CdM football Rasor sharp against Palos Verdes
Corona del Mar High School’s David Rasor has had a crash course in the quarterback position over the last year.
The COVID-19 pandemic meant Rasor had to take over as the starter in his sophomore year without the benefit of spring or summer workouts.
Just months removed from his sophomore season, it now looks like Rasor could teach that course.
The junior quarterback led CdM to a 41-7 nonleague football victory over Palos Verdes on Friday at Davidson Field.
He completed 14 of 16 passes for 217 yards and four touchdowns, adding a running touchdown for good measure.
CdM head coach Dan O’Shea sees a lot more potential in Rasor.
“I cannot imagine a high school quarterback that would have a more sophisticated offense to have to learn,” O’Shea said.
“We were so pleased with him last year, and every week, he’s gotten better and better. You can see him starting to grow and have confidence in the way he plays the game.”
Rasor connected with Max Lane three times for touchdown passes of nine, 59 and 54 yards, respectively. He also found Scott Truninger for a five-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter.
The junior quarterback, who has thrown nine touchdown passes in his last two games for CdM (3-0), enjoys team success over personal accolades.
“We are rolling right now,” Rasor said. “We are getting in the right spots. We are making the right reads and our offensive line is blocking like crazy right now. We are loving it.”
The CdM defense looked strong as well, stifling Palos Verdes (0-2) until the final minutes. Jaden Rosenhain recovered a fumble for CdM. Jake Salmon and Oliver Ayala each added an interception.
Corona del Mar’s defense set it up early when Ayala’s leaping interception at midfield and subsequent 54-yard return set up Rasor at the Palos Verdes 1-yard line. Rasor punched the ball in on the next play for a 7-0 lead after the extra point.
Ayala let the crowd and his team’s energy push him.
“It felt awesome,” Ayala said. “I’m just playing for the guys next to me, and these guys really pumped me up after the interception. They were playing their heart out for me, so I needed to play my heart out for them. I knew we had the energy from the fans and each other.”
From there, Rasor took over.
He threw touchdown passes for CdM’s next four scores to build a 34-0 lead.
Kaleb Annette came in to relieve Rasor midway through the third quarter, throwing a touchdown pass of his own, a nine-yard connection to John Tipton, to finish the CdM scoring.
Palos Verdes only managed three first downs in the first half and just one that did not result from a CdM penalty.
The majority of Palos Verdes’ highlights came on defense. Niko Tsangaris stripped the ball from Collin Pene, stopping what may have been CdM’s third touchdown of the game.
Cole Spanjol also forced an Annette fumble that Johan Van Wier recovered to stop another CdM drive.
Palos Verdes’ lone offensive highlight came off a three-yard touchdown run by Eric Mulkey with 1:32 left in the fourth quarter.
O’Shea told his team their win over Palos Verdes was the “cleanest” they had played against the Sea Kings from the South Bay in a rivalry that has developed over the last half decade.
O’Shea and CdM have had the best of Palos Verdes in that time — their only loss coming in 2016 — but this is the first game that his squad has thoroughly dominated.
“There is an incredible amount of respect between the Sea Kings and the Sea Kings,” O’Shea said.
“They are a physical and extremely successful program. We gauge, ‘Are we tough enough to play them year in and year out?’ We’ve had some really tough, physical games against them. When I say the cleanest, by no means have we ever had a game [against them] in hand in the third quarter.”
::
Nonleague
Corona del Mar 41, Palos Verdes 7
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Corona del Mar 14 – 13 – 14 – 0 — 41
Palos Verdes 0 – 0 – 0 – 7 — 7
FIRST QUARTER
CdM – Rasor 1 run (Pene kick), 7:36.
CdM – Lane 9 pass from Rasor (Pene kick), 3:43.
SECOND QUARTER
CdM – Lane 59 pass from Rasor (kick failed), 11:42.
CdM – Truninger 5 pass from Rasor (Pene kick), 4:12.
THIRD QUARTER
CdM – Lane 53 pass from Rasor (Pene kick), 10:12.
CdM – Tipton 9 pass from Annette (Pene kick), 1:11.
FOURTH QUARTER
PV – Mulkey 3 run (Ryan kick), 1:32.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
CdM – Pene, 11-86.
PV – Shaw, 6-49.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
CdM – Rasor, 14-16-0, 217, 4 TDs.
PV – Shaw, 2-4-0, 40.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
CdM – Lane, 4-131, 3 TDs.
PV – Collins 1-21.
::
Support our sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.
For more sports stories, visit latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/sports or follow us on Twitter @DailyPilotSport.
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.
