Corona del Mar football strikes quickly in win over Huntington Beach
Both times this calendar year that the Corona del Mar High football team has played Huntington Beach, the Sea Kings were coming off a Sunset League-opening loss to Los Alamitos.
Corona del Mar again made the most of its bounce-back opportunity Friday night at Davidson Field.
Quarterback David Rasor threw four touchdown passes as the Sea Kings romped 35-8 over the Oilers.
The defense was impressive for CdM (6-1, 1-1 in league). The Sea Kings held the Oilers scoreless in their three trips into the red zone and earned two fumble recoveries.
“We’re definitely happy with our performance,” said senior outside linebacker Charlie Mannon, who had three quarterback sacks, recovered a fumble and forced another fumble recovered by senior Dylan Wood.
“We didn’t get the [shutout] we were hoping for, but we’re happy. As a defense, we always want to stay hungry and we always want to stay satisfied. We know we’ve got a big one next week [against Edison], and we’re going to have to play much better than we did tonight.”
CdM, which lost 42-14 to Los Alamitos in its league opener, found itself up just 7-0 late in the first half against a gritty squad from Huntington Beach.
CdM coach Dan O’Shea gave credit to the Oilers (4-3, 1-1) and coach Brett Brown but said the Sea Kings kept getting in their own way.
Jeremy Carpenter had a pair of quarterback sacks for Huntington Beach.
“I think [Rasor] was picking himself up off the ground eight, nine, 10 times,” O’Shea said of the junior, who still managed to complete 18 of 24 passes for 263 yards.
“That was part of the problem. We weren’t great in pass [protection], we had holding penalties and all that garbage. We’ve got to clean it up and get ready for Edison, for sure.”
When CdM struck, however, it struck quickly, scoring three touchdowns in the final three minutes of the first half to take a commanding 28-0 lead.
First it was Rasor finding senior John Tipton on a 55-yard touchdown pass. Tipton did much of the work, catching the pass around midfield and turning on the afterburners.
After a Huntington Beach punt that went minus-five yards, CdM had excellent field position at the Huntington Beach 28-yard line. Three plays later, Rasor found junior running back Evan Sanders on a 20-yard screen pass for a score.
Mannon recovered a fumble on the Oilers’ ensuing drive, before Rasor connected with senior receiver Max Lane on a four-yard touchdown.
“We had little complications in the beginning, but we came back strong in the second quarter,” said Sanders, who also had a rushing touchdown. “Slow start, but we brought that momentum into the [second] half.”
Cooper Hoch also had a second-half touchdown catch for the winners. Huntington Beach got on the scoreboard in the fourth quarter when senior quarterback AJ Perez connected with senior receiver Tyler Moses for a 22-yard strike.
Eli Anderson also blocked and recovered a punt for Huntington Beach, which returns to Davidson Field to play Newport Harbor next Friday.
Henry Eddy had an interception, while senior receiver Hideo Ray contributed six catches for 130 yards.
Wood had a pair of sacks for CdM, which plays Edison on Friday at Huntington Beach High.
Last year, the Chargers outlasted the Sea Kings 44-41 in a four-overtime thriller.
“We always love playing those guys,” Mannon said. “I mean, they’re a hell of a team. They’re just like us, a public school, so it will be really fun. We’re excited.”
Sunset League
Corona del Mar 35, Huntington Beach 8
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Huntington Beach 0 – 0 – 0 – 8 — 8
Corona del Mar 0 – 28 – 7 – 0 — 35
SECOND QUARTER
CdM – Sanders 18 run (Pene kick), 11:05.
CdM – Tipton 55 pass from Rasor (Pene kick), 2:39.
CdM – Sanders 20 pass from Rasor (Pene kick), 1:23.
CdM – Lane 4 pass from Rasor (Pene kick), 0:38.
THIRD QUARTER
CdM – Hoch 9 pass from Rasor (Pene kick), 8:27.
FOURTH QUARTER
HB – Moses 22 pass from Perez (Moses run), 5:30.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
HB– Riederich, 4-12.
CdM – Sanders, 9-81, 1 TD.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
HB– Perez, 11-24-0, 185, 1 TD.
CdM – Rasor, 18-24-0, 263, 4 TDs.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
HB – Ray, 6-130.
CdM – Sanders, 4-85, 1 TD.
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