Los Alamitos football hands Corona del Mar first league loss in nearly a decade

This year’s seniors were in third grade the last time that the Corona del Mar High football team lost a league game.

It came in the Pacific Coast League, against Beckman. The Sea Kings got the last laugh that year of 2011, beating the Patriots for the first of three straight CIF Southern Section Southern Division titles.

This year’s unique six-game season will not provide a similar opportunity for postseason redemption, but coach Dan O’Shea is confident that his team will bounce back from Friday night’s setback.

A flurry of points in the third quarter proved too much for CdM to overcome in a 52-28 loss at Los Alamitos in both teams’ Sunset League opener. Griffins sophomore quarterback Malachi Nelson threw four touchdown passes, three of them coming in the third-quarter blitz that saw Los Alamitos score five straight touchdowns.

The loss snaps a 40-game unbeaten streak in league games and a 17-game winning streak overall for Corona del Mar (1-1). The Sea Kings went 16-0 in 2019 on the way to Sunset League, CIF Southern Section Division 3 and CIF State Division 1-A titles.

“I think since we’ve been here, that was about as big of a nightmare third quarter as we’ve ever experienced,” O’Shea, who joined the CdM coaching staff during that 2011 season, said in a phone interview.

“We have some things to clean up for sure, but credit goes to them. They made some good plays in the passing game in the third quarter, and we just were struggling to get some first downs. We couldn’t get out of our way ... Los Al made the plays and did a really good job.”

CdM was pleased with the start of the game. The Sea Kings forced two turnovers in the first quarter, one on an interception by Tommy Griffin and the other when Charlie Mannon stripped Nelson on a handoff attempt. The Sea Kings used short touchdown runs by Jason Vicencio and Evan Sanders to build a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter.

Sophomore quarterback David Rasor found Sanders on a wheel route touchdown pass in the final minute of the half, and the Sea Kings had a 21-17 halftime lead.

But Los Alamitos (2-0) used a varied passing attack to score the first five touchdowns of the third quarter, before Rasor connected with Griffin on a 48-yard bomb. They included an interception return for a touchdown by Mason Burt, a long touchdown run by Brian Jurado as well as a safety, when Sinn Brennan sacked Rasor in the end zone.

Nelson’s first three pass attempts of the third quarter — 50 yards to Gavin Porch, 32 yards to Alec Wills and 21 yards to Shain Allen — all went for touchdowns, though the Sea Kings did intercept him twice. Michael Wein added a second-half interception for CdM.

“The seniors gave us a good talk [at halftime],” Nelson told Fox Sports after the game. “They’d never beat these guys, so our underclassmen, we had to step up ... We thought, ‘They can’t be perfect two halves in a row.’ We knew what we had to do and we executed.”

Highly regarded sophomore receiver Makai Lemon also caught a touchdown pass in the first half for the winners, and threw one in the first half to Wills.

“They have some skill players that you get the ball in their hands, it can cause some problems,” O’Shea said. “We needed to be able to control the running game, which I think we did a really good job. And we needed to control the big plays in the passing game, and unfortunately they got the big plays. We look forward to rallying back next week, and being better.”

Corona del Mar hosts Huntington Beach on Friday night at Newport Harbor High, while Los Alamitos hosts Edison. The Oilers and Chargers both won their league openers.

“It’s notable that the league as a whole is extremely balanced this year,” O’Shea said.

“Los Alamitos is quite a bit better than last year, and I think Edison is a very, very good football team and senior-laden. Huntington Beach, Newport Harbor and Fountain Valley continue to grow, so the league is more balanced. I think you’re going to see a lot of tight games and dogfights ... Tonight was just not our night.”

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Sunset League

Los Alamitos 52, Corona del Mar 28

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Corona del Mar 7 – 14 – 7 – 0 — 28

Los Alamitos 0 – 17 – 35 – 0 —52

FIRST QUARTER

CdM – Sanders 5 run (Voorhees kick), 1:47.

SECOND QUARTER

CdM – Vicencio 3 run (Voorhees kick), 11:11.

LA – Wills 48 pass from Lemon (McLachlan kick), 9:34.

LA – Lemon 34 pass from Nelson (McLachlan kick), 5:55.

CdM – Sanders 13 pass from Rasor (Voorhees kick), 0:42.

LA – McLachlan 40 FG, 0:00.

THIRD QUARTER

LA – Burt 33 INT return (kick failed), 11:00.

LA – Porch 50 pass from Nelson (kick failed), 8:34.

LA – Wills 32 pass from Nelson (McLachlan kick), 6:45.

LA – Safety (QB sacked in end zone), 5:14.

LA – Jurado 37 run (McLachlan kick), 4:21.

LA – Allen 21 pass from Nelson (McLachlin kick), 2:04.

CdM – Griffin 48 pass from Rasor (Voorhees kick), 0:25.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

CdM – Vicencio, 17-31, 1 TD.

LA – Jurado, 7-48, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

CdM– Rasor, 8-17-2, 163, 2 TDs.

LA – Nelson, 17-21-2, 232, 4 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

CdM – Griffin, 3-92, 1 TD.

LA – Wills, 4-99, 2 TDs.

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