Football: CdM blanked by Pomona

Tony Altobelli

NEWPORT BEACH - Frustration was the word of the night Friday,

following Corona del Mar’s 18-0 nonleague football loss to Pomona at

Newport Harbor High.

“I don’t know what to say after a game like this,” Sea Kings Coach

Dick Freeman said. “We were very inconsistent on offense all night. We

tried to make adjustments, but you can’t when you only do the right thing

part of the time.”

With only 121 yards of total offense and four first downs, Corona del

Mar (0-2) stayed in the game on the back of its defense.

“They did a good job for us, but they were out there most of the

time,” Freeman said. “We need to find some consistency on the other side

of the ball.”

Freeman was referring to the time of possession, which Pomona had six

minutes more of, causing the CdM defense to wear down near the end of the

game.

Neither team had a lot of consistency in the first half, producing 84

yards combined.

Leading the way for the Sea Kings was senior Grant Estabrook, who

rushed for 78 yards on 23 carries.

The only points in the first half for Pomona (2-0) came courtesy of a

Sea Kings fumble near midfield with eight minutes remaining in the second

quarter, one of two lost fumbles on the night.

The Red Devils’ top player, safety Jimmy Verdon recovered the fumble

and raced back 47 yards to the Sea Kings’ 2-yard-line.

Three plays later, quarterback Oscar Schwenke found Hamza Abdullah in

the back of the end zone for a 2-yard touchdown pass. The kick failed and

the Devils led, 6-0.

“They have some talented guys over there,” Freeman said. “We tried to

keep it out of those guys’ hands, but we couldn’t do it and it came back

to haunt us.”

Schwenke was 10 for 18 for 117 yards and three touchdowns, while

Verdon, on top of playing stingy defense, also caught four passes for 51

yards, including a 16-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter that

practically iced it for the Red Devils.

Corona del Mar’s best chance to score came when junior defensive back

Charlie Alshuler intercepted a Schwenke pass and returned it 43 yards to

the Red Devils’ 17-yard line.

However, from there, the Sea Kings could not even get a first down and

gave the ball back to Pomona.

“You have to be able to show the other team that you can advance on

their nine-man front,” Freeman said. “If you can’t advance, they’ll keep

bringing nine-man fronts. We were constantly pressured the entire

evening.”

Both teams had trouble handling the ball, combining for 10 fumbles on

the night, five for each side.

“Except they recovered all of theirs,” Freeman was quick to point out.

“The field does pick up moisture during night games, but we never had

that kind of trouble before.”

Pomona finished out the scoring on the final drive of the night when

Schwenke hit wide receiver Kenny Hall with a 33-yard touchdown pass.

“Consistency and the big plays are what killed us tonight,” Freeman

said.

Next up for Corona is the nonleague version of the “Battle of the

Bay,” with Newport Harbor, which tied Marina, 21-21, Thursday night.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s league or nonleague, when we do battle,”

Freeman said. “It’s still Corona del Mar against Newport Harbor.”