Two-Minute Drill: CdM could be without Martin
Wednesday is the day Corona del Mar High expects to learn the severity of tailback Cole Martin’s right knee injury.
The Sea Kings won their 29th straight game last Friday, defeating El Toro, 31-14, at Davidson Field, but they might have lost one of the top players in Orange County for the season.
The program with the state’s longest active winning streak is preparing for the worst. Martin went down late in the opening quarter, and never returned. He sat on the bench, and when the game ended, he needed crutches to move around.
When asked about his injury afterward, Martin said his knee was “[messed] up.” Martin underwent an MRI on his knee on Tuesday.
Losing Martin will no doubt affect CdM (3-0), which is coming off a historic 16-0 season in which it claimed a CIF State Division III title, a third straight CIF Southern Section Southern Division title and a second straight undefeated Pacific Coast League title. Martin has been a key to the team’s success since his sophomore year.
Martin rushed 300 times for 1,870 yards and 21 touchdowns, earning him a spot on the CalHiSports.com All-State Medium Schools Third Team for juniors last season.
If Martin is out for the season, the Sea Kings will be without their two standout running backs from a year ago. Anthony Battista, who rushed 153 times for 1,052 yards and 10 touchdowns as a sophomore last season, transferred to Tesoro in the offseason.
The Sea Kings travel to Tesoro on Sept. 26, a week after CdM plays Newport Harbor (1-1) in the 53rd edition of the Battle of the Bay rivalry game on Friday at 7 p.m. Martin tore up the Sailors last season, rushing 31 times for 195 yards and two touchdowns to lift CdM to a 34-14 win, giving the Sea Kings their first win against Newport Harbor since 2006.
Martin will most likely miss this year’s Back Bay game.
When Martin limped off the field last week, CdM, ranked No. 1 in the CIF Southern Section Southwest Division, turned to backup Jaydin Moses, a sophomore, and junior quarterback Peter Bush.
“Peter’s built like a 215-pound running back for us,” Meyer said of his first-year starting quarterback, who carried the ball 21 times for 102 yards and three touchdowns last week.
Bush was asked to run more with Martin down, and that might be the case again. Moses, who rushed 19 times for 86 yards against El Toro, has only 39 carries on varsity.
What Bush and Moses don’t have is Martin’s experience and success rate. For his career, Martin has rushed 436 times for 2,567 yards and 27 touchdowns, and caught 47 passes for 451 yards and two touchdowns.
“He’s a great player, a great leader,” Meyer said of Martin.
— David Carrillo Peñaloza
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•It wasn’t quite enough to pull his team back from a three-touchdown deficit in the fourth quarter, but Newport Harbor High senior receiver Riley Gaddis made a great 65-yard touchdown catch in Friday’s 49-35 loss at Palos Verdes.
The slightly underthrown ball appeared headed for an interception, but the 6-foot-1 Gaddis leaped over the back of the defensive back. He wrestled the ball away at the Palos Verdes 15-yard line, taking it in for a touchdown.
The play brought the Sailors (1-1) within 42-28 with 11:08 left to play, but they couldn’t get closer.
Gaddis, who caught a 64-yard touchdown pass from Cole Norris in the Sailors’ season-opening win over Los Angeles Hamilton, has started the season as a go-to receiver. Four of his six catches this season have gone for a touchdown.
“That was a great catch,” Coach Jeff Brinkley said of the play against Palos Verdes. “[Senior quarterback Cole] Norris did a great job scrambling, buying some time. And Riley, he can make some big plays.”
— Matt Szabo
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•Costa Mesa High has only two games scheduled away from Jim Scott Stadium this season.
The first one was Thursday, and the Mustangs lost to Katella, 34-6, at Glover Stadium. The setback puts Costa Mesa at 0-3 for the first time in four years.
The Mustangs return home to Jim Scott Stadium on Thursday to face Los Amigos (1-1), ranked No. 9 in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division, at 7 p.m. They won’t have to travel again until the eighth game of the season on Oct. 23, when the Mustangs see Godinez at Segerstrom High in Orange Coast League play.
Costa Mesa Coach Wally Grant set up additional games at Jim Scott Stadium for a reason.
“Because the [Battle for the] Bell game [against rival Estancia] generates so much revenue that when we don’t have the Bell game [as the home team], I’m trying to overload to help generate gate revenue,” said Grant, referring to one of those eight games at Jim Scott Stadium in which the Mustangs are the road team on Oct. 17. “But when we don’t have the home Bell game, I need to get, you know, two extra home games to recover the loss revenue that we don’t get.”
