PREP FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS / CENTRAL CONFERENCE : Corona del Mar’s Defense Breaks Down Troy, 28-7

When things are going good, even your mistakes can pay off.

And everything is going good for Corona del Mar High School, which advanced to the quarterfinals of the Central Conference playoffs Friday night.

The Sea Kings, who lost their first four games this season, have won five straight after beating Troy, 28-7, in front of 1,700 at Davidson Field.

Corona del Mar will face Valencia, a 27-0 winner over Santiago, next Friday.

Even before Friday’s game got under way, the Sea Kings (6-5) made a technical mistake. Troy won the toss, but deferred. Corona del Mar choose to kick off anyway.

“I told our captains what goal to defend if we lost the toss,” Corona del Mar Coach Dave Holland said. “They thought I wanted us to be on defense first. It all worked out anyway.”

In fact, it worked out perfectly.

On the second play of the game, the Sea Kings’ Jeff Blower stripped the ball from running back Mark Stitcher. Jeff Clark recovered the fumble to give Corona del Mar possession at the Troy 28-yard line.

Matt Patterson, who rushed for 51 yards in 16 carries, capped an 8-play drive with a 2-yard touchdown run. Pat Callaghan’s conversion gave the Sea Kings a 7-0.

Troy (4-7) never recovered from the turnover, as its offense was smothered by the Sea Kings for more than three quarters.

The Warriors didn’t get their initial first down until 10 minutes 52 seconds remained in the third quarter.

Corona del Mar, which has given up just 10 points in the last four games, yielded 187 yards in total offense. The Warriors gained 93 of those yards on a fourth-quarter drive, which ended in a 14-yard touchdown pass from Brad Zeppieri to Robbie Russell.

By then it was too late, as Sea Kings’ quarterback Matt Melbon threw for two touchdowns in the first half and another in the third quarter to help build a 28-0 lead.

“Our defense won the game for us tonight, as usual,” Holland said.

“There were no one standout or standouts. It was a team effort, the same way we’ve been doing it for 20 years.”

Melbon, who completed 9 of 10 passes for 171 yards, hit Kevin Maas on a crossing pattern for a 36-yard touchdown pass with 0:59 left in the first quarter. He teamed up with Maas again on a quick screen for a 43-yard touchdown pass with 3:28 left in the half. Melbon threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Thomason with 8:04 left in the third quarter.