ORANGE COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL / PREP EXTRA : DIVISION V : Corona del Mar Makes Best of Second Chance

Corona del Mar was a team in turmoil the last time it played Kennedy.

Now, it’s a team in the Southern Section semifinals.

Ten weeks after then-Coach Mark Schuster was arrested on molestation charges and the Sea Kings lost to Kennedy in the final minutes, Corona del Mar beat the Fighting Irish, 28-0, in front 1,800 Friday at Orange Coast College.

Tom O’Meara rushed for 212 yards and two touchdowns.

Corona del Mar will play Servite on Friday. The Friars beat Santa Ana Valley, 26-6.

“[That] was a tough week,” tight end Darren MacDonald said, “but there’s no excuse for losing. But it’s great just to get a second chance against a team that beat you.”

The last time they played, Kennedy got an 81-yard touchdown run from Darin Martineau with 3 minutes 2 seconds left in the game and a 17-10 victory.

Friday, Martineau didn’t even gain 81 yards.

The Sea King defense stopped him for nine carries for 50 yards.

It was part of an overwhelming effort against a Kennedy offense that ran only 20 plays in the first half and 40 in the game. Corona del Mar ran 42 plays in the first half alone.

Kennedy totaled 132 yards--41 rushing. The Sea Kings gained 347.

“Our defense played great,” Kennedy Coach Mitch Olson said, “but our offense didn’t do anything. They wore us down in the second half. They’re a lot bigger than we are, but we couldn’t get them off the field. Offensively, we couldn’t get going.”

That wearing down process was evident.

Corona del Mar’s first scoring drive, on its first possession of the second half, covered 42 yards in seven plays with Scott Shimer going in from the three-yard line.

It was the first carry by anyone other than O’Meara or quarterback Josh Walz.

Keane, who missed four field-goal attempts in the first half, added the first of four point-afters in the second for a 7-0 lead with 3:53 left in the third quarter.

Corona del Mar scored three times in the fourth quarter with O’Meara busting through a weary defense.

He completed a 65-yard drive with a 22-yard run when he ran through an arm tackle by safety Garrett Sabol--a rarity.

He followed that with another score 3:16 seconds later, a 12-yard run that capped a 40-yard drive after Kennedy had failed to convert a fourth and two from its own 40.

Two penalties on the point-after--roughing the kicker and a personal foul--had Corona del Mar kicking off from the Kennedy 40. They recovered the short kick at the 16 and scored two plays later on Shimer’s three-yard run.

Corona del Mar overcame 138 yards in penalties (13 for 138); Kennedy committed eight for 93, including seven in the second half.

“We won because we had a great second-half effort,” said interim Coach Dick Freeman.

“We’ve been doing that all year. I’m not sure we can keep doing it; I would kinda like to see a good first half.”