— David Carrillo Peñaloza
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•With senior receiver/safety/punter Devon Jackson out with an ankle injury, the Estancia High football team turned to junior Tony Hernandez in Thursday night’s 34-14 nonleague loss to Pacifica at Bolsa Grande High.
Hernandez served as the team’s punter. He has played football before this year, just not the American version, as Hernandez has played soccer for the Eagles.
“He did a nice job,” Bargas said. “I’ve got a couple of soccer kids that come out. I brought those guys out, and it elevated the game of our other kickers. He kicked the heck out of the ball. He was a little slow punting it, but he’ll get better with that. I think his average will go up.”
Bargas said Tuesday that Jackson will most likely miss his second straight game Friday night against Irvine.
— Matt Szabo
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•The Eagles (1-1) were unable to get their running game going against Pacifica, tallying just 23 yards on 18 carries. Junior quarterback Connor Brown was not sacked in the game, but six Estancia rushing attempts went for negative yardage.
Fourteen of the 23 rushing yards came on the first carry of the game by sophomore Dylan Laurent.
Laurent, coming off a standout game against Loara where he scored three total touchdowns and added an interception, was still able to make an impact on special teams. He had punt returns of 38 and 30 yards and consistently set his team up with good field position.
— Matt Szabo
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•Norris, who passed for 235 yards and three touchdowns on Friday, is inching closer to the Sailors’ career passing yardage record. He’s now just 473 yards away from breaking the mark of 5,364 yards.
The senior, a Northern Arizona commit, could also be on his way to breaking his own single-season record of 27 touchdown passes that he set last year. Through two games, he has 470 yards, seven touchdown passes and just one interception, which came on a deflected ball.
— Matt Szabo
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•Estancia was the only Orange Coast League team in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division poll last week, at No. 8. But the Eagles fell out of the poll after the loss to Pacifica. Now there are no Orange Coast League teams in the top 10.
— Matt Szabo
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•Palos Verdes consistently worked with a short field against Newport Harbor, primarily because of nice returns by speedy senior Lance Brown.
Brown had kickoff runbacks of 32 and 45 yards, as well as a punt return of 23 yards. PV senior Stanton Gilbertson, who had four rushing touchdowns, also had a 41-yard kickoff return.
Overall, Palos Verdes started five different drives from either midfield or the Newport Harbor side of the field. And the drives often were sustained.
“We didn’t have many three-and-outs where they just were punting the ball right back to us,” Brinkley said. “It was always swinging the field. And then, once we got behind, they could tee off on the defensive front. It made it tough for our guys to protect.”
— Matt Szabo
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•The Sailors surrendered 49 points, a lot for a Newport Harbor team. It was the most they have given up in three years, since a 49-14 loss to Long Beach Poly in the first round of the 2011 CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division playoffs.
— Matt Szabo
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•The Sea Kings look to win the Battle of the Bay in consecutive seasons for the first time since they won four in a row from 1985-88.
Newport Harbor holds a 38-14 edge in the Back Bay rivalry. In the past 20 seasons, CdM has beaten the Sailors only three times (2013, 2006 and 1998).
— David Carrillo Peñaloza
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•Corona del Mar is one win shy of tying the CIF Southern Section’s 10th longest winning streak of 30 set by Norco from 1992-94.
The section record is 48 and it belongs to Westlake Village Oaks Christian (2003-07). The fourth, sixth and eighth longest winning streaks in the section are held by Orange County schools, St. Margaret’s (44), Mission Viejo (41) and Edison (32).
— David Carrillo Peñaloza
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•Cameron Curet played an all-around strong game for Costa Mesa.
The junior rushed 12 times for 77 yards, producing the offense’s biggest play, a 32-yard run.
Curet, a defensive back, also intercepted a pass, returning it 14 yards, and broke up a pass. He blocked an extra-point kick.
— David Carrillo Peñaloza
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•Costa Mesa fumbled twice, resulting in 14 points, and three times it turned the ball over on downs in Katella territory.
The Mustangs avoided their first shutout since opening season with a 10-0 loss to Western two years ago. Darmonta Davis scored on an 18-yard run as time expired.
The offense has sputtered, scoring 25 points in three games. The latest contest saw the Mustangs fail to complete a pass. Two juniors attempted a pass, four by quarterback Sammy Swanson and one by tailback Mason Mataafa.
“I’ve gone games where we’ve haven’t thrown the ball,” said Grant, who’s in his fourth season in charge of the Mustangs. “But we had guys wide open. For me, in this offense, when we throw the ball, that’s really a trick play.”
Mataafa’s attempt came on a halfback pass in the third quarter.
For the season, Swanson is four of 15 passing for 29 yards.
— David Carrillo Peñaloza