A CdM win for Baby O’Shea
Dan O’Shea’s debut as Corona del Mar High’s head football coach will have to wait at least another week.
O’Shea missed CdM’s season opener because his wife, Elizabeth, went into labor Thursday night at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian. Two hours and 18 minutes before CdM kicked off against Palos Verdes on Friday night, O’Shea said his son, Jack Peter, was born.
It turned out to be a night of firsts for O’Shea. While O’Shea celebrated the birth of his first child, he also learned through social media that his football team won its first game, beating Palos Verdes, 21-7, at Jim Scott Stadium.
The CdM players dedicated the home victory to O’Shea’s newborn, and they turned in a strong defensive performance against Palos Verdes, the reigning CIF Southern Section Western Division champion.
The CdM defense, which lost all of its starters from a year ago, almost blanked Palos Verdes. The defensive game plan, put together by O’Shea, who is also the defensive coordinator, worked, limiting Palos Verdes to 91 passing yards and 62 rushing yards.
“It was the first game in my coaching career where Dan O’Shea wasn’t on the sideline with me, going back to [2006, when we were assistants at Trabuco Hills],” said Kevin Hettig, CdM’s offensive coordinator who assumed the head coaching responsibilities for one night. “O’Shea does such a good job that our guys are so well coached and these coaches do such a great job that they’re ready to go.
“It was nice to see us be able to put away the game in the fourth quarter. This win was for Jack Peter O’Shea.”
The defense made sure CdM, ranked No. 5 in the CIF Southern Section Southwest Division preseason poll, reeled off its 15th straight season-opening win. In a matchup of schools that use the Sea Kings as their mascot, CdM’s came through late.
After Palos Verdes’ first score came with 4:38 to go in the third quarter, cutting CdM’s lead to 14-7, the visiting Sea Kings crossed midfield early in the fourth. Hoping to keep the drive alive, CdM linebacker Jaydin Moses hurt Palo Verdes’ chances. The junior stuffed quarterback Jake Nolls’ third-and-five run for a four-yard loss, forcing Palos Verdes to punt with about 10 minutes left.
Palos Verdes wouldn’t see the ball again until the 4:43 mark. By then, CdM ran off 15 plays, covering 88 yards to put the game away. Moses ran four times for 28 yards, helping him finish with 15 carries for 72 yards, and quarterback Chase Garbers did the rest. Garbers capped the long drive with an eight-yard fade into the end zone to wide receiver Peter Bush, who came up with the ball to give CdM a 21-7 lead.
It marked the second time Garbers and Bush connected on a touchdown. Garbers completed 34 of 43 passes for 278 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed for a score. The junior’s favorite receiver was Bush, whom Garbers beat out for the starting quarterback job in the off-season.
Bush finished with 11 catches for 121 yards, not bad for a senior making his first start at wideout.
“We had a lot of changes with Coach [Scott] Meyer leaving [after four years to become Servite’s coach] and everything, and O’Shea kind of took the reigns,” Bush said of the transition from last season to this year. “But I knew our defense would get it done.”
Joe Anderson and Nick Yi came up with the game’s only two turnovers, Anderson recovered a fumble and Yi intercepted a pass. Yi’s pick with 3:33 to go iced the game for CdM. The offense ran off the clock, a change of pace in how it played for most of the evening.
The first drive by CdM went University of Oregon fast, running 17 plays in 4:25, but the offense stalled on Palos Verdes’ 10-yard line. Garbers, who completed his first 10 passes for 71 yards, threw his first two incompletions and CdM settled for a 27-yard field-goal try. Palos Verdes blocked Jason Neiger’s attempt, keeping the game scoreless in the opening quarter.
When CdM got the ball again, it wasted little time to score. Three plays and 53 seconds is how long it took CdM to strike in the second quarter.
Garbers went to the air every time, first throwing a ball up where two receivers were in the vicinity and Bush hauled it in on the opponent’s 31 for a 26-yard gain. A late hit on Garbers moved the ball 15 yards to the 16, and from there Garbers found receiver Dylan Tucker on a four-yard pass, and then Garbers threw a five-yard out to Bush, who broke a tackle and walked in for a 12-yard touchdown 69 seconds into the second quarter.
Almost four minutes later, Garbers and Bush almost hooked up again for a 12-yard touchdown. Garbers’ fade was right on target for Bush, but the referee flagged Bush for offensive pass interference, nullifying the touchdown. Six plays later, Garbers used his legs on a one-yard touchdown run to put CdM ahead, 14-0, midway through the second quarter.
There wouldn’t be another CdM touchdown until late in the fourth, keeping O’Shea nervous. O’Shea said he followed the game on Twitter, and when CdM prevailed, he was one happy 45-year-old dad.
“Thankful for an amazing wife to bear our first child and an amazing coaching staff to lead the Sea Kings to victory No. 1,” O’Shea said via text. “[I’ll be] back next week.”
O’Shea’s Sea Kings are looking forward to meeting Jack Peter.
“Can’t wait to see the little [guy] out at practice,” Bush said. “We’re going to love the baby just as much [as we do O’Shea].”
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Nonleague
Corona del Mar 21, Palos Verdes 7
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Palos Verdes 0 – 0 – 7 – 0 — 7
Corona del Mar 0 – 14 – 0 – 7 — 21
SECOND QUARTER
CdM – Bush 12 pass from Garbers (Neiger kick), 10:51.
CdM – Garbers 1 run (Neiger kick), 5:31.
THIRD QUARTER
PV – Irwin 5 pass from Henderson (Coale kick), 4:38.
FOURTH QUARTER
CdM – Bush 8 pass from Garbers (Neiger kick), 4:43.
INDIVIDUAL RUSHING
PV – Umrarong, 17-69.
CdM – Moses, 15-72.
INDIVIDUAL PASSING
PV – Henderson, 9-15-1, 88, 1 TD.
CdM – Garbers, 34-43-0, 278, 2 TDs.
INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING
PV – Alessi, 3-41.
CdM – Bush, 11-121, 2 TDs.
