He’s Ready for Some Sharp Shooting : Sea Kings: Recovering from a badly cut finger, Todd Kehrli says his passing hand is ready for the season.

Todd Kehrli doesn’t want to point a finger, but to those who believe that his slip of a knife may have left him less of a quarterback, he has something to show.

“As you can see, I can still bend my fingers and move them,” said Kehrli, gripping an imaginary football with his large right hand. “Just so all the reporters know.

“I throw the ball just as well as last year--not that I threw it too well then--but it’s not some crippling disease.”

No, but when Kehrli sliced his passing-hand pinky to the bone at a Saturday afternoon barbecue last fall, he crippled his junior season and Corona del Mar’s chance to defend its consecutive Southern Section championships.

It was the belief that he had failed his teammates that gnawed at Kehrli in the days after surgery to repair the severed tendon.

“It bothered me a lot,” Kehrli said. “People joke around and say ‘Stay away from barbecues’ and stuff. They don’t understand that I let down almost 50 guys plus the coaches and the school.

“It bothers me.”

Kehrli will try to put the pain behind him at 7:30 tonight in Corona del Mar’s opening game against Huntington Beach--his first start since the injury.

“That’s the one reason I want to get this season started,” he said. “I just want to get (reporters) something new to write about. Hopefully for the better, like a good game rather than ‘They lost because Kehrli’s finger wasn’t working properly.’ ”

The newspaper articles that fill his scrapbook are full of predictions of success in college football.

In recruiting lingo, he’s a “blue-chipper” who gets touted in national magazines such as Super Prep, which noted his 6-4, 215-pound frame and said he is “dangerous in the pocket or on the scramble. He can hurt you after you think you’ve got him corralled.”

Kehrli helped the Sea Kings to a Southern Section title his sophomore year, but almost from the beginning, his coaches knew he was something special.

Despite the fact Kehrli had never played a down of organized football, Corona del Mar Coach Dave Holland asked him to play with the varsity as a freshman.

Already well over six feet tall and about 200 pounds, Kehrli had the type of build that they build quarterbacks out of. As the backup to starter Ty Price, Kehrli played in several games but never threw a pass as the Sea Kings rolled to a Southern Section title.

Kehrli struggled when he took over the starting spot as a sophomore, but as he gained experience, his confidence grew and he helped the Sea Kings, the fourth-place team from the Sea View League, win the Division VI title.

After his sophomore season, in which he broke the school’s single-season passing yardage record by throwing for 1,686 yards, Kehrli again started slowly last fall. The Sea Kings lost their first two games but won their next four and then tied Woodbridge.

Kehrli, who had totaled more than 300 of his 827 yards in the first two league games, appeared to be starting to roll, but he wouldn’t pass for another yard that season.

At a friend’s barbecue the Saturday after the Woodbridge game, Kehrli slipped while trying to cut a frozen steak and cut deeply into his right pinky finger.

He immediately knew it was serious. “When you lift it up and bend it and can see the bone and tendon, you usually figure you cut it pretty deep,” he said.

Corona del Mar was able to sneak into the playoffs, but Kehrli was only able to return in the last minute of a 24-17 first-round loss to Brea-Olinda. Kehrli threw two passes, one incomplete and the other intercepted as time ran out.

This summer Kehrli worked to make sure this season ends differently. He practiced with his receivers--including Jason Clark, Jeff Wegener and Gordy Clemons--and sought help from former El Toro Coach Bob Johnson.

Johnson, whose previous three quarterbacks at El Toro--sons Rob and Bret, and Steve Stenstrom--have Division I scholarships, said Kehrli has the size, speed and arm strength to do well in college.

“I certainly don’t want to compare him with the other kids, but he’s definitely a Division I quarterback prospect,” Johnson said. “I know he’s a scholarship kid. I’ve been around it a long time.”

Kehrli has received substantial attention from recruiters and is interested in California, UCLA, Washington and San Diego State. But now he’s concentrating on this season. Holland is confident Kehrli will help the Sea Kings develop.

“Outstanding athletes have an innate ability to make big plays and that’s what he can do,” Holland said.

Kehrli says he’s ready.

“I feel a lot more prepared mentally,” Kehrli said. “I just have a lot more confidence. I think if we play well, we can come out winning right away. This year I don’t want to settle for a slow start.”