CdM football gets six touchdown passes from David Rasor, advances to Division 3 semifinals
The Temecula Chaparral High football team blew Corona del Mar coach Dan O’Shea away, as he watched five games worth of tape in preparation for Friday night’s CIF Southern Section Division 3 quarterfinal matchup.
“They hung 62 on Thousand Oaks,” O’Shea said. “They punted four times in five games. Crazy.”
O’Shea called the Pumas one of the most talented teams that CdM has faced in the last couple of years. But the Sea Kings also stepped up to the challenge.
Senior quarterback David Rasor threw six touchdown passes to five different receivers in Corona del Mar’s 41-28 win at Davidson Field.
Top-seeded CdM (9-3) will travel for the first time this postseason in the next round, playing at No. 4-seeded Yorba Linda in the Division 3 semifinals. Yorba Linda (12-0) thwarted an all-Sea Kings semifinal matchup by beating Palos Verdes 30-26 in another quarterfinal game.
Chaparral ran a two-quarterback system, with senior Caron Tyler and sophomore Dash Beierly both seeing time. And both liked to run.
Tyler threw for three touchdowns — two to junior receiver Stacy Dobbins — and added another on the ground. But the Sea Kings defense held the Pumas (7-5) to two touchdowns until the very end of the game, when they scored, recovered an onside kick and scored again.
CdM had six quarterback sacks in the game, two each by Brady Sarkesian and Ryan Nielsen.
“We worked this entire week just on flying to the ball,” said CdM senior linebacker Mason Kubichek, who also caught a 60-yard touchdown pass from Rasor. “We know they can break tackles and stuff, so it’s all 11 hats to the ball, every play. We just played chess this week. It schemed up really well, and it worked.”
The Sea Kings were also crisp offensively, punting just once in the contest. Rasor also threw first-half scores to senior receiver Jack Loucks and sophomore tight end Zach Giuliano, staking CdM to a 20-14 halftime lead.
Russell Weir also made a one-handed grab for a score in the third quarter before Rasor’s favorite target, senior receiver Cooper Hoch, got into the scoring column in the fourth quarter.
Hoch hauled in touchdowns of 67 and 33 yards, overcoming defensive pass interference penalties each time. But the balance at receiver was also impressive to him.
“[CdM receivers coach] Kayvan [Aminzadeh] does a great job of getting everybody reps in practice,” Hoch said. “We all push off each other and work hard. Once game time comes, if you’ve got to step up to make a play, you step up to make a play. That’s what everybody did tonight. It was good to see all my boys at receiver ball out.”
CdM’s seniors advanced to the semifinals for the first time as game contributors, though O’Shea noted they were on the sidelines as freshmen during the Sea Kings’ run to a state championship during the undefeated season of 2019.
Replicating that run is on the mind of the class of 2023, too.
“That freshman experience was amazing,” Kubichek said. “We got to see what it was like with [receiver John] Humphreys, [quarterback Ethan] Garbers — all of them. They were great leaders and role models to us. We really want to be leaders as well on our team. It’s kind of coming full circle. We know we’ve got the team for it, we’ve just got to work hard and it will translate to the field.”
O’Shea said he has a ton of respect for CdM’s next opponent, Yorba Linda, which is coached by his good friend Jeff Bailey.
“They play old-school football with incredible discipline, incredible fundamentals and a great scheme,” O’Shea said. “I could not be more proud to be part of an Orange County semifinal.”
Upland will host the winner of Saturday’s game between El Modena and Bishop Diego in the other Division 3 semifinal.
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CIF Southern Section Division 3 playoffs
Quarterfinal
Corona del Mar 41, Chaparral 28
Chaparral 7 – 7 – 0 – 14 — 28
Corona del Mar 6 – 14 – 6 – 15 — 41
FIRST QUARTER
Chap — Tyler 3 run (Martinez kick), 6:34.
CdM — Loucks 11 pass from Rasor (kick blocked), 1:33.
SECOND QUARTER
CdM — Giuliano 5 pass from Rasor (Pene kick), 7:46.
CdM — Kubichek 60 pass from Rasor (Pene kick), 2:08.
Chap — Dobbins 8 pass from Tyler (Martinez kick), 0:00.
THIRD QUARTER
CdM — Weir 20 pass from Rasor (pass failed), 9:24.
FOURTH QUARTER
CdM — Hoch 67 pass from Rasor (Rasor run), 10:59.
CdM — Hoch 33 pass from Rasor (Pene kick), 4:02.
Chap — Dobbins 21 pass from Tyler (Alvarez pass from Tyler), 1:30.
Chap — Long 13 pass from Tyler (pass failed), 0:39.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
Chap — Tyler, 23-77, 1 TD.
CdM — Rasor, 5-48.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
Chap — Beierly, 12-20-1, 145; Tyler, 11-17-0, 95, 3 TDs.
CdM — Rasor, 18-23-0, 306, 6 TDs.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
Chap — Dobbins, 12-109, 2 TDs.
CdM — Hoch, 7-141, 2 TDs.
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