Ethan Garbers and John Humphreys keep CdM football undefeated with win over San Clemente
The scenic views of Newport Beach and San Clemente are two destination locations for those who live in and around Orange County.
On Thursday night, the center of the county high school football universe featured both cities in a battle of undefeated teams.
As it has so often in recent seasons, Corona del Mar was able to ride its explosive offense to an impressive victory.
Ethan Garbers completed 31 of 40 passes for 384 yards and four touchdowns, as the host Sea Kings defeated San Clemente 42-21 in a nonleague game at Davidson Field.
John Humphreys made eight catches for 122 yards and three touchdowns for CdM (5-0). Bradley Schlom had 10 receptions for 159 yards and a touchdown, and Mark Redman made seven catches for 71 yards. Riley Binnquist also gained 47 yards and scored once on the ground.
“We really showed that we could play with anybody out there,” Garbers said. “Our [mission] statement is to be the best public team in Orange County and to play our best every night.
“We played very well tonight, but we had a couple of mistakes. I think coach [Dan O’Shea] said that we had like 16 penalties for 160 yards tonight. That’s awful. We’re not going to win games with those types of penalties.”
CdM, which is ranked third in the CIF Southern Section Division 3 poll, will open its Sunset League title defense on Oct. 3 at Huntington Beach (1-4).
The start of each half went the Sea Kings’ way, and it would be enough for CdM to gain the separation it needed to come away with a comfortable victory.
Coming out of the halftime locker room, CdM rattled off 14 straight points for the second time in the game. Garbers connected with Humphreys four times for 51 yards, including a four-yard touchdown on the first drive of the second half.
“I remember Lou Holtz back in the Notre Dame games always talked about the first possession of the second half is what sets the tone for that half,” O’Shea said. “If we could be successful after a penalty … we were first-and-15 after the holding penalty, [and to] go down and score, and I think that really deflates a team, especially a long drive like that. It set the tone for the second half.”
Kevin Ledezma then broke the game open on special teams, blocking a punt and recovering it in the end zone to give CdM a 35-14 advantage at the 7:04 mark of the third quarter. Ledezma added two sacks in the second half.
The Sea Kings got the start they wanted with a defensive turnover right away. Zack Green stripped James Bohls of the ball on the first play from scrimmage and recovered the fumble.
A dead-ball penalty sent the ball back to the Sea Kings 35, but it proved merely a formality for the high-powered CdM offense. Garbers pushed the ball down the field, connecting with Redman four times on the drive for 53 yards.
Humphreys got the Sea Kings on the board first, going up over Nick Billoups for a catch in the right corner of the end zone that resulted in a two-yard touchdown.
Humphreys said he felt “100 percent” after having a procedure done to have cartilage removed from his knee last week. He looked healthy with Garbers looking his direction around the goal line.
“We like to use our strengths to our advantage,” Humphreys said. “When we get down on the goal line, we feel like we outmatch little corner[backs], so it’s kind of 50-50 balls. We work on them a lot, so we’ve gotten pretty good at them over the years.”
Neither offense could be stopped in the second quarter, as touchdowns were scored on four consecutive possessions. Binnquist had a tough 10-yard run to get the Sea Kings down to the Tritons one, and he was rewarded with the goal-line carry on third-and-goal for the short-yardage score.
San Clemente (5-1) turned the keys to the offense over to Billoups after falling behind 14-0. On his first pass of the night, Billoups found Bentley Redden for a 42-yard gain. He finished the drive with a five-yard touchdown to Cole Batson on a wide receiver screen to the left of his offensive line.
Garbers came back with a beautiful deep ball to Schlom, who beat three San Clemente defenders for a 49-yard touchdown to put CdM up 21-7.
Billoups answered with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Preston Rex with 33 seconds remaining in the second quarter, and he finished the half by picking off Garbers in the end zone.
Nonleague
Corona del Mar 42, San Clemente 21
SCORE BY QUARTERS
San Clemente 0 – 14 – 7 – 0 — 21
Corona del Mar 7 – 14 – 14 – 7 — 42
FIRST QUARTER
CdM – Humphreys 2 pass from Garbers (Voorhees kick), 6:29.
SECOND QUARTER
CdM – Binnquist 1 run (Voorhees kick), 10:00.
SC – Batson 5 pass from Billoups (Thompson kick), 6:11.
CdM – Schlom 49 pass from Garbers (Voorhees kick), 4:15.
SC – Rex 12 pass from Billoups (Thompson kick), :33.
THIRD QUARTER
CdM – Humphreys 4 pass from Garbers (Voorhees kick), 8:22.
CdM – Ledezma punt block (Voorhees kick), 7:04.
SC – Smith 13 pass from Joseph (Thompson kick), 2:34.
FOURTH QUARTER
CdM – Humphreys 5 pass from Garbers (Voorhees kick), 9:31.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
SC – Bohls, 7-35.
CdM – Garbers, 5-50.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
SC – Joseph, 13-21-0, 131.
CdM – Garbers, 31-40-1, 384, 4 TDs
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
SC – Smith, 8-111, 1 TD.
CdM – Schlom, 10-159, 1 TD.
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