High School Football Player of the Week: Corona del Mar’s Thomas Bouda lowers the boom
Skills players score points and grab headlines, but no matter how gaudy their numbers are, they will tell you that their success starts up front.
The Corona del Mar High football team saw bigger teams across from them throughout the postseason, but that was no reason to count out the Sea Kings.
Leading the way was Thomas Bouda, the Sunset League Offensive Lineman of the Year. The left tackle protected the blind side of Washington-bound quarterback Ethan Garbers.
In middle school, Bouda attended an introductory weight-lifting camp that ushered in the next class of CdM football players.
“After every lift, I remember coach [Dan] O’Shea came here, and we would do 16 pushups and 16 situps every day [because] 16 is the ultimate number,” Bouda said. “It takes 16 games to win a CIF State title, so we would preach that every single day here, starting from eighth grade to now.”
As a junior at CdM, Bouda paved the way to the Sea Kings’ latest state championship run.
The Sea Kings went 16-0 for the second time in program history, capping the season with a 35-27 win over San Mateo Serra in the CIF State Division 1-A final on Saturday at Cerritos College.
The Sea Kings hold off the Padres 35-27 to win the CIF State Division 1-A championship as quarterback Ethan Garbers sets the CIF Southern Section record for TD passes in a season.
Bouda said the Sea Kings had a tremendous amount of buy-in as a program. The offensive line of Bouda, left guard Max Farzine, center Tanner Tomlinson, right guard Hunter Schimmelpfennig and right tackle Vincent Provenza kept Garbers upright and on the path to a record-setting season.
Garbers’ 71 touchdown passes are a CIF Southern Section single-season record.
While much of the attention goes to players outside of the battle of the trenches, Bouda never needed to be sold on playing offensive line.
“I think being an offensive lineman is pretty cool,” Bouda said. “You take a lot of pride in that. We do all of the dirty work, and we just grind. We have to be the hardest working players on the team. We keep Ethan healthy, and we give him a chance to throw the ball to John [Humphreys], Mark [Redman], Bradley [Schlom] and Simon [Hall].”
At 6-foot-3 and 245 pounds, Bouda is not a particularly large offensive lineman, but he has other attributes that make him effective.
“He is definitely one of our stronger guys, and to go with his strength is his athleticism,” Sea Kings offensive coordinator Kevin Hettig said. “He is in the top five of every major lift category that we have.
“It’s not just his strength. It’s his quickness and his explosiveness. His athleticism, for how big he is, is unique. He is able to execute his assignment so much more dominantly because of his speed and athleticism.”
Hettig added that the coaching staff made knee braces optional this season. Fortune favored the brave in this scenario, as the Sea Kings did not incur any major knee injuries while gaining quickness and flexibility.
Ethan Garbers throws for four touchdowns and runs for three scores, leading the top-seeded Sea Kings to a 56-28 win over the No. 2 Lancers on Friday to avenge last year’s CIF Southern Section Division 4 final loss.
The Sea Kings’ playoff run included a 56-28 win over Simi Valley Grace Brethren in the CIF Southern Section Division 3 championship game at Davidson Field on Nov. 29. It was completed two weeks later, with Bouda and the offensive line giving Garbers time and holes to make plays.
If pancake blocks are an offensive lineman’s first love, run blocking downfield is a close second. Garbers had a career-high 142 rushing yards in the state title game, including 139 of them in the first half, and a two-yard touchdown run.
“He likes the contact, and he’ll do anything to get that first down and keep the sticks moving,” Bouda said of Garbers, who also threw for 255 yards and four touchdowns against Serra. “Seeing him run and creating big holes for him, seeing him shoot right through was pretty cool to see.”
Bouda played every offensive snap in the state championship game.
On a team that did not have many players go both ways, Bouda played on the defensive line on passing downs. In limited defensive snaps, he finished second on the team in tackles for a loss with 11. He was also tied with Mark Redman for second on the team with 6½ sacks.
As CdM prepared to enter the Sunset League two years ago, defensive coordinator Brian Pearsall saw the need for a dynamic defense. In Bouda, he found an athletic interior lineman that could pass rush and defend the run.
The Sea Kings’ ability to get pressure on the quarterback resulted in some impressive numbers in the secondary. Chandler Fincher had five interceptions, Ryder Haupt added four, and Tommy Griffin had three.
With an explosive offense, CdM knew that if it could create takeaways, the wins would follow.
“We always said that if we could create a plus in the possessions, if we get one or two more possessions than the other team, we don’t lose football games,” Pearsall said. “We really got aggressive on defense. We had 19 interceptions this year. We had 50 sacks. Those are big numbers when you’re looking at a team that controls the ball on offense a lot.”
Thomas Bouda
Born: Jan. 24, 2003
Hometown: Newport Beach
Height: 6 feet 3
Weight: 245 pounds
Sport: Football
Year: Junior
Coach: Dan O’Shea
Favorite food: Wings
Favorite movie: “Doctor Strange”
Favorite athletic moment: Bouda enjoyed the redemption aspect of CdM beating Grace Brethren 56-28 in the CIF Southern Section Division 3 championship game.
Week in review: The two-way lineman played all the offensive snaps at left tackle, and he contributed to the defensive pass rush in the Sea Kings’ 35-27 win over Serra in the CIF State Division 1-A championship game at Cerritos College on Saturday.
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