Corona del Mar tries tackling Coleman

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Corona del Mar, which was beaten last week by El Toro, will get a crack at Troy running back Derrick Coleman, who rushed for 2,340 yards a year ago and added 235 yards last week in a 34-14 victory over Brea Olinda.

‘He’s kind of a slow starter, but once he gets upfield, nobody gets in his way,’ said Dick Freeman, coach at CdM.

Last season, Coleman rushed for 230 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-24 victory over CdM. Troy went on to win its first 12 games before losing in the Southeast Division semifinals.

Freeman says Troy has everything it needs on offense to be successful again this season, including returning quarterback Tyler Swaney, who passed for 14 touchdowns with only one interception. ‘Their offensive line is a little small, but you don’t need much with Coleman,’ Freeman said.

Despite Coleman, CdM’s issues going into this game may have more to do with offense than defense. It failed to score three times near the El Toro goal line in a 20-17 loss to the Chargers, once coming up short on a 25-yard field goal attempt. Ill-timed mistakes were just too costly.

‘I think we’re going to be pretty good, but our biggest problem is when we get inside the 10 -- we have to put points on the board,’ Freeman said. ‘We make the critical mistake. We survived it against Laguna Beach. ... We’re just not good enough to overcome stupid things. We need to play smarter.’

CdM hopes its own running game, which includes senior Tyler Harmon and sophomore J.D. Abbott, will keep Coleman off the field. Freeman is especially excited about Abbott’s long-term benefit to the program. ‘He showed some pretty good stuff against Laguna Beach and ran pretty well against El Toro,’ Freeman said. ‘He runs pretty good and he reads blocks real well. I think he has enough upside to really help us.’

- Martin Henderson