CdM has new faces on defense
As a defensive guy, Dan O’Shea is well aware of how Corona del Mar High’s defense looks right now compared to a year ago.
Zero starters are back.
While there are no familiar faces on the unit, O’Shea isn’t worried. Even though he’s in his first year as CdM’s head coach, O’Shea is still running the defense.
During his previous four years as the program’s defensive coordinator, CdM has gone 50-6, posting 13 shutouts during that stretch. The defense has been a key to the Sea Kings’ success, going undefeated in the Pacific Coast League three times and winning three CIF Southern Section Southern Division titles, including a CIF State Division III crown.
Whether CdM, with a new man in charge, can continue to win at the rate it did in the past four years remains to be seen. O’Shea believes the Sea Kings have the personnel to contend for league, section and state titles again.
“We have a better wide receiver corps, more experienced quarterbacks, and we have three running backs we trust,” said O’Shea, who takes over a program that went 10-2 overall and 5-0 in league, and lost in the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Southwest Division playoffs last year. “If we’re going to match our defense to our [no-huddle] offensive philosophy, we believe we have eight [defensive] linemen that can play for us on Friday night, six ‘backers, four corners and three safeties. We feel we have 21 guys that can start for us on defense.”
Below is a position-by-position look at the Sea Kings, who kick off the season against Palos Verdes at Jim Scott Stadium on Friday at 7 p.m.
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•Quarterback: Chase Garbers ended last season as CdM’s starter and he begins this season as the starter. He competed with Peter Bush during the spring and summer and Garbers won the job, over someone who has a preferred walk-on spot at the University of Notre Dame.
Garbers is a dual threat in the Sea Kings’ up-tempo spread offense. As a sophomore, he completed 108 of 154 passes for 1,356 yards and 11 touchdowns, with only two interceptions, and rushed 77 times for 236 yards and nine touchdowns, earning Garbers the Pacific Coast League Offensive MVP award.
Kevin Hettig, CdM’s offensive coordinator, expects a huge junior year out of Garbers, who split time with Bush for almost half of last season. Garbers became the starter after Bush suffered an ankle injury during a league opener. Hettig said Garbers, who’s 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds, is on Duke’s and UC Berkeley’s radar.
“Chase is the best quarterback that I’ve ever coached,” said Hettig, who as an assistant at Trabuco Hills coached two quarterbacks who went on to play in college, J.J. Mayer (Southern Utah) and Sean Reilly (UNLV). “Chase is there physically, but mentally he’s so beyond his years. He has a unique ability to understand what defenses are giving him and what he can take.”
Backing up Garbers will be Bush, who will also be Garbers’ top target as a wide receiver.
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•Running backs: Injuries marred the Sea Kings’ backfield last year, losing Cole Martin (knee and concussion) and Jaydin Moses (foot) during the season. While Martin graduated, Moses returns for his junior season and he looks healthy.
Moses, junior Thomas Walker and sophomore JT Murphy will share the running back duties. Moses and Walker are powerful runners, both weigh at least 200 pounds.
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•Wide receivers: Gone are standouts Bo St. Geme and Cole Collins, but Bush has emerged as a dangerous pass-catching threat. Bush, who’s 6-2, lost 10 pounds in the off-season and is moving better at 210 pounds.
Dylan Tucker and Billy Shaw, who split time last year as the third wideout, are back. Joining the two juniors are senior Jack Blower (6-1, 190 pounds) and sophomore Taeveon Le (6-4, 200), who both bring size, and junior Reece Perez.
With the six, Hettig, who has been calling the offense since 2011, said the Sea Kings’ receivers are the best he has seen at CdM. The team won’t have a tight end because of the depth at receiver.
“We feel like we have six starters,” said Hettig, who plans to start Bush in the slot with Tucker, and Shaw, a 6-3, 195-pounder, and Blower at outside. “They’re bigger. They’re more physical. They’re all really good route runners.”
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•Offensive line: Three starters return in senior left tackle Mitch Dean (6-5, 275), junior right guard Bryan Samudro (5-11, 270) and junior center Arwin Rahmatpanah (5-11, 255), helping make this the biggest and heaviest line during Hettig’s time with the Sea Kings.
Senior Garrett Clearly (6-3, 280) is at left guard and junior Denham King (6-4, 280) is at right tackle. Jake Berkey, a 6-foot, 215-pound sophomore, could see time at guard and tackle.
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•Defensive line: The Sea Kings’ strength last year was the front four and all four have graduated, Parker Chase, Harrison Carter, Justin Hess and Mat Flores. The quartet combined for 44½ sacks.
The defensive ends looking to pick up where Chase and Carter left off are junior Bryce Claybaugh and senior Dean Ames. Inside are junior Teddy Barber and senior Joe Anderson, who started on the offensive line last year.
“We were trying to find a big butt to stick over there,” O’Shea said for moving the 6-foot, 245-pound Anderson to the defensive line. “You see all those other guys are about 180 [pounds]. He’s the most athletic, compared to the offensive line guys.
“Barber is the only one [who saw time on the defensive line last year].”
Michael Mishow, a senior, and Mickey Quinn, a junior, are backups.
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•Linebackers: Senior Karl Donovan is starting in the middle, with senior Blake Kormos and Moses at outside. Donovan and Kormos played last year, but overall the linebackers are inexperienced, O’Shea said.
They look to replace the Crance twins, Hoyt and Hugh, as well as Robbie Hoffman, who have graduated.
Seniors Brian Chelf and Brandon Fryer are fighting for playing time inside.
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•Secondary: Junior Cameron Kormos is the starting left corner, while senior Nick Yi, senior JZ De La Cruz and sophomore Max Casper are battling for the right corner spot.
The safeties are seniors Taylor Damron and Sutton Barbato, whose brother, Barrett, started last year at safety for CdM. Jack Denning, a senior, is another safety.
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•Special teams: Jason Neiger, a senior, returns as the kicker. He converted five of 11 field-goal attempts and 40 of 42 extra-point kicks last year. Neiger will also be the punter.
Kyle Petrucci, a sophomore, is the long snapper, and Bush the holder.
Returning kickoffs and punts will be Tucker, Yi, Perez and Cameron Kormos. Bush will also see time returning punts.
