Prep football: Sequel justice?

Barry Faulkner

CORONA DEL MAR - Corona del Mar High football coach Dick Freeman

doesn’t believe the 31 lettermen returning from a team that shared the

1999 Pacific Coast League championship will benefit from any carry-over.

But, considering the 3-8 record absorbed by last year’s squad, as well

as said Sea Kings’ rather measly offensive production, letting go of the

recent past may prove critical to kicking off a prosperous new

millennium.

Perhaps afflicting the returners’ collective confidence is last

season’s 0-5 start, the program’s worst since 1965, as well as CdM’s

paltry scoring average of 11 points per game.

Only six Orange County teams averaged fewer points and they combined

for a 7-53 record.

Further, CdM produced a mere 2,063 yards of total offense. By

comparison, two running backs in the Newport-Mesa District alone rushed

for more than 2,000.

There are, however, plenty of lingering intangibles to keep the

veteran Sea Kings of sound mind. The very fact they did not succumb to a

frustrating preseason (the final two games of which featured five

touchdowns nullified by penalty), is a ringing toughness testimonial. And

this senior class has gone to the CIF Southern Section playoffs each of

its two previous varsity seasons.

But, should self-affirmation prove fleeting, a confident crop of

sophomores, coming off a 9-1 campaign which included a perfect five-game

PCL victory tour, have arrived to help walk the contenders’ walk.

Freeman reports this attitude injection from the Class of 2003 has

uplifted practice intensity, competition for jobs, and, ultimately, the

spirits of an entire roster and coaching staff.

“I think we have a real good mix of senior leadership and younger kids

willing to accept that leadership and add to it,” Freeman said. “It’s a

very competitive atmosphere, but we’re all on the same page.”

The decorated returners include seniors Nick Prosser and Blake Hacker,

a pair of diminutive outside linebackers (5-foot-11, 175 pounds and 5-6,

160, respectively last fall) who obviously know a little something about

playing with heart.

Prosser, who could also play a little tight end this season, has

pumped up to 190 pounds, while Hacker, who missed five games with a badly

sprained ankle last year, could add the featured ballcarrier’s role to

his defensive duty.

Senior safety Eric Snell, like Prosser and Hacker a first-team All-PCL

defender as a junior, should also start at receiver.

Charlie Alshuler, a second-team all-league cornerback who helped the

CdM volleyball team win a CIF Southern Section title last spring, is also

back.

Dave Richardson, a 6-5, 300-pound senior lineman, has apparently

shaken the injury and conditioning problems which have limited him to

sporadic bursts of promise his first two varsity seasons.

Freeman expects Richardson, receiving recruiting mail from big-time

college programs, to put it all together this fall.

Receiver Steven Ward and offensive lineman Matt Marston, who expects

to shift from tackle to guard, posted double-digit starts on offense,

while end Scott Biggs adds to the collection of six starters back on

defense.

But uncertainty surrounding the rest of the personnel puzzle is

typified at quarterback, where spring practice, summer passing leagues

and early fall workouts have failed to separate senior incumbent Evan

Burden, junior Fountain Valley transfer Dylan Hendy and junior Joe

Barber.

Burden, who took over when Matt Moore, now a receiver and safety, was

sidelined for the season with a collapsed lung in Week 3, passed for 453

yards and three TDs. He compiled 35 of the Sea Kings’ 47 completions (CdM

had a 41% aerial success rate as a team).

Filling out the offensive and defensive lines will be a top preleague

priority and, Richardson aside, quickness, not size, will be the team’s

biggest weapon in the neutral zone.

To that end, Freeman and Offensive Coordinator Lyle Lansdell, have

gone to a quick-hitting ground attack. The idea is to dart running backs

through holes, so sustaining blocks -- which typically requires upper

body strength equal or superior to opponents -- won’t be as vital to

ground success.

Freeman admits they’ll have to be more efficient through the air, but

a potentially strong defense may allow them to win without lighting up

the scoreboard.

A preleague campaign that includes Back Bay rival Newport Harbor will

need to prepare them for a league-opening date with Costa Mesa. The same

two teams played for the league title the final week of the ’99 regular

season, with the Mustangs handing CdM its only league loss.

The Sea Kings, winless in their last eight nonleague games (including

playoffs), open Sept. 9 against Cypress, which will have opened a week

before with a game in British Columbia.