High School Football: CdM again in quarters

The microphone wasn’t working at the start of the Corona del Mar High football team’s playoff opener Friday night at Jim Scott Stadium.

That meant no national anthem, though the CdM fans started singing it anyway as Sea Kings kicker Max Casper got ready for the opening kickoff. The singing continued through visiting Murrieta Mesa’s first play from scrimmage.

The situation was resolved at halftime, when someone came into the press box for a rousing rendition of the anthem with a saxophone. By then, the Sea Kings were up by three touchdowns and well on their way to recording their 10th straight first-round playoff victory.

No. 3-seeded CdM earned a 41-20 victory over Murrieta Mesa at Jim Scott Stadium to advance past the opening round of the CIF Southern Section Division 4 playoffs. The Sea Kings will hit the road in the next round for a quarterfinal date at Ontario Colony, which topped Palm Springs, 22-13, in another first-round game Friday night.

CdM has lost in the CIF quarterfinals each of the last two seasons, but senior quarterback Chase Garbers said the Sea Kings (10-1), who have won nine straight games, are determined to move on this season.

“Senior class, our sophomore year we lost to Trabuco Hills in the quarters and they ended up winning it,” Garbers said. “Last year, we lost to Buena Park in the quarters, and I’d say it was a horrific loss. Our offense was poor and their athletes kind of took over. This game, going in, we’re not going to take it lightly.”

The Sea Kings also didn’t take Murrieta Mesa (5-6) lightly, even though the Rams were making their first postseason appearance in school history. Murrieta Mesa was led by 6-foot-6 junior quarterback Jeff Miller, who finished 32 of 52 passing for 289 yards, with a touchdown and an interception.

Mesa’s ball-control offense kept the Sea Kings’ offense on the sidelines for much of the first half, but CdM was effective when it did have possession.

Garbers finished with 292 yards passing and had all three of his touchdown passes in the first half. They were a 19-yarder to a wide-open Billy Shaw, a five-yarder to TaeVeon Le and a 36-yard screen pass to junior running back JT Murphy. Murphy also had a 25-yard rushing touchdown in the first half for CdM, which earned a 34-13 halftime advantage. Garbers did have just his third interception of the year in the third quarter, when he was hit as he threw and the ball floated to Mesa safety Giovanni Sanders for the easy pick.

The Sea Kings’ lone second-half score came on a three-yard keeper for a touchdown by Garbers, one of his two in the game. He finished with 63 yards rushing, tying Murphy for the team lead.

Defensively, CdM senior linebacker Mitch Haly made several plays to hold Mesa to little or no gain on running plays. Senior defensive back Cameron Kourmos had the interception late in the fourth quarter before leaving after the play with a knee injury, while CdM Coach Dan O’Shea said senior receiver Billy Shaw appeared to aggravate a heel injury after making a catch in the fourth quarter.

“We were frustrated giving up 20,” O’Shea said. “We thought it was a team we could control if we played well, but they certainly played better than us in the pass game. They deserved the 20 they got ... [but] we feel the best defense we have is when our offense has been doing what they have been doing. They stay on the field, they score, and we feel it’s incredibly important that both sides complement each other.”

O’Shea was happy with the Sea Kings’ special teams play, as they used three fake reverses on kickoff returns for long gains – two by Dylan Tucker and one by Reece Perez.

“It’s one of our three kick returns, and for some reason they didn’t adjust to it,” O’Shea said. “It was freaky. We were fortunate. All in all, it was a good start for a playoff game. It was kind of fun, because our guys had butterflies … Your blood rushes a little faster and you get a little nervous. We want to embrace that. That’s why you play high school football.”

One rarity came late in the second half, when CdM’s first-team offense had to punt for the first time in several weeks. As it turned out, the Sea Kings ended up keeping the ball due to a roughing the kicker penalty.

Another rarity? The Cal-bound Garbers said it was the first time he had played four quarters since Los Gatos in Week 2.

“It was definitely a very tiring game for us, but that’s part of the deal,” he said. “This full-game experience was definitely what we wanted, what we need, especially going into playoffs.”

Le, who has a program-record 19 receiving touchdowns this season, set another mark Friday night. He had 89 yards receiving, which gives him a school-record 1,062 for the season. He also now has 61 catches, which is just one off Peter Bush’s school mark from last year.

“Tae’s something special,” Garbers said. “Having a weapon like him is definitely something that a quarterback dreams of, for sure. He can go horizontal, he can go vertically, clearly, he can jump like no other and his hands are unreal.”

CIF Southern Section Division 4 Playoffs

First round

Corona del Mar 41, Murrieta Mesa 20

SCORE BY QUARTERS

MM 3 – 10 – 0 – 7 — 20

CdM 14 – 20 – 7 – 0 — 41

FIRST QUARTER

CdM – Shaw 19 pass from Garbers (Casper kick), 9:00.

MM – Sibilla 28 FG, 3:40.

CdM – Garbers 6 run (Casper kick), 2:55.

SECOND QUARTER

MM – Sibilla 23 FG, 10:34.

CdM – Murphy 25 run (Casper kick), 9:03.

MM – Thompson 1 run (Sibilla kick), 6:22.

CdM – Le 5 pass from Garbers (Sibilla kick), 3:36.

CdM – Murphy 36 pass from Garbers (Sibilla kick), 2:38.

THIRD QUARTER

CdM – Garbers 3 run (Casper kick), 4:47.

FOURTH QUARTER

MM – Sanders 9 pass from Miller (Sibilla kick), 9:25.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

MM – Thompson, 20-39.

CdM – Garbers, 11-63, 2 TDs; Murphy, 10-63, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

MM – Miller, 32-52-1, 289, 1 TD.

CdM – Garbers, 18-25-1, 292, 3 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

MM – Gomez, 7-89.

CdM – Le, 5-89, 1 TD.