CdM football sinks Santa Barbara behind big night from Tucker Murray

Tucker Murray’s explosive performance in Corona del Mar’s romp Friday night over Santa Barbara masked some particularly pesky issues the Sea Kings must conquer if they’re going to be what they believe they can be.

Murray was electric, sprinting to touchdowns on 84-yard punt and 100-yard interception returns, nearly doing so on an 85-yard kickoff return, and hauling in a bomb for another score that somehow didn’t count in a 37-7 triumph at Newport Harbor’s Davidson Field.

It was over by halftime and tighter than the score suggests as big plays — all over the field — and efficiency in limiting the Dons’ potent passing game had CdM (2-0) in command throughout, but penalties took a toll, costing the Sea Kings two touchdowns and a shutout.

Luca DiNapoli threw for 167 yards and a long touchdown to JJ Haley on just seven completions, Trejan Nixon carved through the Dons’ defense for 72 yards and a score on eight first-half carries, and CdM took advantage of two punt-return miscues for touchdowns.

Murray, a senior receiver and safety, touched the ball five times, totaling 335 yards, and would have scored on four of them with better fortune.

“I told you, he’s a dude ...,” CdM coach Kevin Hettig said when it was over. “He’s a big play waiting to happen.”

Five big plays, four of them gargantuan:

• A 17-yard sweep to nearly midfield on the Sea Kings’ second snap of the game, a key gain in a brisk, 88-yard drive for a 6-0 start.

• The punt return from the 16 on the third play of the second quarter, following sophomore Nate Rothman’s block and slipping past defenders to break free at midfield toward a 13-0 advantage.

• A leap into the end zone — but called down at the 2 — after pulling down DiNapoli’s 51-yard bomb on CdM’s next possession, ultimately rewarded with Chuck Naylor’s second field goal of the season.

• The 85-yard sprint up the right sideline with the second-half kickoff, derailed by Ben Medina’s diving trip-up at the 10 and leading to nothing.

• The goal-line interception and “got-to-be” record return for a 30-0 advantage with a little more than four minutes to go in the third quarter.

“It’s a night to remember, that’s for sure,” said Murray, an All-Bravo League first-teamer last season with offers from Princeton and the Naval Academy. “It’s not done yet, either. Going to celebrate with the boys.”

The would-be touchdown midway through the second quarter confounded the Sea Kings, who saw Murray get behind the Dons’ secondary, make the catch, then land in the end zone as he was hit from behind.

Hettig said he “thought he was in there,” and Murray says he was, but accepted fate.

“I was in the end zone, but that’s for the refs to say,” he said. “[The referee] was saying I was a yard short ... I mean, the refs, they do a really good job out here, and it’s hard for them to come out here, so I’ve got to respect their work, too.”

Murray called the punt return touchdown “the best feeling in the world, hearing everyone cheer for you and hugging your teammates after.” The kickoff return showed “I got to get up to speed,” and the interception return, “that’s the standard. I mean, once you get the ball in your hands, you got to score.”

Nixon, a speedy junior critical to the Sea Kings’ pass-run balance, gained 20 yards on their first offensive play and broke three tackles on the 16-yard run to finish that first drive. He went down after a hard, low hit late in the second quarter, carried the ball three times on the second half’s initial drive — the second a 4-yard touchdown, wiped out by a holding penalty, two plays after Murray’s kickoff return — and was on the sideline the rest of the way.

“He was ready to go, but when we’re up 23 [points] like that, we’re just not going to go bang him,” Hettig said. “And we’ve got a couple other backs we need to get work.”

Haley’s 42-yard score, one play after Asher Rothman forced and recovered a punt-return fumble, made it 23-0 at halftime. J.D. Annett added a fourth-quarter touchdown on a keeper four plays after sophomore Mason Anderson collected a rolling punt that skimmed off a Dons player.

Santa Barbara (0-2) was efficient early behind quarterback Griffin Arnold, who made an unexpectedly quick return after missing most of last season with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. They marched inside the CdM 30 on their first two possessions but got nothing from it, and the Sea Kings stepped up their defensive pressure behind Arshan Habibi, Michael Reznik and Dylan Nichols, whose 11-yard sack halted the second drive.

Not everything went well. Corona del Mar had more second-half yards in penalties (95) than on offense (68), 80 of them in a 13-play sequence that killed the opening second-half possession, then enabled the Dons to get from their 12-yard line to the Sea Kings’ 26.

“So much good, so much bad,” said Hettig, whose team faces Edison on Thursday, followed by the Battle of the Bay showdown with Newport Harbor leading toward a Bravo League gauntlet. “So much to clean up. We have to clean that stuff up. We’re going to get beat by some football teams [if we don’t fix it]. We’re going to lose some games because of that.”

Better now than later.

“It seems cliché to say, but I think it’s a good thing that happened tonight,” Murray said. “Early in the season, we’re going to get penalties, and then we’re going to erase those penalties, and we’re going to come out and dominate some of these teams coming up.”

Nonleague

Corona del Mar 37, Santa Barbara 7

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Santa Barbara 0 - 0 - 0 - 7 — 7

Corona del Mar 6 - 17 - 7 - 7 — 37

FIRST QUARTER

CdM — Nixon 16 run (kick blocked), 4:16.

SECOND QUARTER

CdM — Murray 84 punt return (Dodge kick), 10:54.

CdM — Naylor 25 FG, 4:27.

CdM — Haley 42 pass from DiNapoli (Naylor kick), 0:53.

THIRD QUARTER

CdM — Murray 100 interception return (Dodge kick), 4:14.

FOURTH QUARTER

SB — Rabb Preston 16 run (Mault kick), 10:59.

CdM — Annett 8 run (Dodge kick), 5:55.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

SB — Rabb Preston, 12-57, 1 TD; Haas, 9-43; Hoover, 1-(-9); Arnold 2-(-18).

CdM — Nixon, 11-80, 1 TD; Brengel, 3-18; Murray, 1-15; Perisi, 4-14; Annett, 1-8, TD; Paolone, 1-1; DiNapoli, 2-(-4).

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

SB — Arnold, 24-41-1, 227.

CdM — DiNapoli, 7-12-0, 167, 1 TD; Annett, 2-3-0, 6 .

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

SB — Congdon, 8-79; Mault, 5-63; Rabb Preston, 6-46; Meister, 2-19; Roessler, 2-14; Hoover, 1-6.

CdM — Haley, 2-55, 1 TD; Murray, 1-51; Scott, 2-49; Paolone, 3-17; Perisi, 1-1.