Sea King Defense Stops Brea

One seldom sees two underdog teams battling in the Southern Section quarterfinals.

But Corona del Mar High, which received a wild-card bid into the playoffs, ousted Brea-Olinda, which learned it was in only two days prior to its first-round game, from the Division VI quarterfinals Friday with a 10-0 victory.

Corona del Mar (9-3), the fourth-place team in the Sea View League, will take on Sunny Hills, which eliminated Tustin, 21-0, next Saturday.

“This is a good football team,” Sea King Coach Dave Holland said. “We’ve had some setbacks, but we’re as healthy as we can be, and are playing as good as we should be.

“The seniors have been there,” Holland said, “so it’s not as big a deal for them. This is their chance to repeat.”

The Sea Kings took to the air in the first half (78 passing yards, 31 rushing), stayed on the ground in the second half (82 rushing yards, 44 passing), and at one point held the Wildcats (9-3) back for more than four minutes straight inside the 10-yard line.

After a scoreless first quarter, Brea made it to the 10-yard line with 9:30 left in the half. Five plays and five yards later, Marco Hernandez made a 23-yard field goal, but a roughing the kicker penalty erased the score, putting the ball inside the 3, where the Sea Kings held the Wildcats, then recovered a fumble on the 2-yard line.

With 53 seconds left in the second quarter, Sea King Jerrott Willard’s successful 26-yard field goal gave Corona del Mar a slight 3-0 lead at halftime.

“They stopped us, took the ball, went down, scored three points and that was the difference,” Wildcat Coach Jon Looney said. “Their kids did a great job, and held us down.”

The Sea Kings scored in their first possession of the second half, when quarterback Todd Kehrli hit Jeff Jackson with a four-yard pass over the defense, straight through the middle. Kehrli, who ended the evening 11 for 18 with a touchdown and an interception, had no trouble finding Jackson for four receptions--the two are the tallest in the Sea Kings’ lineup, at 6 feet, 4 inches.

The Wildcats had a depressing fourth quarter--the offense had done its work perhaps too well. Marlow faked a handoff that was so successful that the an official blew his whistle, thinking the ball was down, while Marlow was going back to pass--for the second time in the game. He was then sacked for a 10-yard loss.

“I warned them before the game that was going to happen,” Looney said.