Prep Friday : Division VI Football Championships : Corona del Mar’s Ty Price Puts His Doubters to Rest

At the start of the season, quarterback Ty Price was the question mark of Corona del Mar High School’s football team.

Because Price had no varsity experience at quarterback--he was a cornerback last season--many questioned his ability not only to pass and run, but to lead.

Price’s answer to all this? He has guided Corona del Mar to an 11-0-2 record.

From a question mark has come an exclamation point.

Price has shown he can throw--he has completed 106 of 213 passes for 1,248 yards and 9 touchdowns. He has been intercepted 6 times.

He can run--last week he made several impressive cuts scrambling to gains of 14 and 15 yards.

And he can lead. Just ask his teammates which player has been primarily responsible for leading them into tonight’s Southern Section Division VI championship game against defending champion Valencia.

“We owe it all to our quarterback,” said Jeff Clark, whom Price hit on a 34-yard scoring pass to lift the Sea Kings to a 14-7 semifinal victory over Pacifica last Friday.

“He’s pulled us through the entire playoffs. Without him, we could not have done it.”

Price, quarterback of the sophomore team that won a Sea View League championship in 1986, became a defensive back last season while then-seniors Kurt Ehman and Mitch Melbon fought for the starting quarterback position.

Last spring, Corona del Mar Coach Dave Holland told Price he would start at quarterback this season.

“Some people had doubts about me, I know,” Price said. “I heard all this ‘Can he do it?’ or ‘Will he be all right?’

“But I didn’t really think about it. I knew I was dedicated, and I knew I’d do whatever I had to in practice until I got it right.”

There is little question that Price, the starting setter on the Sea King volleyball team, has exceptional athletic ability, but there was some concern about his ability to cope with varsity pressure.

Price has.

“I think that’s his key,” Holland said. “From the beginning of the year, I think it was important for Ty to power through (the pressure). He did that very well.

“And then, during a (midseason) slump, he was able to bear down under the pressure. He withstood it and got better.”

“I think, in the end, that pressure may have helped him. Because now that we’re in the playoffs, he’s real loose.”

That will be a must against Valencia (12-0-1), the top-seeded team in Division VI. The Tigers eliminated Corona del Mar, 17-6, in last year’s quarterfinals.

Price knows he’ll have to be especially wary of the Valencia secondary. Cornerbacks Kevin Thomas and Scott Wilson and safeties Guy Shepard and Randy Roskelly make up one of the toughest backfields in the county.

And Valencia’s all-Southern Section linebacker Steve Rangel is back in the starting lineup after missing the past two games with a knee infection.

“I’ve only seen (Valencia) on films,” Price said. “They’re well coached, with good players . . . but I think we have those things too, you know.”