High School Football Player of the Week: Moses, the workhorse for Sea Kings

Jaydin Moses went into the football season at Corona del Mar High expecting to share the duties in the backfield. Injuries to one running back changed Moses’ role.

Moses is carrying the load for the Sea Kings. He has led the team in carries in half of its eight games and in rushing yards five times.

The junior became the workhorse last week, rushing 28 times for 200 yards and a touchdown. Moses’ career-best performance allowed CdM to take sole possession of first place in the Pacific Coast League with a 42-21 win at University.

On that night, Moses finished with one more carry than he had totaled in his previous three contests. The Sea Kings kept going to one of their strongest players because University failed to stop Moses, who ran behind left tackle Garrett Cleary, left guard Connor Reid, center Arwin Rahmatpanah, right guard Bryan Samudro, right tackle Denham King and backup tackles Mitch Dean and Jake Berkey.

The Sea Kings improved to 3-0 in league, after reeling off their 18th consecutive win in league play. Moses hasn’t seen CdM lose in league during his three years at the school.

While Moses kept pounding the heart of the defense, the Trojans challenged CdM’s league supremacy for three quarters. No team had beaten CdM in four years, and yet there were the Trojans all even at 21-21 with the Sea Kings.

After University knotted things up late in the third quarter, the Trojans tried to surprise the Sea Kings with an onside kick. It almost worked, as no one was able to recover the ball until Teddy Barber fell on it for CdM on University’s 49.

From there, CdM began what would be the eventual go-ahead scoring drive. The Sea Kings ran eight plays, handing the ball off to Moses three times. He picked up 16 yards, including a first down to move the offense near the red zone. A couple of plays going for losses of one and four yards put CdM in a third-and-15 situation.

The Sea Kings went to the air, and quarterback Chase Garbers found wide receiver Taeveon Le for a 29-yard touchdown. Garbers’ third touchdown pass helped put CdM up, 28-21, with about 9½ minutes left to play.

The CdM defense forced a punt on the ensuing possession, and then the offense chewed off five minutes off the clock. The Sea Kings went to Moses eight times during a 12-play, 72-yard drive. Moses capped it off with a two-yard touchdown run, raising his right arm to signal which team would stay perfect in league.

“It was a big one,” Moses said. “Last year, we kind of went on cruise control a little bit in league and I think that set a bad tone going into [the CIF Southern Section Southwest Division] playoffs. [It was important] to keep the ball rolling and score 42 points.”

The offensive outburst continued for CdM for the second straight week. The Sea Kings are averaging 47 points per game during the stretch.

University proved to be the second team to hang for three quarters with the Sea Kings, who went into the fourth quarter against Woodbridge with a seven-point lead, before winning the league opener, 28-14. The tough games only bode well for CdM come playoff time.

Only Northwood tested the Sea Kings in league a year ago. Moses was unable to play in that league finale because of a Lisfranc injury in his right foot sidelined him midway through the season.

Watching from the sideline hurt Moses more than the injury. Without him, CdM claimed its third straight undefeated league crown by defeating Northwood, 14-0. Then the Sea Kings earned the top seed in the Southwest Division playoffs, and it went on to beat Tustin, 17-7, in the opening round.

The season ended in the quarterfinals with a 28-10 loss at Trabuco Hills. The Sea Kings’ attempt at a fourth section title in as many years was over.

“It was tough, just like it was kind of for everyone else,” Moses said of seeing CdM’s 15-game playoff winning streak snapped.

The road back for Moses involved him wearing a walking boot for two months, and for the next month and a half, he said he stayed away from any physical activity. In January, he said he began to feel like his normal self.

Nine months later, Moses said he feels stronger than he did a year ago. Down the stretch of league, Moses finds himself on the field, and CdM needs him running the ball with Thomas Walker out with a shoulder injury.

“We figure he’s got to be kind of the bell cow from here on out,” CdM Coach Dan O’Shea said of Moses, who leads CdM in carries (80), rushing yards (578) and rushing touchdowns (six) this year. “We’ve got to [run the ball during the playoffs]. We can’t sit back there and chuck [the ball] every time. There [are] good athletes in this [Southwest Division]. It’s so damn competitive.”

There are two contests remaining in league for CdM, who are 6-2 overall and ranked No. 3 in the Southwest Division, before the postseason begins. The next one is Friday, when CdM plays host to Northwood (2-6, 1-2 in league) at Jim Scott Stadium at 7 p.m.

A CdM win against the Timberwolves clinches at least a share of the league title. The championship would mark the Sea Kings’ fifth in six years.

For CdM to pull it off, O’Shea asked the 5-foot-11, 195-pound Moses to focus on offense. During the nonleague portion of the season, the first five games, Moses split time at outside linebacker and tailback.

“Ever since I was a little kid I was always defensive-minded,” said Moses, adding that he will play wherever the team needs him. “I love hitting.”

Moses still gets to hit, he just delivers the blows while carrying the ball these days.

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Jaydin Moses

Born: June 24, 1998

Hometown: Carlsbad

Height: 5-foot-11

Weight: 195 pounds

Sport: Football

Year: Junior

Coach: Dan O’Shea

Favorite food: Steak

Favorite movie: “Gladiator”

Favorite athletic moment: “[Winning the] 2014 Battle of the Bay.”

Week in review: Moses rushed 28 times for 200 yards and a touchdown in the Sea Kings’ 42-21 win at University.