Two-Minute Drill: CdM competes in tough Southwest Division

Corona del Mar High’s football season ended on the road in the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Southwest Division playoffs again.

The No. 3-seeded Sea Kings lost at Buena Park, 35-17, on Friday night, suffering their second straight quarterfinal setback. The Southwest Division has proven to be much tougher for CdM than the Southern Division, which the Sea Kings dominated by winning three section titles from 2011-13.

“It’s for real,” CdM Coach Dan O’Shea said of the Southwest Division. “The top eight teams can all win it, and that’s the tough thing.”

Four teams are left in the Southwest Division, Buena Park (10-2) travels to No. 2 San Clemente (10-2) next week, while No. 1 La Habra (11-1) plays host to Villa Park (12-0). All of those teams, except for Buena Park, won their respective leagues this year.

The Coyotes finished second in the Freeway League, home to La Habra and Sonora. The Raiders gave San Clemente a game, before losing at home, 52-45, in the quarterfinals.

“This Freeway League is really good football,” said O’Shea, who in his first season in charge of the Sea Kings led them to their fourth straight 5-0 Pacific Coast League title and a 9-3 overall record.

“Looking at the three losses [this year], Tesoro, El Toro and Buena Park, we thought we lost to three exceptional teams that played better on all those three nights and deserved to win. I think we have a really good football team, and tonight was just not our night.”

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•The big-play ability of Buena Park concerned the Sea Kings.

And with good reason. The Coyotes boasted half a dozen college-caliber athletes that CdM hadn’t seen on the field this year.

On the Coyotes’ seventh play from scrimmage, tailback Elijah Bynum displayed that breakaway speed. The senior transfer from Orange Lutheran broke a 70-yard touchdown run to help give Buena Park a 7-0 lead with 7:53 left in the first quarter.

“You hold them, you hold them, you hold them, and [all it takes is] just one play,” O’Shea said of the Coyotes producing a huge gain. “They probably had five really big plays. They’re tough to catch once their gone.”

Buena Park had seven offensive plays of 20 or more yards, four belonged to Bynum.

Bynum, who had runs of 70, 22, 20 and 20 yards, finished with 20 carries for 193 yards.

The other three big plays involved quarterback Zach Taylor.

Early in the fourth quarter, Taylor completed a 45-yard touchdown pass to Devon Cooley to put Buena Park up, 28-3. Cooley did most of the work, recording 30 yards after making the catch near the sideline and darting toward the middle to outrun the defense.

Taylor also threw a screen pass to Elijah Gates late in the second quarter, and Gates wound up with a 42-yard reception. He helped set up his 12-yard touchdown catch five plays later, giving the Coyotes a 14-3 lead.

On the opening drive to the second half, Taylor connected with Cooley on a 24-yard pass. The play moved Buena Park inside CdM’s 30-yard line, and seven plays later the Coyotes took a 21-3 lead.

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•In the final game of the year, Chase Garbers broke CdM’s single-season passing yards record, finishing with 2,714 yards.

The junior surpassed Luke Napolitano’s mark of 2,645 yards. Garbers’ passing touchdowns (33) and completions (226) this season also rank No. 1 at CdM.

Garbers won’t have his favorite target next year in wide receiver Peter Bush, or his No. 3 leading receiver, Jake Blower. Bush and Blower are seniors.

Peter Bush recorded 62 catches for 915 yards and 15 touchdowns. The receptions and receiving yards are CdM single-season records.

Blower had 32 catches for 458 yards and four touchdowns.

The left side of the offensive line, with tackle Mitch Dean and Garrett Clearly, is also graduating this year.

The linemen who plan to return next year are junior center Arwin Rahmatpanah, junior right guard Bryan Samudro and sophomore right tackle Connor Reid.

Jaydin Moses, who rushed for 1,010 yards and nine touchdowns as a junior, and junior receivers Reece Perez (53 catches for 441 yards and three touchdowns), Billy Shaw (30 catches for 317 yards and four touchdowns) and Dylan Tucker (25 catches for 143 yards), and sophomore receiver Taeveon Le (15 catches for 373 yards and seven touchdowns) are expected to back next season.

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•The Sea Kings’ string of 10-win seasons ended at five.

During the impressive five-year run, CdM went 60-8-1 overall. From 2010-14, the Sea Kings recorded the most wins by any program in Orange County.