Tarik Luckett and Munir McClain almost reached the 100-yard mark receiving, finishing with 97 and 91 yards, respectively.

“I thought offensively we threw the ball pretty well,” Robinson said. “[Munir is] a real good player. He just burned them deep [on the 66-yard touchdown].”

The long play quickly turned a one-point game into a 21-13 lead for JSerra with less than four minutes before halftime.

The Sea Kings couldn’t get closer. They decided to go with Espinoza for almost the entire game. The dual-threat senior was 18 of 29 for 325 yards and two touchdowns, and his favorite target was John Humphreys. The sophomore finished with five receptions for 113 yards and two touchdowns.

“He has definitely shown he can play, as well as Zimmerman, too, but he just had the momentum going,” Humphreys said of Espinoza, who backed up Garbers during last year’s run to the CIF Southern Section Division 4 final.

With a new quarterback, CdM also turned to a new pistol offense at the start.

At times, Espinoza showed off his versatility. He ran for a 14 yards on the opening drive, moving the offense into JSerra territory. He didn’t attempt a pass until his third series. And CdM needed to respond after Fisher broke tackles during a 29-yard rushing touchdown with 2:01 left in the opening quarter.

After going down 7-0, the Sea Kings moved the ball right away. Espinoza went to his safety valve, hitting running back J.T. Murphy for a 24-yard play. The two hooked up again, on a screen pass going for 20 yards and getting CdM into the red zone for the first time.

Espinoza went to his tallest option, the 6-foot-5 Humphreys, on the first two downs from the 18. The first pass was broken up. The second worked, as Espinoza’s fade to Humphreys helped even things up before the first quarter expired.

Then special teams let CdM down.

After forcing a quick three-and-out, two returners let the punt go between them and bounce inside the Sea Kings’ 20-yard line. Instead of starting around the 40-yard line, Jake Haggard’s 58-yard punt backed up CdM.

At this point, CdM went with Zimmerman. The series, the only one for the senior, didn’t go so well. The Sea Kings wound up on their one after an intentional grounding penalty on Zimmerman, and they punted from there.

Shimomura fielded the punt at the 38, and returned it 26 yards. JSerra needed four plays to go ahead. On fourth-and-one, the Lions gave it to fullback Chris Castillo, and he bulldozed in for a three-yard touchdown, the first of his two short-distance scores. JSerra took a 14-7 lead at the 7:25 mark.

The Sea Kings answered almost two minutes later. They ran eight plays, and two of the biggest involved receiver TaeVeon Le, who had four catches for 106 yards. Espinoza finally went Le’s way, and Le caught an 11-yard pass, then a 43-yard strike down the JSerra sideline.

The offense stuck to the ground, finding the end zone on Espinoza’s five-yard run up the middle. The Sea Kings failed to tie it as Max Casper missed the extra-point attempt. They trailed 14-13, and the next 21 points belonged to JSerra, as did the game. The Lions won in Pat Harlow’s head-coaching debut at the school.

For the second straight year, CdM kicked off the season with a lopsided loss.

“I thought offensively we did some really, really good things,” said CdM Coach Dan O’Shea, adding that Espinoza and Zimmerman will still compete for the starting job next week when the Sea Kings play host to Los Gatos. “I could not be more proud of how our kids played against a team from one of the best leagues in America.”

JSerra 45, Corona del Mar 27

JSerra……………….7 14 14 10 — 45

Corona del Mar….7 6 7 7 — 27

FIRST QUARTER

J – Fisher 29 run (Haggard kick), 2:01.

CdM – Humphreys 18 pass from Espinoza (Casper kick), :29.

SECOND QUARTER

J – Castillo 3 run (Haggard kick), 7:25.

CdM – Espinoza 5 run (kick failed), 5:18.

J – M. McClain 66 pass from Robinson (Haggard kick), 3:57.

THIRD QUARTER

J – Castillo 1 run (Haggard kick), 10:22.

J – Fisher 11 run (Haggard kick), 4:38.

CdM – Humphreys 22 pass from Espinoza (Casper kick), :50.

FOURTH QUARTER

J – Luckett 14 pass from Robinson (Haggard kick), 9:43.

CdM – Murphy 3 run (Casper kick), 7:26.

J – Haggard 37 FG, 3:43.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

J – Fisher, 17-101, 2 TDs.

CdM – Murphy, 10-44, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

J – Robinson, 19-30-0, 340, 2 TDs.

CdM – Espinoza, 18-29-0, 325, 2 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

J – Shimomura, 6-118.

CdM – Humphreys, 5-113, 2 TDs.

david.carrillo@latimes.com

Twitter: @ByDCP