Corona del Mar Cashes In on Walz’s Double Threat : Division V: Senior quarterback, who hurts teams with his passing and running, has led the Sea Kings into the semifinals.

Corona del Mar’s Josh Walz remembers last year, a game against Newport Harbor. It was a 7-6 loss in Week 7.

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But the score’s not important. Neither is the fumbled snap that followed the play that stands out in Walz’s mind.

It happened at the end of the game. As he recollects, he broke off about a 40-yard run.

“Our team couldn’t move the ball, we were down, and it was the first time I had really stepped up and made a play--that’s what made it special to me,” Walz said. “When I was a sophomore, I remember thinking, ‘These guys are so much better than me.’ I worked so hard to compete, just to be average. But last year and this year, I think, ‘Yeah, I can play with these guys.’ ”

With the big play came confidence. And with the confidence came a willingness “to go out on a limb to make the big play.”

That’s why Corona del Mar is playing Servite tonight in the Southern Section Division V semifinals at Cal State Fullerton. Walz has made big plays. A lot of them. Not all are touchdowns. Some are as simple as escaping a pass rush.

As Larry Toner puts it, “It’s obvious he’s the money man.”

Toner, the Servite coach, is hoping Walz doesn’t cash in against the Friars.

“When the job has to be done, on third and eight, he drops to pass and he finds the way to get nine yards,” Toner said. “He may not get 45, but they get the next series. He has the knack of scoring when it’s tight. He’s not a hog--O’Meara has plenty of TDs.”

Tom O’Meara, Corona del Mar’s running back, has scored 18 touchdowns this season. So, no, Walz isn’t a ball hog. He is a short, strong-armed kid with a fiery attitude and a competitive nature. And a good set of wheels.

“He’s an unusual combination,” Toner said. “A good passer but a very strong runner. He’s not your normal quarterback in that an arm tackle will bring him down.”

Walz is more like a halfback. He has rushed 116 times for 697 yards--6.0 per carry--and 10 touchdowns. He has completed 60% of his passes--97 for 161--for 1,388 yards and twice as many touchdowns, 12, as interceptions. He’ll hit tacklers as often as they’ll hit him.

He is one of the county’s most dangerous quarterbacks because he’s so unpredictable. Mitch Olson, Kennedy’s coach, thought Corona del Mar’s most dangerous play was Walz rolling out of the pocket, and the second-most dangerous play was Walz scrambling.

“One game, he had a scramble of about 60 yards total but he ran about 120 during it,” Corona del Mar Coach Dick Freeman said. “It was a heck of a scramble--he went from sideline to sideline, faked a guy into the air 20 yards downfield like he was going to pass and the guy jumped, broke a couple of tackles. . . . “

There is a pause of amazement at the end of the sentence.

Walz is listed 5 feet 11 inches but says he’s only 5-10. He says he scrambles sometimes because he can’t see over the offensive line.

“He’s a great athlete--he’s real competitive and has a super attitude,” Freeman said. “He understands that you need to work hard, that there are a lot of things you have to do in order to succeed, and he’s willing to do that.”

His older brother, J.R., had a successful career as a running back, rushing 1,377 yards (5.4 per carry) and a school-record 16 touchdowns during Josh’s sophomore season.

“There’s a little pressure on me to be a good player, too,” Walz said. “There’s some pressure to match his awards. I never was really jealous . . . But I thought that I needed to equal what he did.”

And he has left his own legacy at Corona del Mar.

“He plays above his ability all the time,” Freeman said.

Walz was named the Sea View League’s most valuable player.

“He makes us better,” Freeman said, “because of his ability to make something out of nothing.”