Corona del Mar football rebounds with rout of Huntington Beach
The Corona del Mar High football team played on its home field, Davidson Field, for the first time in nearly 16 months.
A lot has changed since then, but the Sea Kings’ lofty expectations for themselves have not.
CdM put together a complete game in Friday night’s 49-6 Sunset League win over Huntington Beach.
Sophomore quarterback David Rasor threw five touchdown passes to four different receivers, while physical sophomore running back Evan Sanders rushed for two touchdowns. The Sea Kings were sharp, scoring touchdowns on their first five possessions.
Senior Mikey Wein and junior Charlie Mannon had interceptions for CdM (2-1, 1-1 in league), which gave up its only touchdown to the Oilers (2-1, 1-1) after a five-yard punt set the visitors up in the red zone late in the second quarter.
“Offensively and defensively, it looked like a CdM football game,” Sea Kings coach Dan O’Shea said. “We were challenged after [losing 52-28 at Los Alamitos, the Sea Kings’ first league loss since 2011] last week. We had some adversity, and we had to bounce back. We showed a lot of character and responded to not only a difficult week of practice, but getting back to who we are. Being able to run the football and throw the football equally, I think we did a good job of that tonight.
“It was a really good night, to see CdM football back in order tonight.”
Los Alamitos (2-0 in league) is alone in first place in league with three games remaining after Friday’s 27-20 win over Edison. The Chargers, CdM, Huntington Beach and Newport Harbor are part of a four-way tie for second place.
Wein, a linebacker, was in on all three of CdM’s tackles on the Oilers’ first possession, which was a three-and-out. The punt was downed at the Huntington Beach 39.
Three plays later, Rasor found senior tight end Scott Giuliano in the front of the end zone for an 11-yard score.
He would add a highlight touchdown pass on CdM’s second drive, eluding a sack in the backfield, scrambling left and finding Max Lane in the end zone for a 17-yard score.
Lane relieved Rasor at quarterback in the fourth quarter. Before that, Rasor threw two touchdown passes to Tommy Griffin, who finished with five catches for 120 yards. Tight end Trent Merriman also caught a two-yard score.
“We were mentally dialed in all week,” said Rasor, who passed for 308 yards. “We wanted to set the tone of violent Sea King football.”
Huntington Beach’s offense got into a bit of a rhythm later in the game behind senior quarterback Joe Gentlella, who alternated the Oilers’ first several possessions with junior A.J. Perez.
Senior running back Sammy Green, who had 347 total rushing yards and five touchdowns in Huntington Beach’s first two games, was held to nine carries for 22 yards on Friday night. He did score the Oilers’ lone touchdown on a 13-yard scamper.
“[CdM] is a really good football team, and we came out really flat,” Huntington Beach coach Brett Brown said. “Our energy was terrible, and I’ll take responsibility for that. We just weren’t ready to play, and you can’t do that against a good football team. We didn’t start playing until late in the first half ... but we’ll fix some things and we’ll get better.”
Senior safety MJ Chirgwin had an interception on defense for Huntington Beach, which hosts Los Alamitos on Friday night.
Meanwhile, CdM plays Newport Harbor in the annual Battle of the Bay game. The Sea Kings will have to clean up the penalties, after committing 18 of them against Huntington Beach.
As a senior, Wein said he’s definitely looking forward to the rivalry matchup that CdM has won seven straight times.
“We’ve done three, and there’s one to go,” Wein said. “I’m super-excited for the atmosphere, and practice leading up to it is going to be good.”
Added O’Shea: “Nothing bigger than Battle of the Bay in this town.”
::
Sunset League
Corona del Mar 49, Huntington Beach 6
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Huntington Beach 0 – 6 – 0 – 0 — 6
Corona del Mar 21 – 21 – 0 – 7 —49
FIRST QUARTER
CdM – Giuliano 11 pass from Rasor (Voorhees kick), 8:46.
CdM – Lane 17 pass from Rasor (Voorhees kick), 5:31
CdM – Griffin 32 pass from Rasor (Voorhees kick), 0:51.
SECOND QUARTER
CdM – Merriman 2 pass from Rasor (Voorhees kick), 8:59.
CdM – Sanders 30 run (Voorhees kick), 6:30.
HB – Green 13 run (run failed), 2:28.
CdM - Griffin 10 pass from Rasor (Voorhees kick), 0:37.
FOURTH QUARTER
CdM - Sanders 2 run (Voorhees kick), 3:35.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
CdM – Sanders, 11-106, 2 TDs.
LA – Green, 9-22, 1 TD.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
CdM– Rasor, 14-24-1, 308, 5 TDs.
LA – Gentlella, 14-28-2, 114.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
CdM – Griffin, 5-120, 2 TDs.
LA – Ray, 7-70.
::
Support our sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.
For more sports stories, visit latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/sports or follow us on Twitter @DailyPilotSport.
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.
