Football Player of the Week: QB Chase Garbers is the real deal for CdM

There have been star football players who have lived in the Corona del Mar High School area but decided to play elsewhere, wanting to compete for a more competitive program. However a lot has changed recently.

Those days are gone.

Even when Scott Meyer left to coach at Servite the rumors began that quarterback Chase Garbers would follow those who have left CdM to play for a private school or a powerhouse program. But Garbers said Thursday he never thought to leave the Sea Kings for Servite or any other team.

“There were rumors,” Garbers, the junior, said. “Once Coach Meyer left people started thinking and speculating. But I’m still here. This is my family. I wanted to stay here.”

Garbers has settled in quite nicely with his CdM family this season. That was evident last week when he had a remarkable performance in a 58-13 victory over Irvine.

He threw five touchdown passes in the first half, when he went 23 for 23 for 337 yards. Garbers achieved some noteworthy feats with those numbers.

He tied the state record for best perfect passing performance in a game. He tied Tucker Mendonca from Visalia Mt. Whitney in 2012, according to Cal-Hi Sports.

Garbers also set a CIF Southern Section record for most consecutive completions in a game, and Garbers only played a half with the game in hand. The previous record was 20 set in 1978 by Paul Gagliardi of La Canada in 1978 and tied in 2000 by Hudson Gossard from Crescenta Valley.

Garbers, the Daily Pilot Football Player of the Week, was named Cal-Hi Sports Southern California Offensive Player of the Week.

He also set the CdM single-season record for most touchdown passes in a season with 28. Brent Lawson had 27 four years ago.

Garbers was quick to give credit to his receivers and offensive line. One of the linemen, junior center Arwin Rahmatpanah, passed along the news of Garbers tying the state record in a text to the quarterback on Thursday morning.

“I was in shock,” Garbers said. “Just wow. It’s definitely an honor. It feels pretty good just to know that I made that accomplishment, a state record.”

It also felt good for Garbers to surpass Lawson in the record books. Garbers looked up to all the past stellar quarterbacks at CdM, including Lawson, as well as Cayman Carter and Luke Napolitano.

“Their success made me realize what expectations I had to fill,” Garbers said.

Garbers has certainly fulfilled those expectations and more.

CdM Coach Dan O’Shea says Garbers is the best of all the CdM quarterbacks. His talent is greater, even as a junior, but what really sets him apart is his “off-the-charts football IQ,” O’Shea said.

“He’s got some special talents,” O’Shea said. “No. 1, he’s special physically. He’s also got some special talents as a leader. And, No. 3 he’s got a phenomenal special talent mentally, to be able to process scheme, process opponent coverage and opponent fronts. We run as complicated offense as you’ll find and he calls it all the entire game.”

O’Shea said it’s “unbelievable,” what Garbers does on offense during a game, setting up the pass protections, as well as route adjustments according to the defenses coming at him. O’Shea hasn’t really seen anything like Garbers in his 20 years of coaching, calling the signal-caller “a freak,” when it comes to his intelligence on the field.

And, here’s the scary part for opposing teams in the CIF Southern Section Southwest Division playoffs, starting with Trabuco Hills Friday night at Jim Scott Stadium: “He just seems to get better and better every week,” O’Shea said.

The coach also enjoys Garbers’ “supreme confidence,” that comes without being cocky. That also helped CdM (8-2) capture an undefeated Pacific Coast League title and the No. 3 seed in the Southwest Division.

In short, Garbers is the real deal. He’s on track to play on the next level and perhaps blaze a trail for future CdM players.

“I don’t know that there’s a school in the country that he can’t play for,” O’Shea said of Garbers’ path to Division 1 status in a couple years. “We’ve never had a guy like that. We never had a guy you can say he’s among the top two or three quarterbacks in the county this year and certainly next year.”

Garbers continues to say his offensive line and receivers have helped him this season. One receiver, in particular, has aided Garbers in many ways. That would be senior Peter Bush, who set the record for most touchdowns in a season (13) when he caught all five TD passes from Garbers against the Vaqueros.

Bush was also the player who pushed Garbers as both competed for the starting quarterback spot in the summer. Now, Bush is CdM’s top receiver and a good friend of Garbers.

“We’re really good friends with each other,” Garbers said of his relationship with Bush. “It had its tough times, but we pulled through. It kind of made it better friendship-wise.”

Garbers has learned the payoff for sticking around at CdM. Now he says he wants to show Trabuco Hills what CdM Football is all about because the Southwest Division defending champion didn’t see the real Sea Kings in their quarterfinal loss last year.

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Chase Garbers

Born: June 6, 1999

Hometown: Newport Beach

Height: 6-foot-3

Weight: 210 pounds

Sport: Football

Year: Junior

Coach: Dan O’Shea

Favorite food: Swordfish

Favorite movie: “Fury”

Favorite athletic moment: “Winning the Battle of the Bay this season.”

Week in review: Garbers threw five touchdown passes in a win against Irvine and set a new school single-season record with 28 TD passes. He also tied the state record of best perfect passing performance in a game, 23 for 23, and he set a CIF Southern Section record for most consecutive completions during a game.