How sweet it is

Barry Faulkner

NEWPORT BEACH - Gratification delayed was no less sweet for the

Corona del Mar High football team, which pounded its way from the ranks

of the winless to the top of the Pacific Coast League standings with an

impressive 28-7 league-opening triumph over Laguna Beach Thursday night

at Newport Harbor High.

“I always thought we were a good team and we always expected to win,”

said CdM senior Sean Fenton, whose blocking at left tackle helped the Sea

Kings (1-5) score on their first three possessions and dominate the game

with ball control.

The Sea Kings, whose 0-5 start was the program’s worst since 1965, took

15 plays to march 62 yards with the opening kickoff, eating more than 6

1/2 minutes off the clock, before Grant Estabrook went 6 yards for the

touchdown on his ninth carry of the drive.

Estabrook, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound workhorse, finished with a season-high

157 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries, behind a platoon of offensive

linemen and blocking backs.

The Sea Kings’ workmanlike approach on the ground produced 12 rushing

first downs (18 in all) and helped them more than double the Artists

(3-3) in time of possession (32:02 to 15:58).

CdM’s ground assault also helped open up play-action passing

opportunities, which junior quarterback Evan Burden exploited for 132

aerial yards, including a 36-yard touchdown toss to a wide-open Adam

Cooper which gave the hosts a 21-0 cushion with 10:17 left in the first

half.

Burden, who had thrown for 123 yards in 10 quarters since taking control

for injured Matt Moore, completed 6 of 10 and was not sacked.

The CdM defense also stepped into the spotlight, collecting four Laguna

Beach turnovers, yielding just 14 yards on the ground and a minuscule

three first downs, one rushing.

Until Laguna Beach quarterback Ryan Schissler threw 23 yards to Noel

Cannon with about four minutes left before halftime, the Artists had

minus-2 yards and had not crossed their own 45-yard line.

“These guys needed this,” CdM Coach Dick Freeman said of his players, who

had five TDs called back on penalties in successive losses to Saddleback

(10-7) and Westminster (21-14) the last two games. “It’s nice for them to

see things can work.”

Offensive tackle Matt Marston, rotating guards Jason Kurtz, Brandon

Johnson, Peter Skoutelas and Steve Russell, tight ends Cooper and Elliott

Patterson, fullbacks Mike Hayes and Taumata Grey and senior center Tom

Shochat, who returned from a knee injury to make his first start this

fall, hammered away at a scrappy Laguna defense.

Coach Dave Holland, who built a reputation for stingy defenses in 20

seasons as the Sea Kings’ head man, watched his defense keep the visitors

in the game, his first coaching against his former school.

The Artists had an apparent 30-yard scoring pass nullified by a holding

call on their final first-half possession, which ended when Cooper forced

a fumble after a reception and CdM’s Charlie Alshuler recovered at his

own 22.

Alshuler turned away another serious scoring threat by breaking up a

fourth-down pass at the goal line midway through the third quarter to

protect the Sea Kings’ lead.

Laguna Beach finally averted the shutout when Pat Chesley took a Ryan

Schissler pass and ran through a tackle for a 7-yard TD with 8:30 left in

the game.

The Artists recovered the ensuing onside kick, but CdM was awarded the

ball when it was ruled Laguna touched the ball 1 yard before it traveled

the necessary 10.

Three subsequent Estabrook carries moved the ball 11 yards, before he

broke off right tackle, between the lead blocks of Hayes and Grey, and

sprinted 38 yards to the end zone. The score iced the win, which halted

CdM’s six-game losing streak.

Linebacker Nick Prosser forced a fumble and had a quarterback sack, while

ends Scott Biggs and Jay Bottom, as well as tackle Travis Hackett, also

collared Laguna ballcarriers for losses.

Until Estabrook bolted for the capper, CdM’s longest ground gain was 7

yards.

“We can’t really get fancy,” Freeman said. “We have to make it so other

teams have to beat us. That’s the way (the Artists) played tonight,

although they had some mistakes which they haven’t been making. I think

they watched us on film too much and whatever we had, they caught.”

Hayes, playing without the soft cast which had protected his broken left

thumb the first five games, caught three passes for 35 yards and rushed

for another 35 yards on 10 attempts.

“This is a much better feeling,” Fenton said.”